Assessment Plan and Assessment Mapping: Master of Arts/Sciences in English
Specializations in Creative Writing (CW) and Literature, Culture, and Composition (LCC)
We have instituted four points of assessment that all English students must participate in. These are
- All English graduates must complete a minimum of 30 credits from English offerings.
- All English graduate students must write and defend a thesis proposal (Plan A and Plan B)
- All English graduate students must write and defend a thesis (Plan A and Plan B)
- All English graduate students must fulfill a Program of Study for their chosen specialization, which will be reviewed by the department’s Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) and Director of Graduate Studies (DGS)
In 2016, the Graduate English and American Studies Curriculum Committees and faculty reviewed the coverage of the program learning goals across courses for the English programs. Coverage is ranked as high (H), medium (M), or low (L). Note that the 6800-level courses are also included in the Master of Technical Writing Program assessment. The result of this ranking is presented in the following table. The Graduate Advisory Committee will review the assessment mapping every spring to update, amend, and correct it.
In 2022, the English MA/MS was restructured into two specializations: Creative Writing (CW) and Literature, Culture, and Composition (LCC). This restructuring was conducted in response to student feedback indicating that the general MA/MS option wasn’t applicable to students’ professional and educational goals, and that two clearly structured specializations would give students more balanced options.
During the period between 2018 and 2024, when this restructuring was in the planning stages and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, program assessment was put on hiatus. As of this year (2024), the English MA/MS, through the work of the CW and LCC curricular areas, has resumed assessment, using the graduate students’ defenses of their thesis proposals and theses as the main marker of success. As indicated below, each of the graduate courses available for students to fulfill their programs of study have also been assessed for the degree to which they meet each of the department’s learning objectives, with the goal of ensuring a balanced approach to all three objectives across the offerings. In addition to an overview assessment of classes and the ongoing assessment of student defenses, the department’s GPC and DGS will also meet regularly with students to assess the viability of their individual Programs of Study and the two specializations’ general Program of Study requirements overall.
L1: Acquire knowledge of research tools, methods, and techniques with the aim of applying these in research, creative writing, and/or pedagogy.
L2: Conduct, present, and defend a body of research and/or creative work conducted during their program.
L3: Develop the writing and presentation skills to communicate research findings and/or creative work to professional audiences.
A. Assessment Mapping: English Courses
English graduate students are required to complete a minimum of 30 credits of classes. All classes must be completed with a B- or higher to be counted on a student’s Program of Study. Note that classes from other English fields (Folklore and Technical Communication) may also be included in the English students’ Programs of Study. As these are classes offered by our other degree programs, they are assessed by their own curriculum committees and are included in this document under their appropriate degrees.
English Courses (Creative Writing and Literature, Culture, and Composition)
| Course | L1 | L2 | L3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL 6320 | H | M | H |
| ENGL 6330 | H | M | H |
| ENGL 6340 | H | M | H |
| ENGL 6350 | H | M | H |
| ENGL 6360 | H | M | H |
| ENGL 6810 | H | M | M |
| ENGL 6820 | L | H | H |
| ENGL 6830 | H | M | M |
| ENGL 6860 | H | M | H |
| ENGL 6890 | H | M | M |
| ENGL 6880 | H | H | M |
| ENGL 6882 | H | H | M |
| ENGL 6883 | H | H | M |
| ENGL 6884 | H | H | M |
B. Assessment Mapping: Thesis Proposal
Writing a thesis, either Plan A or Plan B, is a requirement of all English graduate students in both specializations. Students typically write and defend their thesis proposal during the second semester of their first year. Students form a thesis committee of at least three faculty members who are appointed to the graduate faculty: A major advisor, a committee member, and an outside member.
The thesis proposal is a written document produced by the student, revised under the guidance of the thesis advisor, and then shared with the entire thesis committee for defense and approval. Students may be required by the advisor and/or entire committee to revise their thesis proposal multiple times before they are allowed to go to oral defense.
The thesis proposal oral defense results in one of four decisions, which is voted on by the entire thesis committee:
- Pass: No revision required. Student may proceed directly to researching and writing the thesis.
- Pass with minor revisions: Student may be required to make these minor revisions before he/she is allowed to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis, or the committee may allow the student to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis and to address the minor revisions in the thesis itself.
- Pass with major revisions: Student may be required to make these major revisions before he/she is allowed to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis, or the committee may allow the student to proceed to the researching/writing of the thesis and to address the major revisions in the thesis itself.
- Fail: Student is required to rewrite most or all of the proposal and must re-sit the oral defense
Assessment of Learning Objectives
The thesis proposal requires mastery of Learning Objectives 1, 2, and 3. Below is a table that describes how the thesis proposal and thesis proposal defense address the learning objectives.
| Event | L1 | L2 | L3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oral defense of written thesis proposal | H | H | H |
C. Assessment Mapping: Thesis and Thesis Defense
The thesis is typically written during a student’s second year. The Plan A thesis requires students to enroll in 6 credits over one or two semesters. The department minimum length for a Plan A thesis is 50 pages, but committees are free to set their own minimum above 50. The Plan B thesis requires students to enroll in three thesis credits. The department minimum for a Plan B is 25 pages, but committees are free to set their own minimum above 25.
When the advisor and/or thesis committee decide the thesis is defendable (sometimes after multiple revisions), the defendable version of the thesis is then shared with the entire committee and an appointment for examination is filed (at least two weeks before the defense date) with the Graduate School.
The thesis defense is an oral examination of the thesis. The thesis oral defense results in one of four decisions, which is voted on by the entire thesis committee:
- Pass: No revision of thesis required
- Pass with minor revisions: Student must make minor revisions before submitting the thesis to the Graduate School for review (for Plan A) or the library (for Plan B). Unless the revisions are extremely light, the thesis advisor reviews them to make certain they have been completed satisfactorily.
- Pass with major revisions: Student must make major revisions before submitting the thesis to the Graduate School for review (for Plan A) or the library (for Plan B). The thesis advisor and/or entire committee reviews the revised thesis to make certain the revisions have been completed satisfactorily.
- Fail: Student is required to rewrite most or all of the thesis and must re-sit the oral defense
Assessment of Learning Objectives
The thesis and thesis defense require mastery of Learning Objectives 1, 2, and 3. Below is a table that describes how the thesis and thesis proposal defense address the learning objectives.
| Event | L1 | L2 | L3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ENGL 6970: Thesis credits. (Plan A requires 6, Plan B requires 3) | H | H | H |
| Oral defense of written thesis | H | H | H |
D. Assessment Mapping: Completed Programs of Study
Under the guidance of the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) and Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), English graduate students develop a Program of Study that draws from classes offered in the English Department. In the Creative Writing Specialty, students are required to take the offered Creative Writing workshop each semester, and to fill in the remaining 18 credits with electives. In the LCC program, students are required to take one course from each area: Literature, Culture, and Composition. In addition, students may draw from classes offered by the Folklore and Technical Communication programs.
At least once a year, the Director of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Program Coordinator meets with all enrolled students to discuss their individual Programs of Study. The English graduate program requires that students take (and pass with a B- or higher) 30 credits of coursework, including a thesis (Plan A or Plan B). The CW and LCC curriculum committees, in collaboration with the GPC and DGS, monitor the classes being taken by students to determine if the course offerings need to be adjusted.