Dr. Christopher Vilmar, Graduate Program Director
410-677-6511
Advisement for the program is available from the English Department.
The English Department provides a variety of Master of Arts in English opportunities for students wishing to further their study. The program is large enough to offer high-quality instruction from faculty who are actively engaged in scholarship and publication, while, at the same time, small enough to promote collegiality among M.A. candidates and faculty and to ensure personalized attention as students proceed through their chosen areas of study. In addition, each academic year the department offers a limited number of teaching assistantships, which include stipend and tuition waiver in exchange for students’ teaching three sections of the English Department’s freshman composition courses each year.
Students pursuing the M.A. in English include students intending to go on to Ph.D. programs, those expecting to teach at the junior or community college level, and secondary school teachers seeking to enhance their expertise and credentials. While every graduate student’s experience ultimately depends on the energy, dedication and imagination which that student devotes to his or her studies, Salisbury University’s M.A. in English program furnishes an environment in which the graduate experience can be intellectually challenging, highly productive and exceptionally rewarding.
Admission
Admission to the Master of Arts in English requires an application for graduate program admission at SU; the application fee; official transcript from all colleges and universities attended; and, if applying for in-state tuition, a Residency/Domicile Information Form. Applicants must have completed or anticipate completing prior to admission an undergraduate English major or its equIVA- lent (30 semester hours of English beyond freshman English) or a major in a related area, with a 3.0 GPA in those undergraduate courses. A student who fails to meet this requirement should consult the English Department’s graduate director regarding removal of deficiencies.
In addition to the materials required by SU’s Office of Admission, the applicant for the M.A. in English must also submit (or have forwarded) directly to the English Department Graduate Program Director, Salisbury University, 1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21801, the following materials:
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A written statement of purpose for applying to the English M.A. program and specific option.
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Two letters of recommendation using the department’s form (available through the English Department’s website).
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Qualifying exam scores:
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Applicants who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships are required to have acceptable scores on the GRE General Test. (If scores are not available at the time of application, a copy of the GRE Registration Form should be forwarded to the graduate program director.)
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Applicants who are not requesting consideration for teaching assistantships, GRE General Test, MAT or Praxis Core scores are acceptable.
Qualifying examination scores are considered relative to undergraduate (and previous graduate) GPAs, recommendations, statements of purpose and interviews (if required). There are no cutoff or minimum scores. If a student has already received a graduate degree, qualifying examination requirements may be waived at the discretion of the graduate program director.
All application materials should be received by the English Department’s graduate program director 30 days prior to the beginning of the semester for which the student is applying. Application materials for applicants who wish to be considered for teaching assistantships must be received by March 15. When admitted to the English graduate program, graduate students may count no more than nine hours taken as non-degree students toward the M.A. in English. With the approval of the graduate director, up to nine hours of graduate credit may be transferred from another institution.
Program Policies
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Complete 33 semester hours (including a minimum 24 hours completed at SU) with grades of C or better.
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Maintain a cumulative average of 3.0 or higher and receive C or C+ grades in a maximum of 2 courses.
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All course selections must be approved by the graduate director in English.
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Students who as undergraduates have taken any of the required courses will, in consultation with the graduate program director, select alternative courses to meet the 33-hour requirement.
Written Comprehensive Exam
To help maintain a measure of commonality and to assure a broad literary scope to the degree program, all candidates for the M.A. in English in the literature tracks must take a written comprehensive examination. Students admitted to the program are provided a list of primary texts in preparation for the examination. Students are responsible for all materials on the list regardless of the coursework they may elect. Students may take the examination at the conclusion of any semester in which they currently maintain good standing in the degree program, though they may not delay the examination longer than one full semester following the completion of their coursework. Every examination is evaluated by two members of the English Department faculty, unless a third reading of the examination should be required. In order to earn the M.A. in English, a student must pass the comprehensive examination within two attempts.
Checklist
This checklist is an unofficial tool for planning. Matriculated students and advisors should consult the Academic Requirements Report in GullNet before and after registering for classes each semester to track academic progress.
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