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..Senate 

?

From ?

Office of the, .Dean 

...o.f... Graduate 

.. S.tu.di es 

Subject..

,Gradute, Curr. .c.ulum .... Changes ...- Depart-. 

?

Date ....

.July14, 1980. 

ment of English 

MOTION: ? 

That Senate approve and recommend approval to the 

Board, as set forth in S.80-108 - Graduate Curriculum 

Changes In the Department of English. 

These changes were approved by the Senate Graduate Studies Committee 

on July 14, 1980. 

Bryan P. Beirne 

Dean of Graduate Studies 

mm/

attachs. 

MEMORANDUM

SiMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

0 ?

1

MEMORANDUM

To ...... 

14S.....McGinn,Ass..Registra. 

From 

.....

.

.p.pIainan

?

•.. ?

ciLy 

•

.. ? 

Q

duate Studies Committee 

Su6ject..9eP3w

.7. ?

15.

Date... 

r.i.

g .e,.

.19.80 

The Faculty of Arts Graduate Studies Committee approved the curriculum changes 

submitted by the Department of English 

Would you please put the attached submission on the agenda of the next 

Senate Graduate Studies Committee. 

Thank you. 

4

^

"^.

lLjt-&^ 

W.L. Cleveland 

Attachment 

. ?

c.c. H.M. Evans, Registrar 

These changes were approved by the Executive Committee, Senate Graduate Studies 

Committee, on June 16, 1980. 

DEPT. OF ENGLISH 

?

GRADUATE PROGRAM 

Curriculum Changes 

?

p.

70

M.A. Program - PRESENT ENTRY: "The Department's M.A. programs 

are intended to serve graduate students in 

several ways. It is hoped that they will 

develop critical acumen and mature habits of 

reasoning about literary problems and texts,. 

familiarize themselves with as broad a spectrum 

of literary types and periods as is reasonable 

within the program chosen, and acquire special 

knowledge and competence of expression in the 

field or fields to which the thesis or group 

of essays relates. Within these general aims 

the student may elect one of two options within 

the Department, depending on what kind of emphasis 

in training and experience is desired. Each 

program Is designed to be complete in itself 

or to lead to further graduate. study." 

ADD FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH: "The Department recog- 

nizes the special needs of persons already working 

who may wish to improve their qualifications. 

Some graduate courses will regularly be offered 

at night, and part-time studies are permitted 

(though University regulations requirethat all 

M.A. students must complete their work within 

five calendar years of their first enrollment)." 

RATIONALE: This new paragraph is meant to encourage 

people already employed, and especially high-school 

English teachers, to return to SFU for an M.A. 

p.

70 A. Thesis Program - 

FROM: "A minimum of 20 semester hours of 

graduate courses is required in addition to a 

thesis; no fewer than three courses (15 hours) 

are to be taken as seminars, with any reading 

course to be used to follow special interests 

not available through formal course work during 

the student's residence. The emphasis of this 

program falls upon the preparation for and exe- 

cution of a high quality M.A. thesis amounting 

to a study In depth. The program is intended 

for the student who wishes to persue intensively 

a particular course of study relating to an in- 

dividual author, body of ideas, or critical 

approach, but its election does not preclude a 

more general course of study which finds com- 

pletion in a thesis on some aspect of that study." 

TO: "A minimum of 20 semester hours of graduate 

seminars is required in addition to a thesis. 

By permission of the Chairman of the Graduate 

2

• ? 

Program Committee, one directed reading course 

may be substituted for a seminar. Reading 

courses should be used only to follow special 

interests not available through formal course 

work during the student's residence. The 

emphasis of this program falls upon the pre- 

paration for and execution of a high quality 

M.A. thesis amounting to a study in depth. The 

thesis is an Introduction to advanced-criticism 

and research in the humanities: it need not 

be an exhaustive treatment of its subject. The 

normal length of a thesis will be 60-120 pages." 

RATIONALE: There are two significant changes here: - 

a) The permission of the Graduate Chairperson is 

now required for enrolment in 841 (Directed 

Studies). This provides some control over the 

inclination of graduate students to automatically 

take 841 as an easier or more congenial substi- 

tute for a seminar. Sometimes the reasons for 

doing so are quite legitimate, but the global 

effects are often damaging to the program as a 

whole, for at least 3 reasons: - 

1)

Supervision of 841 increases faculty work- 

load considerably, ? 

and the extra burden is 

unevenly distributed. 

2)

Enrolment in 841 reduced enrolment in seminars 

proportionally, ? 

so that we can offer fewer 

seminars; ? 

a vicious circle has been operating 

here for several years now. 

?

Effectively, 

the number of seminars available has dropped 

from 5 

?

to 4, ? 

and this 

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term to 

?

3.

3)

Some students use 841 as a beginning of 

thesis work; 

?

this makes their program nar- 

rower than we would like. 

?

In general, ? 

the

use of 841 contributes to earlier and more 

exclusive ? 

specialisation. 

There is a general feeling in the depart- 

ment, 

?

I ?

think, ? 

that ? 

such specialisation is 

more appropriate to Ph.D. 

?

work than to the 

M.A. 

b) The normal length of a thesis is now specified; 

we feel that many theses have been too ambitiously 

conceived, resulting in monstrous and/or inter- 

minable projects. 

p. 70 

?

General Program - FROM: "Thirty semester hours of graduate 

courses are required in addition to the sub- 

mission of three or four extended essays-in 

lieuof a thesis; no fewer than four courses 

3

(20 hours) are to be taken as seminars, with 

any reading course to be used to follow special 

interests not available through formal course 

work during the student's residence. The aim 

of this program is to develop a breadth of 

knowledge and competence over several areas of 

literary study. Extended essays are defined 

as scholarly papers that meet the same standards 

of excellence as a thesis. They will be exam- 

ined in the same way as a thesis, prepared in 

the same format, bound, and placed in the 

Library." 

TO: "Twenty-five semester hours of graduate 

seminars are required. By permission of the 

Chairman of the Graduate Program Committee, 

one directed reading course may be substitu- 

ted for a seminar. Reading courses should be 

used only to follow special interests not 

available through formal course work during 

the student's residence. In addition, the 

student must submit two extended essays, of 

normally 25-40 pages each. Extended essays 

are defined as scholarly papers that meet the 

same standards of excellence as a thesis. They 

will be examined in the same way as a thesis, 

prepared in the same format, bound, and placed 

in the Library. The aim of this program is to 

develop a breadth of knowledge and competence 

over several areas of study." 

RATIONALE: Three m'ain changes: - 

a)

The course requirements have been reduced from 

six to five. 

b)

Two extended essays are now required, rather 

than three. 

We feel that the General Program has been consid- 

erably more demanding than the Thesis Program; in 

consequence, only one M.A. student in 5 has chosen 

this option. With the new requirements, we would 

hope to see a more even split between Thesis and 

General Program students. This would also have the 

beneficial side effects, we hope, of 1) increasing 

course enrolment, and 2) allowing some students to 

finish sooner, and others with unfinished theses to 

complete their degrees by switching to this option. 

c)

The normal length of an extended essay is now 

specified. 

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4

p.

71 ? 

Examinations - FROM: "After the completion of each ten hour 

. ?

of course work, the student's Supervisory Com- 

mittee, if one has been appointed by then, 

otherwise the Graduate Studies Chairman, will 

meet with the student to assess his or her 

progress and competence to complete the degree 

program, and send a written report on this 

assessment to the Departmental Graduate Com- 

mittee with a copy to the student. While the 

General Regulations set the minimum Cumulative 

Grade Point Average necessary for continuance 

at 3.0, the English Department regards any 

course grade below B to be unsatisfactory and 

expects its students to achieve an average 

above the minimum. Any student whose progress 

is deemed unsatisfactory may be asked to with- 

draw under section 8.3 of the General Regula- 

tions. 

A student on the thesis program will be 

given a preliminary oral examination by the 

semester preceding that of the thesis defence. 

The purpose of this examination shall be 

specifically to ascertain the extent of the 

student's command of the topic of the thesis. 

On completion of the examination a recommenda- 

tion as to whether or not the student is ade- 

quately prepared shall be made and forwarded 

to the Departmental Graduate Program Committee. 

Students on the six-course program will not be 

subject to this examination, but nevertheless 

shall be required to defend the papers they 

have submitted in lieu of theses, in confor- 

mity with 10.1 of the General Regulations." 

TO: "While the General Regulations set the 

minimum Cumulative Grade Point Average neces- 

sary for continuance at 3.0, the English Dep- 

artment regards any course 

•

grade below B to 

be unsatisfactory and expects its students to 

achieve an average above the minimum. Any 

student whose progress 18 deemed unsatisfactory 

may be asked to withdraw under section 8.3 of 

the General Regulations. 

Students wishing to write a thesis must 

submit a prospectus and a bibliography of 

about 5-10 pages in all; they are advised to 

do so before the completion of their course 

work and in no case later than the semester 

following completion of course work. The 

student's proposal will be considered in oral 

.

?

?

examination by the supervisory committee to- 

?

gether with a member of the Graduate Program 

Committee. The purpose of this exam is to de- 

5

termine the feasibility of the thesis topic 

and to ascertain the student's command of the 

subject. Students must have the approval of 

this committee before proceeding further with 

the thesis. Students on the six-course pro- 

gram will not be subject to this examination, 

but nevertheless shall be required to defend 

the papers they have submitted in lieu of 

theses, in conformity with 10.1 of the General 

Regulations." 

RATIONALE: These changes clarify and simplify ex- 

amination requirements. They also move the prelim- 

inary thesis examination to an earlier stage, so 

that the student is given the formal advice of 

his/her supervisory committee at a point where 

he/she can best use it. We hope that this pros- 

pectus exam will save many students from going up 

blind alleys or undertaking impossible projects. 

.