Graduate Advising

The following information is for students in the M.A. in English. Your advisor is the Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Meghan Barnes. Feel free to contact her at [mbarne56 @ charlotte.edu] if you have any advising questions or would like to make an advising appointment.

Dr. Ralf Thiede [rthiede @ charlotte.edu] advises students in the graduate certificate program in applied linguistics, and Dr. Greg Wickliff [gawickli @ charlotte.edu] advises students in the graduate certificate program in technical/professional writing.

Once admitted to the degree program, students should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies for academic advice. Students will work on their capstone projects or theses with a faculty advisor in their area, but the Graduate Director serves as an academic advisor for all students and is available for advice and consultation at any time. It is strongly recommended that students meet or check in periodically via email with the Graduate Director to discuss their progress toward the degree.

The student is responsible for seeing that all requirements for the degree are met, though the Director of Graduate Studies is available to review requirements with the student. All work for the degree must be completed within a seven-year period, beginning with the first term in which credit toward the degree is earned (including any transfer credit). Though DegreeWorks is a useful guide, it is not 100% accurate, so please contact the Director of Graduate Studies with any questions about requirements or progress toward a degree.

All English M.A. students must declare a concentration, which will appear on their transcript, and they are initially placed in the concentration indicated on their application. See the navigation to the left for links to the eight concentrations within the degree. Students who are undecided about their concentration should consult with the Director of Graduate Studies before their first semester so that they can choose courses wisely; these students should make a decision before the end of their second semester (if full-time) or by the time they have completed twelve hours (if part-time).

If you need to change your concentration, it’s easy to do it online at the graduate petition system.

• Click the blue button to submit a petition.
• Then select “Concentration add/change” for type of petition.
• Select “Replace Concentration,” and enter the old and new concentration you wish to declare.
• Hit the blue button Submit Petition!

No need to supply documentation. It’s that easy! It will take a few days, but then the concentration will appear in Banner and DegreeWorks.

The normal graduate course load for a full-time student is nine semester hours during a fall or spring semester or six semester hours during a five-week summer session. Students may, however, attend part-time, taking one or two courses per semester until they finish their degrees. M.A. students may take courses at the 5000- and 6000-level. To accommodate working students, all 6000-level and many 5000-level courses are offered in the evenings; required 5000-level courses are generally offered in the evening at least once per year to ensure that students can complete their coursework entirely in the evening.

Each semester, the English Department provides detailed descriptions of courses (online and on Banner) to help students during pre-registration and registration, including information about which courses meet which requirements for the various concentrations within the M.A.

The program requires a minimum of 36 semester hours of graduate credit. Thirty hours must be in English courses, and eighteen credit hours must be in English courses at the 6000-level, open only to graduate students. In some cases, up to six hours of electives may be taken on the graduate level in areas related to English. Before enrolling in courses outside of the English Department, students must request approval in writing from the Director of Graduate Studies in English, offering a paragraph or two describing how the courses will enrich their programs; they must also submit that evidence in a petition to the Graduate School.

You can find information about theses, projects, and exams on the Capstone Experience page.

Transfer of coursework to or from another school, or transfer of courses taken as a post-baccalaureate student at UNC Charlotte, is limited to six hours of credit. Any coursework done elsewhere while enrolled in the M. A. program is subject to the six-hour limitation on all transfer credit and must be approved in advance by the Director of Graduate Studies and through a graduate petition. All courses taken as a part of a certificate program can be counted towards a Masters degree should the student apply and be accepted into the M.A. program while in the certificate program or after they receive the certificate, provided the courses meet the requirements for the concentration chosen.

Only courses with grades of “A” or “B” count toward the M.A.; a course in which a student receives a grade of “C” or “U” is not allowable as part of the 36 required hours. Students receiving one “U” or three “C” grades will be automatically suspended from the program; that suspension must be successfully appealed before a student may resume taking courses. Graduate students in English will be allowed to repeat up to two graduate courses if they have received a grade of “C,” “U,” or “N” (but not an “I”). A course may be repeated only once. Whenever a course is repeated, no additional credit hours accrue. The new grade replaces the previous grade in computing the grade point average and in the assignment of academic credit. The record of the first attempt will remain as part of the student’s permanent academic record. Grade appeals should be directed first to the Chair of the Department of English. After exhausting Department, College, and Graduate School remedies, the appeal of any matter concerning graduate study may be directed to the UNC Charlotte Graduate Council, which comprises members of the UNC Charlotte graduate faculty and graduate students chosen by the Graduate Student Association.

Students are expected to be continuously enrolled. Students who have not enrolled in courses for one year will be suspended by the Graduate School and must reapply to the M.A. program. To avoid this suspension, students may petition for a leave of absence from the Graduate School through the graduate petition system. Students who left the University in good academic standing and who have been absent from the University for two years may reapply.

Students who wish to obtain advanced teacher licensure should consult with the College of Education for licensure requirements.

Students interested in doing an internship for course credit should click here for more information. Those interested in an on-campus assistantship should keep an eye on the Career Center’s posting of positions.

The University grants degrees in December, May, and August. The University holds Commencement ceremonies in May and December. Students must apply to graduate via their my.charlotte.edu page by the deadline posted on UNC Charlotte’s academic calendar webpage. Once the application is filled out and submitted, the student’s UNC Charlotte account is charged the graduation application fee. For more information, contact the Graduate School by email at gradgraduation@uncc.edu. If your intended graduation semester changes, you can change the term on your my.charlotte.edu page.

See the Graduate Catalogue for more information about Graduate School policies and guidelines.

If you are going to a conference, let Dr. Barnes know! There is some funding through GPSG and the English Department. Download some tips on writing conference abstracts from Professor Alan Rauch.