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Graduate Program

Table of contents

  1. Preface
  2. Admission
  3. Course load, registration, and scheduling
  4. Support under the milestones
  5. Advising
  6. Doctoral degree requirements
  7. Milestones
  8. Master's degree requirements
  9. Graduate Associates
  10. Graduate Faculty membership

Graduate Program Handbook

0. Preface

This Graduate Program Handbook is the definitive statement of the current local rules and policies of the Graduate Program in Linguistics, as well a general guide for graduate students and graduate faculty in the program. It collects together in one place a description of "all local requirements for admission, satisfactory performance and reasonable progress, degree completion, and financial aid" (as mandated on p. 130 of the Graduate School Handbook).

0.1. Relationship to the "Rules of the Graduate Faculty" — The rules and policies described in this Graduate Program Handbook supplement rather than replace the Rules of the Graduate Faculty described in Section II of the Graduate School Handbook. The relationship between the two sets of rules is described (on p. 129 of the Graduate School Handbook) as follows:

Because graduate study is discipline-specific, graduate education is highly decentralized. As a result, the local Graduate Studies Committee and its Chair have great authority and responsibility for administering local degree programs....

Where Graduate School rules (actually, "Graduate Faculty" rules) exist, these must be adhered to as minimum standards. Local graduate programs may institute rules and standards that are more stringent than basic Graduate School policies, but they may not have less stringent requirements. In areas where no Graduate Faculty rules exist (e.g., qualifying examinations), the local faculty are free to generate their own.

See the Graduate School Handbook for the general requirements for the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Linguistics. Note especially the rules governing examinations and theses. The Graduate Studies Committee conducts the graduate program in the department and serves as the liaison between the Graduate School and the graduate faculty of the department. The policies, rules, and procedures established by the Council on Research and Graduate Studies serve as the framework and set the minimum standards within which the Graduate Studies Committee (with the advice of the rest of the regular graduate faculty in the department) formulates the policies outlined in this Graduate Program Handbook.

0.2. Cut-off points for previous versions — The requirements for degree completion and for reasonable progress toward the Ph.D. Degree in Linguistics were last revised in February 2004. Students who entered the doctoral program after Autumn 2002 are expected to follow these new rules. Students who entered the program in Autumn 2002 or in Autumn 2001 can opt to change to the new rules, with suitable adjustment for their stage of progress toward the degree, as described in the two sets of transitional milestones for the two different cohorts. Students in those cohorts who opt to continue under the old rules, and students who entered the program before Autumn 2002 should refer to the previous version of this handbook, which was Section IV.B of the Department's Handbook #31 (posted Autumn, 1998).

1. Admission

The admission of students to the Graduate Program in Linguistics is the joint responsibility of the Department's Graduate Studies Committee and of the Graduate School. A separate page of this Graduate Program Handbook describes the process of Admission to the Linguistics Doctoral Program, lists the components of the application package, and provides frequently updated links to other relevant information, including links to the online application forms at the Graduate Admissions Office. Section II.1 of the Graduate School Handbook describes general policies and requirements that apply to applicants to all graduate programs at the Ohio State University. The rest of this section of this Graduate Program Handbook describes rules and policies that are specific to the Graduate Program in Linguistics.

1.1. Admission directly into the Ph.D. program — The Department offers an M.A. degree and a Ph.D. degree in linguistics. However, with certain well-defined exceptions, applicants to the graduate program are normally considered only for the Ph.D., and should check that objective on the application form. Once admitted to the linguistics Ph.D. program, students can choose to obtain a Master's degree, but they are not required to do so. Financial support is focused on students in the Ph.D. program, and is contingent on reasonable progress toward the Ph.D. degree. Choosing to obtain a Master's degree in linguistics on the way toward the Ph.D. does not change the calculation of reasonable progress toward the Ph.D. degree.

1.2. Admission only once a year — The review procedure for applications to the Ph.D. program involves all regular Graduate Faculty in the Program, and takes place only once a year. Applicants are reviewed in January for admission commencing the following Autumn (or Summer) quarter. Because the Department makes every attempt to ensure that packages of five years of support are made available to all students admitted into the Ph.D. program, admission is highly competitive. The Graduate Studies Committee consults with the Department Chair to determine how many new students can be supported, and only as many applicants as can be assured financial support are normally admitted.

1.3. Transfer of Graduate Program — Section II.1.10 of the Graduate School Handbook states that "Students may transfer from one graduate program to another with the approval of the Graduate Studies Program in the receiving department." Because funding is limited and the Department makes every effort to ensure that financial support is available to all doctoral students, requests to transfer into the Ph.D. program in Linguistics are normally considered only once a year, when they can be reviewed together with applicants for first-time admission into the Graduate School. In order to be considered in this annual review, an Ohio State University graduate student requesting transfer into the Linguistics doctoral program must submit the following documents:

  1. a Request for Transfer of Graduate Program form
  2. a copy of the current advising record
  3. GRE score reports for all three portions of the Graduate Record Examination
  4. three letters of recommendation
  5. a personal statement
  6. a brief CV or resume (no more than two pages)
These documents should be received by the Graduate Studies Coordinator for Linguistics by December 15, for transfer into the Linguistics Program in Autumn (or Summer) of the following year. Students requesting transfer are typically notified of the decison in March, at the same time that applicants for first-time admission are notified. If the transfer is approved, the student typically will be asked to take Linguistics 830 (Teacher Training), in order to be eligible for appointment as a GTA. The funding package typically offered to the succesful transfer applicant will be for five years minus the number of years that the student has been in a graduate program at the Ohio State University at the time of the transfer into Linguistics.

1.4. Undergraduate major not required — An undergraduate major in linguistics is not required for entering the graduate program in linguistics. Because it is difficult to broaden one's background at the graduate level, an undergraduate major in a specific language or a field such as philosophy, psychology, anthropology, mathematics or computer science may be as appropriate as a major in linguistics for the student intending to pursue graduate study in linguistics. However, a student is ill-advised to embark upon any graduate program in linguistics without some familiarity with linguistics proper, i.e., not just with courses in foreign languages.

2. Course load, registration, and scheduling

Section II.2 of the Graduate School Handbook describes the Graduate Faculty rules about course load, registration, schedule adjustment, and so on. It is the student's responsibility to be aware of these rules, and to comply with the deadlines for registering, and adding or dropping courses. (The University Registrar keeps an online running calendar of relevant dates for each quarter, which can be consulted.)

2.1. Initial registration — The Linguistics Department's graduate curriculum is designed for students to enter in the Autumn quarter of each year. Sometimes students enter the program in the Summer (e.g., to take advantage of courses offered in our biennial Summer Institute), but delaying entry until the Winter or Spring quarter may be inadvisable unless the student has relevant prior background. Students are urged to correspond with the Graduate Studies Chair about their individual situations before planning to enter the program in the Winter, Spring, or Summer quarters.

2.2. Typical course loads — For most graduate students in Linguistics, the rules regarding course load are as follows. Graduate Fellows must register for a minimum of 15 credit hours each quarter. Students appointed as Graduate Associates in Linguistics normally hold a 50% appointment. Before passing the Candidacy Examination, a student holding such an appointment must register for at least nine credit hours each quarter, except during the Summer quarter, when the minimum is seven. After passing the Candidacy Examination, a student holding such an appointment must register for at least twelve credit hours each quarter, including Summer quarter. Note that these rules regarding minimum course loads for GA appointments apply even in a quarter when the student receives a fourth-quarter fee waiver but no stipend.

2.3. Temporary withdrawal — With appropriate approval, a student may take a temporary leave of absence from the program for personal reasons or for academic reasons such as the opportunity to do an internship in an industrial setting, take up a visiting teaching position elsewhere, or to do extensive fieldwork. Before passing the Candidacy Examination, the student may withdraw from the program for a period of no longer than one year, with the approval of the advisor and Graduate Studies Chair. After passing the Candidacy Examination, the student may withdraw for longer periods, again with the approval of the advisor and Graduate Studies Chair. Consultation with the other members of the dissertation committee is also advisable, particularly if they are playing an active role in advising the student on parts of the dissertation research. Students who do not obtain approval before withdrawing from the program, or who remain away from it for longer than the permitted period for their stage in the program, must reapply to the Graduate Studies Committee for admission in order to return to the program.

2.4. Enrolment after admission to candidacy — The normal milestone for completing the dissertation is by the end of the student's fifth year in the program — i.e., a year and one quarter after completing the Candidacy Examination. During this candidacy period, students with Graduate Associate appointments are required to enrol for at least 12 credit hours each quarter, as noted above. Special circumstances (e.g., when the dissertation involves an extended period of fieldwork or an extended internship in a laboratory away from the univesity) may require a longer than normal interval between these two milestones, and the Graduate Faculty rules specify that the student has up to five years to complete all degree requirements, including the disseration. The Graduate Faculty rules do not require continuous enrolment by students who do no have GA appointments unless they are making active use of university resources. Therefore, with prior approval of the advisor and the Graduate Studies Chair, a student may withdraw temporarily but completely from the graduate program in linguistics in periods during which the student is not actively using university resources.

Students who have completed the other requirements for a degree and are finishing a dissertation away from campus, but who are consulting frequently with their advisors and other dissertation committee members, and wish to enrol for Linguistics 999 credit hours are eligible for a waiver of non-resident fees if they enrol for these hours through the graduate school using an Out-of-State Research form (section II.2.2.10).

Also, before petitioning to withdraw, the student should note not only the five-year limit on the candidacy period but also the requirement to register for a minimum of 20 graduate credit hours over a period of at least two quarters specified in clause 3 in section II.6.7.4 of the Graduate School Handbook.

Linguistics graduate students who earn a Master's Degree in Linguistics on the basis of satisfactorily completing the Candidacy Examination also should pay special attention to section II.6.7.2 of the Graduate School Handbook.

3. Support under the milestones

Sections II.8.5 and II.9.2.3 of the Graduate School Handbook specify the eligibility requirements for a student to hold an appointment as a Graduate Associate or to receive a Fellowship from the Graduate School or from other University or external sources. Among these is the requirement that the student "must maintain reasonable progress toward a graduate degree" as determined by the Graduate Studies Committee. The Graduate Faculty rules in Linguistics define reasonable progress in terms of a set of "milestones" — dates by when each of the Ph.D. degree requirements must be fulfilled. (The same definition is used to establish whether a student is in good standing in the Graduate School, as specified in section II.4.7 of the Graduate School Handbook.)

Each student's progress relative to the milestones for his or her cohort is reviewed at least twice a year, in a closed meeting of the regular Graduate Faculty in the Program in each of Autumn and Spring Quarter. The Spring review is also criterial for reappointment as a GA, as described in section II.8.6.6 of the Graduate School Handbook. The rest of this section specifies how normal progress relative to the milestones is calculated for this purpose.

3.1. Five-year package — The Department currently guarantees a package of financial support to all admitted graduate students for their first five years enrolled in graduate study, subject to continued satisfactory progress.

A year of support is defined as receiving a GA or Fellowship stipend in three quarters of enrolment in Autumn, Winter, or Spring. Summer enrolment and support are not counted in determining student progress and the amount of support that a student has received.

Support is defined as any of the following types of appointment as a Graduate Associate or Fellow:

  1. University fellowship
  2. External fellowship administered through the University
  3. Teaching assistantship in the University
  4. Research assistantship from Departmental funds
  5. Research assistantship from funds external to the Department
3.2. The milestone "clock" — In keeping with the above definition of a "year of support", no milestone can be specified to occur in Summer, so that progress relative to the milestones can be "clocked" in terms of number of quarters of enrolment in Autumn, Winter, or Spring.

A leave of absence for a quarter stops the clock for that quarter, in all respects. For example, taking a leave of absence in Spring quarter of a student's first year (normally y1q3) shifts all milestones by one quarter so that the student's AdvisingFest meeting needs to be scheduled in Autumn of the student's second year (now y1q3), the student's Program of Study Stage 1 plan must now be approved in Winter of that year (now y2q1), and so on.

If a student is enrolled in a quarter, the milestone clock does not stop, whether or not the student is receiving support.

3.3. Missing a milestone — Inability to complete a milestone because a required course was not offered at a particular time does not count as missing a milestone.

When a student who has missed a milestone completes that milestone, reference to missing the milestone is expunged from the student's file.

If a student completes a milestone late, the time to the next milestone is the interval specified in the document for the normal case.

3.4. Seven year limit — If for some reason a student's support is suspended or deferred, the departmental support commitment will not extend beyond seven years from the time that the student entered the program except under exceptional circumstances worked out in consultation with the department chair.

3.5. Withdrawing support — A Graduate Associate who fails to make satisfactory progress relative to the milestones can have funding withdrawn, either by not being reappointed at the end of a normal three-quarter appointment that is not also the end of the five-year funding package, or by having an appointment terminated prior to the end of such a normal three-quarter appointment if the Department has insufficient funds. Graduate Faculty rules specify how and when the student should be notified when a reappointment is not made, and also state that a GA appointment may not be terminated prior to the end of a normal period of appointment without the written approval of the Graduate School (see sections II.8.6.2 and II.8.6.7 of the Graduate School Handbook). The following local rules also apply.

Decisions to withdraw funding from a student who is behind in the milestones should be made by the Chair only after discussion in a closed faculty meeting, where the student's advisors are present if at all possible, or if not, represented by proxy.

The aforementioned meeting should occur if possible during the regularly scheduled meetings to discuss students' progress (currently at the end of the Autumn and Spring quarters).

4. Advising

This section of the Graduate Program Handbook "establishes procedures for assigning and changing advisors" (Graduate School Handbook, p. 119) and specifies the milestones for selecting the members of the advisory committee and of other committees that must be constituted at various stages of a student's progress toward the degree. See section IV.3 of the Graduate School Handbook and the description of the two categories of graduate faculty membership in the Linguistics Program for rules concerning who can serve as an advisor and who can serve on the different committees.

4.1. Initial faculty contact committee — Each incoming graduate student will be assigned a two-person initial faculty contact committee before entering the program. For administrative purposes, one of these two people will be designated as the student's initial advisor of record. However, both members of the committee will be chosen from those graduate faculty members who are eligible to be the advisor of record, and the student is free to choose a different initial advisor of record, or to change advisors at any time. Students are encouraged to seek out the best match for their interests. The job of the initial faculty contact committee is to help the student choose courses for the first year and to identify a primary advisor of record. The deadline for making this identification is the student's "AdvisingFest" meeting.

4.2. Selecting or changing the advisor of record — In order to select or change advisors, a student first consults with the chosen faculty member to determine whether the faculty member will accept the student as an advisee. If the faculty member agrees, the students sends an e-mail message to the old and new advisors and to the Graduate Studies Chair. After determining that the new advisor is eligible to serve as an advisor in the Graduate Program in Lingustics, the Graduate Studies Chair updates the department records and forwards the information to the Graduate Studies Coordinator to enter into the MARX system.

The Graduate School Handbook has no section summarizing the duties and responsibilities of an advisor, although specific duties and responsibilities are mentioned in nearly every section, and a general overarching statement of responsibility is provided in the "Graduate Student Code of Research and Scholarly Conduct" (section II.4.15), as follows: "Graduate faculty, advisors, and graduate programs should actively encourage their students to participate as members of their chosen disciplinary, scholarly, and professional communities. Graduate students should be encouraged to seek and share knowledge wherever and whenever possible. Academic advisors and other faculty members should educate graduate students through example and discussion, addressing such issues as academic honesty, research, publication, recruitment, and hiring practices, and applicable fellowship and graduate associateship responsibilities.... Such communication is a means of setting high standards of behavior in graduate study and beyond." Recognizing the size of this responsibility, the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics have voted to note explicity the following: Each faculty member may place a reasonable limit on the number of advisees he or she will accept.

4.3. The advisory committee — The initial faculty contact committee constitutes the initial advisory committee for the student. After choosing a primary advisor of record, the student may keep the initial advisory committee or change and expand the membership of the committee (e.g., to help the advisor explain the student's program of study). Or the student may disband the committee altogether for the first three years in the program. In short, students are encouraged to seek out the best advising arrangements for their individual programs of study. By the time that the student reaches the milestone for designing a program of study stage 3 plan, however, the student must choose an Advisory Committee that "is composed of at least four authorized graduate faculty members" (see section II.6.10.5 of the Graduate School Handbook). The advisory committee is responsible for certifying that the student has fulfilled the language requirement. The committee also is responsible for the design of the written portion of the Candidacy Examination and together with the Graduate Faculty Representive appointed by the Graduate School constitutes the Candidacy Examination Committee for the oral portion of the exam, as specified in section II.6.10.6 of the Graduate School Handbook. The student's advisor of record is the chair of the advisory committee and of the candidacy examination committee.

4.4. The 2nd and 3rd Year Paper reading committees — Each of the reading committees for the 2nd Year Paper and the 3rd Year Paper is composed of three authorized graduate faculty in the program. The student's advisor need not be a member of either committee. The two committees share responsibility for certifying that the two papers "together ... exhibit some breadth of knowledge of linguistics". One way to exhibit this breadth is by making the membership of the two committees be completely disjoint. While students may choose to demonstrate breadth in this way, there is no rule against overlapping membership or even completely identical membership.

As a rule, all three members of each of the reading committees must be chosen from among the linguistics program graduate faculty who are eligible to serve on the advisory committee, although one member of a committee can be an exception to this rule, subject to the approval of the graduate faculty in linguistics. The deadline for establishing the reading committee is by time of the oral presentation of the paper. However, students are encouraged to specify the reading committees for each of these papers earlier, by listing the names of the committee on the program of study plan that identifies the topic of the paper — i.e., on the program of study stage 1 plan for the 2nd Year Paper and on the program of study stage 2 plan for the 3rd Year Paper. If the committee is not specified on the relevant program of study plan, the student specifies the committee by sending an e-mail to the Graduate Studies Committee. If one of the specified members is an exception to the rule governing the composition of the committee, the list of committee members must be accompanied by an e-mail petition from the student's advisor that briefly explains the need for the exception and documents the exceptional member's qualifications to evaluate the paper. The Graduate Studies Committee will then circulate the petition to the faculty, and register a positive outcome in the "notes" field of the relevant milestone page in the student's record in the advising database.

4.5. The dissertation committee — Section II.6.12.2 of the Graduate School Handbook describes this committee as follows:
The Dissertation Committee is composed of the adviser who must be a Category P Graduate Faculty member and at least two other authorized Graduate Faculty members (ref. IV.3.5). Additional Graduate Faculty members also may serve on the Dissertation Committee. The adviser serves as chairperson of the Dissertation Committee. Selection of the committee members is the responsibility of the adviser and is subject to the rules of the Graduate Studies Committee.

In our department, the student and advisor propose a set of graduate faculty for the dissertation committee by listing committee members on the final version of the dissertation proposal that is circulated for approval after the student passes the Candidacy Exams. Thus, approval of the dissertation proposal by the graduate faculty also includes approval of the proposed dissertation committee.

The dissertation committee and the Graduate Faculty Representative assigned by the Graduate School then constitute the student's Final Oral Examination Committee, as specified in section II.6.13.2 of the Graduate School Handbook.

5. Doctoral degree requirements

The graduate program in linguistics is dedicated to producing Ph.D. graduates in linguistics who demonstrate expertise in one or more areas within the field and who have proven themselves to be effective and creative researchers. To that end, requirements include the explicit choosing of area(s) of specialization, a coherent set of courses that prepare the student for independent research, a language requirement that involves primary data, two major research papers (the "Second-Year Paper" and the "Third-Year Paper"), an examination (the "Candidacy Examination", covering a primary and possibly a secondary area of specialization), and the dissertation.

The milestones for fulfilling each of the requirements define satisfactory progress in the typical case. These milestones demarcate a student's progress into four reasonably well-defined stages. The rest of this section specifies more exactly what the requirements are.

5.1. Declaring area(s) of specialization — By the end of the first year of graduate study, the student must choose a potential (set of) area(s) of specialization and a primary advisor (or co-advisors) who will help the student design an appropriate program of study for the next three years. The milestone for notifying the faculty of these choices is the AdvisingFest — a meeting that is normally scheduled with the Graduate Studies Chair and a selected group of graduate faculty relevant to the chosen area(s) of specialization at the end of the first year. By two weeks before the AdvisingFest, the student should send to the Graduate Studies Chair a list of faculty whom the student wants to have present at his or her AdvisingFest meeting. The AdvisingFest is a good time for the student to prepare a draft of the stage 1 program of study plan and to assemble an initial advisory committee who can give advice about the program of study that the student is designing and help the advisor present the plan to the rest of the faculty.

5.2. Developing the program of study — After choosing a primary advisor appropriate for the chosen area(s) of specialization, the student works with the advisor to develop an individual program of study. A program of study has two major components: (1) a gradually more-and-more refined idea of the student's research program, which will lead eventually to the dissertation proposal, and (2) a list of courses that the student has taken or plans to take in order to facilitate this research. The typical relationship between these two parts is complex and iterative. That is, although knowing in general what research the student plans to do is a necessary prerequisite for choosing the best set of courses to prepare for this research, students also often do not realize what research topics are most suited to their interests and abilities until they have taken courses in several potential areas of specialization. Therefore, the requirement for designing an individual program of study prior to advancement to candidacy is divided into three stages, each with its own milestone.

5.2.1. The program of study plans — At each of these milestones, the relevant parts of the study plan are written down as a formal plan that the student's advisor presents to the other faculty in a closed meeting. This presentation of the plan to the entire graduate faculty has three purposes. First, it provides a concrete deadline for the student and advisor(s) to use in designing a program of study appropriate for that stage in the student's career. Second, it is a vehicle for soliciting input and ideas from other potentially relevant faculty, as well as for evaluating the student's progress toward the degree. Third, it aids the department in curricular planning and new course development. After a plan has been reviewed by the faculty as a whole, it will be posted on a secure web site where other graduate students can look at it for ideas, unless the student specifically requests to the Graduate Studies Committee that the plan not be posted.

5.2.2. Tracks — As noted above, the general rule is that after a program of study has been approved by the graduate faculty in linguistics, it is posted in a place where it can be a model and/or a source of ideas for other students who share similar research interests. Several well-established models are also available at https://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/local/Tracks/ This is a set of links to templates of plans in the areas of specialization that are represented by the department faculty (also known as "track descriptions"). Each of these track descriptions has been endorsed in the abstract by the area specialists listed at the top. (The linguistics graduate faculty are currently working to establish procedures for adding new templates to this list.)

5.2.3. The stages — The next three subsections describe the three stages that characterize the program of study up to admission to candidacy and specify what should be included in the plan at each stage. Boilerplate forms for writing the plans are available online at the forms page.

5.2.3.1. Stage 1 — During the first two years in the program, the student acquires (or demonstrates) mastery of the core ideas and methods in the field as a whole and in the area(s) of specialization, and makes the transition from learning primarily through coursework into becoming an independent researcher in the chosen area(s) of specialization. A stage 1 program of study plan reflects this transitional state. It should specify the following things.

  1. the advisor(s), and advisory committee members if relevant
  2. the primary area(s) of specialization, and any secondary area of specialization if relevant
  3. a set of entry-level courses that prepare the student to engage in primary research in the area(s) of specialization, and a prelimary list of more advanced courses that promote the student's engagement in primary research in the area(s) of specialization
  4. a very preliminary description of the research which the student plans to report in the 2nd Year Paper, as well as any special requirements regarding its content.
In presenting a stage 1 program of study plan, the advisor might be asked to elaborate on (1) the student's characterization of the area(s) of specialization and the relevance of chosen entry-level courses and advanced courses to the chosen area(s) of specialization, (2) the student's potential for doing independent research in the chosen area(s) of specialization as indicated by performance in the core courses and in any other courses that the student has already taken, and (3) the feasibility of the projected research planned for the Second-Year Paper.

5.2.3.2. Stage 2 — During the third year in the program, the student finishes any remaining coursework, and begins to develop a longer-term research program in the chosen area(s) of specialization. A stage 2 program of study plan should be an updated version of the stage 1 plan, which includes the following things.

  1. the advisor(s), and advisory committee members if relevant
  2. the primary area(s) of specialization, and any secondary area of specialization if relevant
  3. the updated list of entry-level and core courses that the student is about to have completed, and the final list of the courses that the student must complete by the end of the third year
  4. the title of the 2nd Year Paper and the list of members of the reading committee for it
  5. a description of the projected general topic of the 3rd Year Paper, the names of the three members of the reading committee for it, and a description of any special requirements regarding its content
  6. a specification of how the language requirement will be (or was) fulfilled
In presenting a stage 2 program of study plan, the advisor might be asked to elaborate on (1) the student's description of research planned for the Third-Year Paper and (2) the refined list of courses and their relevance to the research plan.

5.2.3.3. Stage 3 — During the first half of the fourth year in the program, the student identifies a coherent subproject within the longer-term research program that can be the basis of the dissertation. A stage 3 program of study plan, then, is the final version of the plan, which includes the following things.

  1. the advisor(s) and the (now-obligatory) list of other members of the advisory committee
  2. the primary area(s) of specialization, and any secondary area of specialization if relevant
  3. the updated list of courses that the student has taken
  4. the title and reading committee of the 2nd Year Paper
  5. the title of the 3rd Year Paper and the list of members of the reading committee for it
  6. a specification of how the language requirement was fulfilled
  7. a description of the projected general topic of the dissertation, and a specification of the format of the written part of Candidacy Exam and of any special requirements on its relationship to the draft of the dissertation proposal
In presenting a stage 3 program of study plan, the advisor might be asked to elaborate on (1) the feasibility of the projected research planned for the dissertation, and (2) the student's preparation to do this research, as evident in the 2nd Year Paper, the 3rd Year Paper, and any other publications independent of these papers.

5.2.4. Special requirements on the papers — The description of the topic of the 2nd Year Paper in the Stage 1 plan is the student's first obligatory specification of a potentially long-term research program. Therefore, it normally will be within (one of) the student's primary area(s) of specialization, although it may be in on any subject acceptable to the advisor (and advisory committee, if relevant). For example, in some cases, presentation of work in phonetics or sociolinguistics may be deemed relevant for arguing for a program of study plan for a student specializing in pragmatics. Some students and their advisory committees make this relationship to the longer-term goal of becoming an expert researcher explicit by specifying special requirements on the 2nd Year Paper. For example, plans that follow the template for specialization in phonetics or psycholinguistics require that the 2nd Year Paper demonstrate facility at experimental design. Also, since the reading committees must certify that the two papers meet all five requirements described below, including the requirement that they exhibit breadth of knowledge, some committees might ask that the two papers be in different areas of specialization. For example, the Stage 1 and Stage 2 plans might require that the 2nd Year Paper be in the primary area of specialization and the 3rd Year Paper be in the secondary area of specialization

5.3. Coursework — Because the aim of the program is to produce effective and creative researchers, the graduate curriculum in Linguistics is designed to quickly prepare the student to do primary research and then to engage the student directly in doing primary research in the various sub-areas of linguistics that are represented in the Department. Each student develops an individual program of study that includes both a common set of core courses and a coherent set of entry-level and advanced courses in one or more sub-areas within linguistics, as described in the following subsections.

5.3.1. Core courses — The following courses constitute the basic "core" for all students and are thus to be taken by all students (although there are procedures for "testing out" of these requirements):

  1. Linguistics 602.01—Syntactic Theory I
  2. Linguistics 603.01—Phonological Theory I
  3. (the experimental methods disjunct) either: Linguistics 600.01—Phonetic Theory I
    or
    Linguistics 615--Introduction to Psycholinguistics
  4. (the variation disjunct) either: Linguistics 611.01--Introduction to Historical Linguistics
    or Linguistics 661--Introduction to Sociolinguistics.
Motivation for the core courses — Like all new students, those students intending to enter the Ph.D. program with an M.A. degree in linguistics from some other institution or with substantial preparation in linguistics must demonstrate an appropriate level of competence in the core areas and methods of the field as a whole as well as in core ideas and methods that are specific to their chosen area(s) of specialization. For many students, this may entail taking the core courses during their first two years at the Ohio State University, but any student may attempt to "test out" of one or more of the core courses.

The relevant area faculty will determine and approve the testing out, based on their evaluation of the student's work previously done in that area. The evaluation will be specific to the individual case, and might consist of one or more of the following mechanisms for determining that the student has knowledge and skills comparable to those developed in the relevant core course:

  1. inspection of the syllabus from the course(s) previously taken and of the student's transcript
  2. inspection of written work from the course(s) previously taken (e.g. homework, exams, term papers, and the like)
  3. an oral examination by faculty members specializing in the relevant area
The relevant area faculty might also specify that the student can substitute a different course, such as a higher-level course that has the core course as a pre-requisite.

To petition to test out of a core course, the student and his or her advisor send an e-mail to the current member of the Linguistics Graduate Faculty who will next teach the course (or who most recently taught the course if this is not yet known at the time of the petition). The petition should include a sentence or two describing the rationale for the appeal. The faculty member petitioned can request supporting material (as described above) and then will consult with other faculty as relevant and respond to the petition by e-mail. The advisor records the decision by entering the petitioning e-mail and the responding e-mail in the "notes" field for the "core courses" requirement page for the student in the advising database.

5.3.2. Entry-level courses are are courses that can be completed during the first two years in the program, and which prepare the student to engage in independent primary research in the chosen area(s) of specialization. Because these courses should be completed early in the student's transition into becoming an independent researcher, the student and advisor are well advised to provide a preliminary list of these entry-level courses at the AdvisingFest, so that the relevant area specialists can help insure that the most relevant courses will be offered in time for the student to use them in preparing for the 2nd Year Paper colloquium.

5.3.3. Advanced courses are courses that can be completed by the end of the third year in the program and which engage the student directly in research. Because these courses should be completed before the student writes the 3rd Year Paper, the student and advisor are well advised to begin thinking about these very early in the process of designing a program of study. Also, although a final list of advanced courses is not required until stage 2, it is to the student's advantage to specify the list as completely as possible at stage 1, in order to influence the faculty as they determine what courses to offer in the following year.

5.4. The Second Year and Third Year Papers — These papers (1) must be research papers, (2) together must exhibit some breadth of knowledge of linguistics, either by covering topics from two different areas of specialization or by incorporating methodologies within one paper from two areas of specialization, (3) must exhibit originality in data, analysis, or theory, (4) must be of sufficient quality for publication in OSU Working Papers in Linguistics (though not necessarily published there), and (5) must be such as to enlighten and inform some professional linguist.

5.4.1. Colloquium — Each of these papers is presented in a department mini-conference, which is scheduled before the due date for the written version. The 2nd Year Paper talk should be no longer than 20 minutes plus a 10-minute question period, and the 3rd Year Paper talk should be no longer than 30 minutes plus a 15-minute question period. Typically, the mini-conference is scheduled to be during the regular Department colloquium times of the eighth week of the Spring quarter (for the 2nd Year Papers) and of the second and third weeks of the Autumn quarter (for the 3rd Year Papers). The speakers committee will reserve these times for the mini-conferences. A student with an atypical milestone clock should give the talk in the corresponding week of the corresponding quarter — i.e., the eighth week of Year 2, Quarter 3, for an out-of-sync 2nd Year Paper colloquium and the second week of Year 4, Quarter 1, for an out-of-sync 3rd Year Paper colloquium. The speakers committee will reserve the second Friday of Winter and Spring quarters and the eighth Friday of Autumn and Winter quarters until it is clear that these times are not needed by any student with an atypical milestone deadline for the 2nd or 3rd Year Paper colloquium.

5.4.2. Review of written version — The sequence of milestones for submitting and reviewing the written version are as follows:

Since the members of the reading committee have only two weeks to review the paper, and the student has only a few weeks to revise the paper in response to any requests for changes in the review, the student is well-advised to show earlier drafts to the committee members and consult closely with them in the course of developing the paper.

5.5. Language requirement — The only language requirement for the Ph.D. degree involves a language other than the student's native language (or dominant language, in the case of a bilingual student): students must demonstrate a linguistically oriented knowledge of such a language. This requirement may be fulfilled by taking 10 hours of linguistically oriented course work on an appropriate language (such as Linguistics 650, Linguistics 672, Sanskrit 621/622, courses in the history and/or structure of a language offered in another department) or by writing a substantive paper that incorporates, to the satisfaction of the student's advisory committee, substantial primary data from the chosen language; this paper should be such as would be written as a term paper in a seminar and need not be an independent piece (i.e. it may be a Pre-Candidacy Paper, though it need not be).

The language requirement must be fulfilled by the time that the student submits the Program of Study Stage 3 plan — i.e., before the meeting of the regular graduate faculty in Year 4, Quarter 1, when the plan is reviewed for approval.

5.6. The Candidacy Examination — The Candidacy Examination consists of a single written examination and an oral defense of the written examination combined with the defense of the draft dissertation proposal. The written examination will be linked as closely as possible to the dissertation proposal, though the two are technically distinct. For instance, the exam may take the form of a review of appropriate literature, or up to three essays in relevant areas.

The student and the advisor work together with the advisory committee to specify the form of the written part of the exam and the exact relationship between the exam proper and the draft of the dissertation proposal. For example, in some templates for a program of study in a specific area, the dissertation proposal draft must be submitted to the advisory committee before the rest of the exam is designed, so that the proposal can be the basis for the committee to write the questions to be addressed in the essays. In other templates, the student devises a first draft set of questions and submits them together with the draft dissertation proposal to the advisory committee. The milestone for constituting the advisory committee, and for specifying the format of the written part of the exam and its relationship to the draft dissertation proposal is the meeting of the regular graduate faculty in which the Stage 3 plan is reviewed in Year 4, Quarter 1. The milestone for completing both parts of the candidacy examination is the end of Year 4, Quarter 2.

5.7. The dissertation proposal — The candidate must propose a dissertation which is a significant original contribution to linguistic knowledge. The proposal is a short (approximately 5-10 pages) document that specifies the question to be addressed and its broader significance, and describes the methods to be used in addressing the question. After passing the Candidacy Examination, the student revises the draft dissertation proposal to incorporate any new insights and knowledge resulting from the process of writing the exams and to list the proposed dissertation committee members and submits the revised proposal to the proposed committee for endorsement. Once the proposed dissertation committee members have endorsed the dissertation proposal, they submit a final copy of the dissertation proposal for approval by the regular Graduate Faculty in Linguistics as a whole.

The procedure for getting approval by the whole faculty is for the student's adviser to send a pdf copy of the dissertation proposal to the Graduate Studies Chair to file in a directory that is accessible to all of the regular Graduate Faculty in Linguistics, and then to circulate an abstract by e-mail to the regular Graduate Faculty in the Program (e.g., by sending to the faculty alias). The circulated abstract should include the working title of the dissertation and must list the names of members of the student's proposed dissertation committee. The faculty have two weeks to respond with comments or suggestions for revision. Suggestions for revision that are circulated to the regular Graduate Faculty in the Program as well as to the student require some response from the student and/or the student's dissertation committee. If no suggestions for revision have been circulated in this way within two weeks, the proposal is approved by default.

5.8. The dissertation — The dissertation is expected to be a significant original contribution to linguistic knowledge. The dissertation is to be written under the direction of an advisor, and in consultation with other members of the dissertation committee. Sections II.6.12.5 and II.6.12.6 of the Graduate School Handbook specify the timetable for submitting a complete draft of the dissertation to the dissertation committee for approval; for filing the "Draft Approval/Notification of Final Oral Examination" form with the Graduate School; and for submitting a complete draft to the Graduate School for format review. Section III of the Graduate School Handbook is a very detailed set of Guidelines for Preparing Theses, Dissertations, and D.M.A. Documents. When signing the "Draft Approval/Notification of Final Oral Examination" form, the dissertation committee should keep in mind the rules of the Graduate Studies Committee regarding the purpose and typical format of the Final Oral Examination.

5.8.1. Final Oral Examination — After the approval of the dissertation draft by the dissertation committee, a final oral examination is held. Sections II.6.13 and II.6.14 of the Graduate School Handbook describe the general Graduate Faculty rules regarding this exam. The Final Oral Examination Committee consists of the members of the dissertation committee plus a representative of the graduate factuly appointed by the Graduate School.

In 1996 and again in 2004, the graduate faculty in linguistics voted to establish the following local rules. Except for the closed deliberation period at the end, a Final Oral Examination in the Linguistics Program is an open defense of the candidate's dissertation and larger research program; anyone may attend, and all faculty and students in the OSU linguistics community are encouraged to attend. In the typical case, no more than 10 minutes at the beginning of the exam will be used for a question from the Committee as a whole, asking the candidate to succinctly state the primary question addressed in the dissertation, to summarize the main results as they bear on the question, and to explain their significance in the broader context of the field. This first short question and response interval will be followed by about 20-25 minutes of questioning by each member of the Examination Committee. About 15 minutes will be allowed for closed deliberations by the Examination Committee at the end. Any time that remains of the approximately two hours that the Graduate School specifies as the length of the usual exam can be given over to questions from others in attendance (students and faculty members alike).

In academic year 2002-2003, the Graduate Faculty rules were changed so that a unanimously affirmative vote of the Examination Committee is now required before a result of "satisfactory" can be reported (see section II.6.14.2 of the Graduate School Handbook). This change replaces an older Linguistics Program policy that permitted a student to pass this examination with one negative vote from a committee member.

5.8.2. Final copy of the dissertation — Section II.6.4 of the Graduate School Handbook describes the procedures for getting final approval of the dissertation from the dissertation committee and for filing the dissertation. Effective in Autumn Quarter 2002, the Graduate School has required the electronic submission of all doctoral dissertations. The Graduation Services office in the Graduate School has prepared a document on "Making a reliable PDF (Portable Document Format) from your Dissertation" and there are templates in several formats (including LaTeX). After successfully filing the dissertation with the Graduate School, the new doctor should send a copy of the pdf file to the OSDL (Ohio State Dissertations in Linguistics) committee to post on the Department's publications page, unless this is in conflict with a contract with a publisher, in which case only the title and abstract will be posted.

6. Milestones

This section summarizes the current set of milestones for completing each of the program requirements described in the previous section of this handbook.

6.1. The current milestones — The typical progression through the milestones for students who entered the program in Autumn 2003 or later is shown in the following table.

Year Quarter 1 (typically Autumn) Quarter 2 (typically Winter) Quarter 3 (typically Spring)
1     • AdvisingFest
2 • Stage 1 plan approved   • Stage 2 plan approved
• 2nd Year Paper colloquium
• core and other entry-level courses completed
3 • 2nd Year Paper accepted   • advanced courses completed
4 • 3rd Year Paper colloquium
• 3rd Year Paper accepted
• Language Requirement fulfilled
• Stage 3 plan approved		 • Candidacy Examination completed
• Dissertation Proposal approved		  
5     • dissertation defended & filed

6.2. Transitional milestones — There are two sets of transitional milestones for students in earlier cohorts who have opted to switch to the new requirements.

6.2.1. Autumn 2002 cohort — Students who entered the program in Autumn 2002 and who opt to switch to the new milestones need not file a Program of Study Stage 1 plan. The deadline for submitting a Program of Study Stage 2 plan is October 4, 2004. The rest of the milestones are as specified in the table above.

6.2.2. Autumn 2001 cohort — Students who entered the program in Autumn 2001 who have successfully passed the old milestone for the First Pre-Candidacy Paper can opt to switch to the new milestones if they notify the Graduate Studies Committee of this intent by September 13, 2004.

If the Colloquium Paper presented in Spring 2003 was distinct from the First Pre-Candidacy Paper, and the student's advisory committee agrees, the student can submit a 3rd Year Paper that is the written version of the Colloquium. In this case, the ColloquiumFest presentation in Spring 2003 is re-designated as the Colloquium for the 3rd Year Paper. Otherwise, the student must present the 3rd Year Paper colloquium in the mini-conference that is scheduled for September 24, 2004 (or on October 4, if there are too many 3rd Year Paper colloquia to schedule on September 24).

In either case, students in this cohort who opt to switch to the new milestones need not file a Program of Study Stage 1 plan or a Program of Study Stage 2 plan. The deadline for submitting a Stage 3 plan is November 22, 2004, and all subsequent milestones are as specified in the table above.

7. Master's degree requirements

As noted in section 1 above, the graduate program in linguistics is primarily a doctoral program. However, a student who is already in the Ph.D. program may petition to earn a Master of Arts degree in Linguistics (1) on the basis of the Candidacy Examination, as described in section II.5.10 of the Graduate School Handbook; (2) by fulfilling the requirements for a non-thesis option degree; or (3) by fulfilling the requirements for a thesis option degree. Options (2) and (3) are also available to two other types of Ohio State University student.

First, Ohio State University undergraduates who have fulfilled certain University and Arts & Sciences requirements may earn an M.A. after being admitted to the combined B.A./M.A. program. The local requirements for this program are detailed in a separate part of the department handbook that is specific to the Combined B.A./M.A. Program. See also section II.7 of the Graduate School Handbook, which describes all general Graduate School rules applying to such programs.

Second, graduate students in good standing in other graduate programs at the Ohio State University may petition to transfer into the linguistics graduate program for one quarter to earn an M.A. in linguistics using the procedure described in section 7.1.2.

Section II.5.4 of the Graduate School Handbook summarizes the general requirements for all Master's degrees at the Ohio State University. This section of the Linguistics Graduate Program Handbook describes the specific local requirements for the non-thesis and thesis option Master of Arts degree in Linguistics.

7.1. Admission to the M.A. program — Certain Ohio State University undergraduates may apply for admission to the combined B.A./M.A. program to finish a B.A. in linguistics at the same time that they begin to earn an M.A. in linguistics. Also, under special circumstances, a graduate student in another program at the Ohio State University may request to transfer into the Graduate Program in Linguistics for one quarter in order to complete a Master's degree.

Decisions to admit an undergraduate student into the combined B.A./M.A. program or to allow a graduate studen to transfer into the Linguistics Program for one quarter to complete the M.A. are the responsibility of the Graduate Studies Committee.

7.1.1. Application deadlines — Students can apply to be admitted into the M.A. program in any quarter. An undergraduate student applying to the combined B.A./M.A. should complete the application process by the seventh week of the quarter before the student plans to begin the combined degree. A graduate student petitioning to transfer into the linguistics program to complete the M.A. degree should submit the Linguistics Department's M.A. paper acceptance form and the Graduate School's Request for Transfer of Graduate Program form by the last day of classes of the quarter before the one in which the student plans to take the M.A. exam. A student in the Linguistics Ph.D. program who wants to earn a non-thesis option M.A. also must submit the Linguistics Department's M.A. paper acceptance form to petition to take the M.A. exam by the last day of classes of the quarter before the one in which the student plans to take the M.A. exam.

7.1.2. Admission for students in another graduate program — This section describes the process for petitioning to transfer into the graduate program in linguistics to earn an M.A. degree. (Ohio State University undergraduate students who wish to be admitted to the graduate program to pursue an M.A. under the combined B.A./M.A. program should consult the handbook pages for that program.)

An M.A. degree is offered to students who are currently in a graduate program (or have been admitted to such a program) at the Ohio State University and who are admitted by the Linguistics Department's Graduate Studies Commitee; advocacy by a member of the faculty is required for admission in addition to the usual academic criteria. The M.A. paper acceptance form is used to specify the advocate and to request permission to take the M.A. exam. The quarter before taking the exam, the student must also submit a Request for Transfer of Graduate Program form to the Graduate School. (The same form will be submitted again upon completion of the M.A. in linguistics, to transfer back into the student's original graduate program.) Students interested in a Linguistics M.A. are advised to complete three or more upper division and/or graduate linguistics courses successfully before applying for M.A. admission.

7.1.3. Support for M.A. students — Financial aid is not offered to M.A. students by the Linguistics Department from departmental funds.

Students enrolled in the combined B.A./M.A. program who are looking for support from other sources should note the conditions on Graduate Associate appointments described in section II.8.1.5 and section II.7.5.10 of the Graduate School Handbook.

7.1.4. M.A. admission versus Ph.D. admission — M.A. admission and Ph.D. admission are different. M.A. students who decide to try for a Ph.D. in Linguistics will need to apply separately for admission to the Ph.D. program, as described in Section 1 of this handbook.

7.2. The non-thesis option — The Graduate Program in Linguistics offers a non-thesis option Master of Arts Degree. The following local rules for this M.A. degree were adopted by the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics in Autumn 2002, and they replace earlier descriptions of the requirements for earning an Master of Arts Degree in Linguistics. These rules are in addition to the general Graduate School rules, which are described in Section II.5 of the Graduate School Handbook, and which should also be consulted. (In the general rules, note especially the requirements to submit an Application to Graduate form with the Graduate School by the second Friday of the quarter in which the student plans to take the Master's Examination and to be enrolled for at least three graduate credit hours during that quarter.)

7.2.1. Coursework — At least 45 graduate credit hours in the Department of Linguistics are required to earn a master's degree. Further requirements are specific to the student's status.

Combined B.A./M.A. students: For students in the combined B.A./M.A. program, these 45 hours must be completed only after admission to the Graduate School, although up to 15 of these credit hours can be earned while finishing the undergraduate major requirements. The handbook pages for the combined B.A./M.A. list further specific requirements on what courses can be counted toward the M.A.

Transfer students: Students who transfer into the linguistics M.A. program from another graduate program must be already admitted to the Graduate School before they can petition to earn an M.A. in linguistics. Therefore, there is no further constraint on when these 45 credit hours can be earned relative to the time of transfer into the linguistics program, and such students will typically take most of these credit hours before the quarter in which the transfer is in effect. The following coursework requirement applies specifically to such transfer students.

Four "core" courses are required (these must each be completed with a grade of B+ or higher): This M.A. core course requirement can also be satisfied by completing the relevant subsequent course with a grade of B+ or higher in place of one or more of the four courses listed above. The relevant subsequent courses are: Linguistics Ph.D. students: Students in the linguistics Ph.D. program who wish to earn a non-thesis option M.A. must have completed 45 hours of graduate credit courses and have completed the Ph.D. core course requirement by the end of the quarter in which they plan to take the M.A. Exam. If the student has completed substantially more than 45 graduate credit hours by the time of completing the M.A., it may be necessary to file the Graduate School form to transfer excess credit hours from the M.A. to the Ph.D. in the quarter after earning the M.A.

7.2.2. M.A. paper — In addition to the coursework specified above, a paper reporting substantive research is required of any student who wants to earn an M.A. by the non-thesis option. In the typical case, completing this paper is prerequisite to designating an M.A. Exam Committee and a copy of it is filed with the Graduate Studies Chair at the time that the petition is submitted to the Graduate Studies Committee.

Transfer students: For a student who transfers into the Linguistics M.A. Program from another graduate program, this M.A. paper is usually one that has been prepared for an advanced course in Linguistics, though if no suitable course is available, a paper completed in individual studies (Ling 693) may be used. The paper must be filed with the Graduate Studies Chair, and must be accompanied by the signed M.A. Paper Acceptance form.

Linguistics Ph.D. students: For a student in the Linguistics Ph.D. program who petitions to earns a non-thesis option M.A., this M.A. paper can be one that has been prepared for an advanced course in Linguistics or it can be the 2nd Year Paper or 3rd Year Paper that the student has filed with the Graduate Studies Committee if one or both of these Ph.D. program requirements has been completed at the time of petitioning to take the M.A. Exam. The paper to be used as the M.A. paper must be designated on the signed M.A. Paper Acceptance form that the student submits to the Graduate Studies Committee to petition to take the M.A. Exam, and if it is a paper that is not already in the student's file, a copy of the paper must accompany the form.

Combined B.A./M.A. students: For a student in the combined B.A./M.A. program, this paper can be (and typically will be) the Research Paper that is completed by the student during the senior year as an undergraduate. The same M.A. paper acceptance form that is used by other graduate students to petition to take the M.A. exam is used also by students in the combined B.A./M.A. program who opt for the non-thesis degree. However, Part 2 of this form is not relevant for students in the combined program and should be left blank.

7.2.3. Master's Examination (non-thesis option) — The Master's Examination is a week-end (or equivalent stretch of time) open-book exam on an area within linguistics that the student declares as his/her "area of concentration", i.e. the area he/she feels most comfortable with and typically will have taken more than one course in and/or written the substantive paper in. The written exam is followed by an oral exam of one hour with the student's examination committee (advisor, plus at least one other member of the graduate faculty in linguistics).

7.3. The thesis option — The Graduate Program in Linguistics offers a thesis option Master of Arts Degree. The thesis option M.A. is the typical route toward the M.A. for a student in the combined B.A./M.A. program. The process of applying to the combined degree program is described in the handbook pages for that program.

By contrast, a graduate student who petitions to transfer into the linguistics program for one quarter to earn an M.A. in Linguistics will typically take the non-thesis option. However, if the advocate and one other member of the Graduate Faculty in linguistics agree to supervise a thesis, such a student can choose the thesis option. These two faculty members will constitute the M.A. thesis reading committee.

Also, at any time between the approval of a Stage 1 Program of Study plan and admission to candidacy, a graduate student in good standing in the Linguistics doctoral program can petition the advisor and one other graduate faculty member of the program to be a thesis reading committee for an M.A. degree with a thesis. The advisor is the chair of the thesis reading committee, and the other member should be a member of the student's advisory committee or 2nd or 3rd Year Paper reading committee, as appropriate for the thesis (see section 7.2.2).

In both of these cases, the same form is used to apply for the thesis option M.A. as for the non-thesis option M.A. However, the title of the M.A. thesis should be specified in section 3 on the form in place of the "Dates of the M.A. exam (written part)". Both members of the reading committee must be listed on the form and both must sign on the paper acceptance line. A graduate student in another program must also submit the Request for Transfer of Graduate Program form in the quarter before defending the thesis.

7.3.1. Coursework and paper — These are identical to the requirements stated in sections 7.2.1 and 7.2.2 for the non-thesis option.

7.3.2. Thesis — For a student in the combined B.A./M.A. program, the thesis typically is based on the research paper written in the senior year. The following guidelines apply to all other students who petition to earn a thesis option M.A.

Since the aim of graduate student advising in the doctoral program is to foster timely transition to postdoctoral research, as described in the first paragraph of the section on doctoral degree requirements, students in the Ph.D. program in linguistics and students in other graduate programs who petition to transfer into the linguistics program to earn an M.A. in linguistics are discouraged from writing master's theses that are completely independent of the Ph.D. requirements. Thus, in normal circumstances, the thesis should be based on one of the following documents:

  1. a substantive paper completed in a class
  2. the student's 2nd Year Paper
  3. the student's 3rd Year Paper
  4. a different paper submitted to fulfil the language requirement
The thesis is prepared, formatted, read and approved by the thesis reading committee, defended, and submitted to the Graduate School following the general Graduate Faculty rules described in section II.5.12 of the Graduate School Handbook.

7.3.3. Master's Examination (thesis option) — The Master's Examination for a student pursuing the thesis option is a one hour oral examination. The Examination Committee is the reading committee. The format of the exam as follows: in the typical case, 15-20 minutes should be set aside at the beginning for an oral presentation by the student, followed by 15-20 minutes of questioning by each member of the Examination Committee, and 10 minutes should be allowed for closed deliberations by the Examination Committee. Other faculty members and graduate students may attend the open part of the examination.

8. Graduate Associates

This section is currently under development. See sections IV.2.4.23, IV.2.4.25, and pp. 142-145 of the Graduate School Handbook.

9. Graduate faculty membership

Section III.2 of the Graduate School Handbook records the university-wide rules about who can serve on committees that are specified at the Graduate School level, such as the Candidacy Exam Committee and Dissertation Reading Committee. (See that document for the distinction between Graduate Faculty Category M and Graduate Faculty Category M.) This section of our own Program Handbook explains the local requirements for appointment to Graduate Faculty Category P in the Linguistics Program, and records department practice and decisions made over the years since 1993 about who can serve on various sorts of committees. These decisions, which are archived in departmental meeting minutes, distinguish between regular graduate faculty in the program and courtesy or "adjunct" faculty.

9.1. Regular Graduate Faculty — Regular graduate faculty are faculty whose tenure home is the Department of Linguistics and who have been appointed to the university's Graduate Faculty with Graduate Category P status. A member of the regular graduate faculty can serve as the advisor of record for a student in the Linguistics doctoral program, as well be on reading committees and advisory committees.

Section IV.3 of the Graduate School Handbook specifiy the general Graduate Faculty rules concerning the Graduate Faculty membership at the Ohio State University. The rules on file with the Graduate School for nominating someone for an appointment to the Graduate Faculty in Linguistics are as follows:

Criteria for Graduate Category P Status Department of Linguistics — In order to maximize the benefits to our Ph.D. students that careful advising can bring them in their pursuit of the degree, and in recognition of the importance of having faculty doctoral advisors who are themselves active researchers as well as skilled advisors, the Department of Linguistics establishes the following criteria for Graduate Faculty P status:
  1. The faculty member must demonstrate an active engagement with advanced research, as shown by a significant publishing and/or grant record beyond and/or independent of his or her own Ph.D. work. This demonstration will come in the form of at least one book in addition to the dissertation or at least four major publications that build on, extend, or go beyond the work in the dissertation; a significant outside grant will also count toward fulfilling this criterion.
  2. The faculty member must demonstrate an ability to advise students in research at an appropriately high level. Since our Ph.D. program is not predicated upon the successful completion of an M.A. thesis, evidence of sufficient advising experience at OSU will consist of playing a primary role in at least four student research papers, such as the second-year and third-year "Pre-Generals Papers" that Ph.D. students must turn in as part of the departmental requirements for advancement through the Ph.D. program. Advising on an undergraduate honors thesis, a B.A/M.A. thesis, or an M.A. thesis, will also count towards fulfilling this requirement, as will advising of a comparable sort done at other institutions.
The regular graduate faculty in the program are all those faculty who have regular appointments in the Linguistics Department, with Graduate Faculty P status. The current regular Graduate Faculty in the Program are: 9.2. Courtesy Graduate Faculty Appointments — Several faculty in other departments have accepted courtesy appointments in Linguistics, and they can serve on reading committees and advisory committees for doctoral students in linguistics without prior approval of the regular faculty and Graduate Studies Chair. There is also ample precedent for Ohio State University Graduate Faculty with courtesy appointments in Linguistics serving as one of two co-advisors for a student. (University-wide rules state that the first advisor of record must be a member of the department, however.) The home departments and contact information for Ohio State University faculty with courtesy appointments in Linguistics are listed on our web page.

Descisions to offer a courtesy appointment are made in a three-step process whereby two members of the Regular Graduate Faculty nominate a candidate by circulating a brief description of the rationale for the appointment to the Regular Faculty as a whole, who then discuss and vote on the nomination in a closed meeting (typically at the regular annual review of faculty performance). If the vote is favorable, the Department Chair is then charged with obtaining the concurrence of the College of Humanities (typically via the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research) for sending a letter inviting the candidate to accept the courtesy appointment. By University rules, courtesy appointments are reviewed and renewed annually.

9.3. Appointing Other Faculty to Committees — Because of the highly interdisciplinary nature of research in linguistics, students and their advisors sometimes find it appropriate to appoint to a Reading Committee or to the Advisory Committee a member of the Ohio State Graduate Faculty who has neither a regular appointment nor a courtesy appointment in the Linguistics graduate program. The local program rules state that such appointments can be made on a case-by-case basis with the concurrence of the regular graduate faculty. Students and their advisors seek this concurrence by sending a brief rationale for the ad hoc appointment to the Graduate Studies Committee and requesting that the Committee circulate a petition to the regular program faculty. This concurrence should be obtatined before asking the non-program faculty member to accept the proposed ad hoc appointment. (A succession of such ad hoc appointments is often part of the rationale for nominating a person for a courtesy appointment.)

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