MATX Handbook
VCU Department of English

General Program Information | Course Information | Other Resources | Curriculum | Program Requirements | Dissertation

PLEASE NOTE: The MATX handbook has been revised twice.

Those MATX students who entered the program prior to the fall of 2011 may refer to the previous edition of the handbook still available at:
www.has.vcu.edu/eng/graduate/matx/matx_handbook_pre2011_print.htm

Those MATX students who entered the program prior to the fall of 2010 may refer to the original edition of the handbook still available at: www.has.vcu.edu/eng/graduate/matx/matx_handbook_pre2010_print.htm

General Program Information

Email & Listserv
Every enrolled student must have a VCU e-ID and e-mail account. All students have a legal responsibility to check their University account on a regular basis. Electronic mail is also the primary vehicle for conveying Program information to students.

The program maintains a listserv for communicating deadlines and other academic information. All MATX students should sign up with the Graduate Programs Adviser.

Advising
All new students are initially advised by the MATX Director, who will continue to meet with each student regularly during his or her course of study. During the first year and no later than the Spring term of the second year, each student should identify a full-time (tenured or tenure-track) faculty member who is willing to serve as their dissertation director. This person will then serve as a primary adviser along with the MATX Director for the remainder of the student’s studies.

It is each student's responsibility to make sure that all requirements are completed in a timely manner. Requirements include coursework, the e-portfolio, the general comprehensive exam, and the elements of the candidacy and dissertation process. Progress should be tracked using the Program Worksheet included below and by regularly checking transcripts through e-services to verify that all grades have been posted correctly or to monitor any changes in student status. Both the MATX Director and dissertation director work with each student to ensure satisfactory progress toward the degree. Students should be sure to notify their adviser(s) immediately of any revisions to their schedule.  

VCU allows 8 years for the PhD, beginning with the first semester of enrollment. All courses applied toward the degree, including courses transferred from other institutions, cannot be more than eight years old in the semester when the candidate, having completed all degree requirements including the dissertation, applies to graduate with the PhD.

Degree requirements are binding as published in the Graduate Bulletin each fall. This is available on-line at www.vcu.edu/graduate. Students are bound by the Bulletin in force when they enter the University and are generally not affected by subsequent changes. They are expected to be familiar with all program and university regulations as spelled out in the Bulletin. This MATX Handbook is a supplement to the Bulletin and outlines specific procedures for meeting program requirements.

Student Status
A graduate student at VCU is considered full time if enrolled for a minimum of nine and a maximum of fifteen credit hours per semester. More than fifteen hours is an overload and requires special permission. No more than twelve semester credits may be earned in a summer semester.

MATX students must observe the University’s Continuous Enrollment Policy. Once admitted, a graduate student must enroll for a minimum of one course per year. In order to work on candidacy requirements after completion of coursework students must register for a minimum of one credit. Upon advancing to candidacy, the minimum is one graduate credit each fall and spring semester until the degree is awarded, including the semester of graduation. If candidates intend to graduate in August and/or if they have contact with faculty or use University resources over the summer, they must be enrolled for at least one semester hour in the summer session. Students who, for significant reasons, cannot continue their studies during a particular semester or calendar year should apply to the MATX Director for a leave of absence. A leave does not extend the 8-year time limit for earning the degree. Failure to maintain continuous enrollment will result in withdrawal from the program; reinstatement requires formal re-application. Summer enrollment may be required by the rules governing a student’s assistantship.

Graduate Teaching Assistants must register for at least nine hours each semester and must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0. Failure to register or to maintain satisfactory academic progress will result in termination of the Assistantship.

Please note the important distinction between "student" and "candidate". One is a doctoral student until candidacy is attained by completing all coursework and all program requirements except the final dissertation project. The title "doctoral candidate" may not be used until candidacy is approved by the GraduateSchool. The degree may not be listed on resumes and CVs until it has been officially awarded by the University, i.e. "PhD in Media Art & Text, 20XX". Until then, the proper format is either "doctoral candidate" or the dates of matriculation, "Doctoral Program in Media, Art & Text, 20XX -- to present".Enrolled students in good standing who have completed all the requirements for the degree other than writing the dissertation (all exams, all course credits, all competencies, approved prospectus, etc.), with the approval of their dissertation director and the MATX Director, may state that their status is “ABD” (for “all but dissertation") in the MATX Program.

Course Information

Registration and Credit Requirements
All students must register during advance registration. Those still completing coursework must consult with the MATX Director during the advising period. For some classes in VCUarts and the School of Mass Communications instructor permission is required. While enrollment in courses with the MATX prefix is guaranteed to matriculated MATX students, enrollment in other graduate courses is subject to the conditions established by the other units; studio and practice courses, in particular, frequently require portfolio applications and/or matriculation in specific degree programs for admission. Course offerings and registration information are published in the Schedule of Classes (http://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/scheduleofclasses/).

All courses must be at the 500-, 600-, or 700-level. At least half of the required courses for the degree must be numbered 600 or above. To graduate, degree applicants must achieve an overall grade-point average of at least 3.0 (“B”) on a 4.0 scale with a grade of C in no more than two courses. The GPA for graduation will be based on all graduate courses attempted after acceptance into the program.

The Graduate Bulletin contains further information about the GraduateSchool's regulations, including attendance requirements, grades of "W" (withdrawn) and "I" (incomplete), time limits for completing courses graded "I" and other academic policies.

Other Resources

Graduate Teaching Assistantships
Through the Graduate School the MATX Program offers a limited number of Graduate Teaching Assistantships each year. Assistantship duties usually involve instructional assignments in various departments, advising in Mass Communications, or assisting with the editorial work of Blackbird, the online journal of literature and art. Assignments are made by the Director in consultation with the relevant departments.

Graduate students on twelve-month assistantships will be assigned to teach/assist/or carry out other teaching and service work for 20 hours per week during the Fall and Spring semesters.  During summers, depending upon the rules governing the funding, they will be expected to register for 3 graduate course credits (including independent study or internship). The absence of assigned work during the summer is intended to allow students to concentrate on independent projects, preliminary dissertation research, dissertation drafting, and preparation for qualifying examinations and other formal degree requirements.

This policy accords with the GraduateSchool’s "Policies and procedures on graduate fellowships and assistantships," in particular the final paragraph in the relevant section that states:

Graduate assistantships are awarded for not longer than one calendar year and are not renewed automatically from year to year unless specifically stated in writing. Graduate program directors generally determine eligibility for renewal of graduate assistantship awards in subsequent academic years. Specific work assignments, scheduling and arrangements relating to vacation and personal leave are determined by the department, program or administrative unit to which the graduate student is assigned.

See: www.graduate.vcu.edu/community/financing/policies.html#assistantships

Please note: graduate funding must be listed on resumes and CVs using the exact name as stated in the award letter. A Graduate Teaching Assistantship must be listed as such. The terms "assistantship" and "fellowship" are not interchangeable.

Computer Rooms, Production Lab, and Studios
The Department of English maintains computer labs and production facilities on the third floor of the Hibbs Building. These facilities are available for use by all English and MATX graduate students.  Additionally, MATX students may be assigned individual and/or shared space in Hibbs 408. Qualified MATX students may be assigned work space in Milhiser House. Please consult the rules regarding work spaces posted on this website (link). Applications for space are made to the Graduate Programs Adviser.  Please note: MATX is not a studio program, and it does not provide traditional fine arts studio or exhibition space. Students are encouraged to seek out opportunities for collaboration at VCU and in the wider Richmond arts community.

Conferences and Papers
MATX students are encouraged to begin participating in academic and professional life by submitting proposals and abstracts to deliver papers at conferences. It is strongly recommended that students discuss such plans with and submit all abstracts and proposals to their dissertation director, the MATX Director, and/or the Graduate Programs Adviser. Students represent the program and the University, and their performance affects our reputation. Assistance with travel costs may be available through the MATX program. See the Graduate Programs Adviser for details. Funds will be disbursed only in accordance with State and University procedures.  Travel requests must be made 30 days before travel within the US and 45 days before international travel.

Curriculum

The 42-hour MATX curriculum consists of 36 hours of course work anda minimum of 6 hours of dissertation research. Because students enter with a master's degree, it is assumed that they will have a strong foundation in one or more disciplines.

In the first year all students follow the required sequence of four core courses:

MATX601: Texts and Textuality
MATX602: History of Media Art & Text
MATX603: History of Interdisciplinarity and Multimedia.
MATX604: Workshop

The core is supplemented with a research methods course and a theory course in fields relevant to the area of the individual student's dissertation research. These should be drawn from the offerings of the participating units, but they may be taken in other units with permission of the instructor and the MATX Director. They may be taken in the first or second year.

Electives (18 credits) are drawn from the regular offerings of the participating units and from the MATX 690 seminars offered each semester. They should form a coherent program of study and support dissertation research. Selection must be approved by the MATX Director and/or the student’s dissertation director during the advising period.

Independent study may be supervised by graduate faculty in one of the participating units.  It may not duplicate courses regularly offered. A student may take 1, 2 or 3 credits of independent study per semester. Additional credits may be authorized for purposes of continuous enrollment. No more than 6 credits of independent study may be counted toward the degree. Upon approval by the supervising faculty member, a description of the course of study, a bibliography, and the anticipated final product (a long paper, an annotated bibliography a creative project) is submitted to the MATX Director and the Graduate Programs Adviser. An electronic override is issued for registration upon approval.

Program Requirements

E-portfolio in the form of a professional website (Formerly 1st Competency)
Work on the e-portfolio will begin in MATX604 in the spring of the first year. It will be the basis for an ongoing professional web presence during the student's time at VCU and after. There are no technical specifications; the site may be hand-coded or use a template. The actual site structure, as well as the content on the site, must be the student's own work. Content should include, but is not limited to, work done in the first two years in the program. The site must demonstrate the technical skills (web design, audio, video, etc.) relevant to the student's work on the dissertation and the career sought after VCU.

Submission is a two-stage process to a committee consisting of the MATX Director, the Instructor of MATX604, and one instructor of another core course.

Stage 1: May of the first year
A 3 to 5 page design rationale for the portfolio site along with a mock-up or rough structure. Both are to be submitted electronically (pdf for the text, link or some easily accessible file format for the site) to the MATX Director according to the schedule posted each semester.

Stage 2: April of the second year
A finished, live site accompanied by a 5 page statement relating it to the student's work inside and outside the program and outlining how it uses media techniques to promote a specific professional and/or creative identity.

Each submission is graded pass/fail and may be repeated only once. A second failure results in automatic termination from the program.

General Qualifying Exam (Formerly Qualifying Exam Part I)
Covering material from the core curriculum, this exam is the same for all students. It is written and evaluated pass/fail by two faculty who taught the core courses and the MATX Director. A student who fails all or part of the exam may schedule a re-take within six months of the first attempt. If the examination is failed a second time, the student will be automatically terminated from the program.

Administration: The Graduate Programs Adviser emails the questions to all students taking the exam by noon on a Friday. Essays are due back by noon the following Monday. Exact dates are posted on the MATX calendar.  

Dissertation

The dissertation is an original, interdisciplinary and scholarly examination of a topic relevant to an aspect of media, art, and/or text.  While primarily a work of written scholarship, the dissertation may include work in media other than text.

For University regulations and procedures governing the dissertation and doctoral exams see the Graduate Bulletin: http://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/bulletins/graduate/?uid=10045&iid=30077

Dissertation Committee
The dissertation committee consists of the dissertation director and three or four additional members whose scholarly knowledge and interests are relevant to the project. All must be members of VCU’s Graduate Faculty, and the director must hold a PhD. The committee must have at least one member from each of the sponsoring units (School of the Arts, School of Mass Communication, and Department of English). Appropriate faculty from outside VCU may serve on committees (but not as director) with the approval of the MATX Director, the prospective dissertation director, and the Graduate Dean.

Dissertation Concept & Constitution of the Committee
The dissertation concept is a brief preliminary statement of the dissertation topic formulated with the advice of either the MATX Director or the prospective dissertation director. It serves primarily to help the student begin formulation of the topic and as a pitch to recruit members of the committee. It should be prepared at the beginning of the 2nd year, with the goal of having a committee in place during the Spring semester of the second year. The concept may not exceed two pages in length (double spaced), but it may be as short as a single paragraph. It is work in progress, not a final document, and it should not go through multiple drafts.

In consultation with the dissertation director and the MATX Director the student identifies and recruits relevant faculty for the committee. It is the student's responsibility to assemble the committee; committees will not be appointed by the program. The process of identifying potential committee members should begin during the first year. Once the student and the director have secured written commitments from committee members, the director sends a list to the MATX Director for approval.

Initial Committee Meeting
Once a committee has been constituted and approved, the director will convene a meeting to discuss the topic as formulated in the concept, the elements listed below, and procedures for the committee. This meeting is mandatory; further work may not proceed until it takes place.

Final Candidacy Requirements
Before beginning formal dissertation research, students must complete all 36 hours of required course work, both stages of the e-portfolio, the general qualifying exam, and the requirements described below. Upon completion of these, the student will apply for degree candidacy.

These requirements must be completed in the order specified and within the space of a single semester. Once begun, the process can only be suspended for extenuating circumstances (such as serious illness) and with the approval of the MATX Director. Full-time students will complete this process in the fifth semester but no later than the sixth semester. Students who have not attained candidacy by the end of the sixth semester will be reviewed by the MATX committee for termination for failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress.

Competency (Formerly 2nd Competency)
Each student must obtain and demonstrate a skill or techniquerelevant to the dissertation research or planned professional career.  At its initial meeting, the dissertation committee will approve the following: 1) The specific competency. 2) The manner of demonstration, which may be but is not limited to a project, paper, demonstration, or performance. 3) Explanatory material, such as a brief statement outlining how the competency was acquired and how it supports the dissertation research. 4) Mode of evaluation, i.e. when and where and whether by the whole committee, a subset, or just the director.

Bibliography Exam (Formerly Qualifying Exam, Part II)
The dissertation committee will approve a reading list of 20 to 30 sources relevant to or supportive of the dissertation topic. Questions will be composed by the dissertation director in consultation with the committee. Evaluation, by the committee as a whole, is pass/fail. The exam may be repeated once. A second failure results in automatic termination from the program.

Administration: The dissertation director submits the questions to the Graduate Programs Adviser who emails them to the student by noon on a Friday. Essays are due back by noon the following Monday. With approval of the MATX director an equivalent sequence of days may be selected.

Prospectus
The committee will evaluate the feasibility, originality, and professional relevance of the proposed topic based on the prospectus submitted by the student. The precise format is determined by the committee and should be appropriate to the student's primary discipline. Whatever the format, the prospectus must clearly indicate the significance of the research, give a short review of relevant literature, state the research question, specify the proposed methodology, and indicate how the project lays the foundation for the anticipated academic or professional career. It must also include a work plan for the completion of research and writing, as well as a complete bibliography.

The prospectus should be approximately 15 to 20 pages in length, double spaced, excluding bibliography.

Prospectus Defense
The student will defend the prospectus before the dissertation committee. The final draft must be provided to each member of the committee at least two weeks prior to theprospectus defense. At the defense, the committee will decide to accept the prospectus with or without revisions or reject it. Upon successful completion of the defense, the student will submit the signed candidacy form to the MATX Director for review and forwarding to the Graduate School. The prospectus defense may be repeated once. A second failure results in automatic termination from the program.

A final copy of the prospectus, with all required revisions, is to be submitted to the Graduate Programs Adviser for inclusion in the student's file.

Dissertation Text & Writing
The committee may choose to receive dissertation drafts in any form. VCU requires electronic submission of all dissertations. See the Graduate School web site for University regulations, procedures, and deadlines: http://www.graduate.vcu.edu/community/thesis.html

Given the varied nature of doctoral research, there is no set time-frame for completion of a dissertation. It is expected, however, that the dissertation will be completed about two years after attaining candidacy. It takes that much time to complete research, prepare and revise successive drafts, and receive comments from the director and members of the committee. Students should clarify expectations regarding time-frame, satisfactory progress, and submission of drafts with their committees at the outset.

Dissertation credits are graded S (satisfactory), U (unsatisfactory), and F (failing). Grades are assigned by the dissertation director, who should clearly articulate what the student is expected to produce each semester. S and U grades are not calculated in the GPA. However, credits graded U do not count toward graduation requirements and may need to be repeated. Receipt of a U may result in review of the student for termination from the program. A grade of F will be assigned if the student fails to remain in contact with the director and/or submits no work or evidence of research activity for the semester. A grade of F will result in immediate termination as specified in the Graduate Bulletin.

Illustrations and copyright: As these vary by discipline, each student should discuss proper procedures and expectations with the committee at the initial meeting. Consultation with the MATX Director is strongly recommended.

Exhibition of Creative Work
Students who produce creative work as part of the dissertation should establish with their committee how such work is to be reviewed and/or exhibited. The MATX program does not provide exhibition space; candidates are responsible for securing their own venue, which should be easily accessible to the committee.

Dissertation Defense
The dissertation defense may be scheduled only after the director has approved the final draft for distribution to the committee, which must occur at least four weeks prior to the defense date. Defenses must occur no later than the final defense date as announced each semester on the MATX program calendar. Generally this date will be in early November or early April. An announcement of the oral defense, including the candidate’s name, dissertation title, and the date, place, and time of the defense, must be made at least 10 working days in advance via the Graduate Programs Adviser.

At the defense the candidate will respond to questions from members of the committee. They will evaluate his or her performance and the dissertation for originality and command of cross-disciplinary knowledge. Although the draft presented at the defense is to be final and complete, the committee may require additional revisions.

The final draft of the thesis must be submitted electronically to Cabell Library by the deadline specified on the University's academic calendar and in accordance with the procedures posted on the VCU Libraries website: http://www.library.vcu.edu/preservation/theses.html.