Graduate Plan of Study

Candidates for all graduate degrees must file an Interactive Plan of Study (iPOS). The following procedures apply to PhD, MA, and MTESOL students in the Department of English. MFA students should consult Justin Petropoulos, MFA Program Manager, for specific iPOS instructions.

An iPOS must be approved by the supervisory committee, the English department, the graduation office, and the dean of the Graduate College. Students must submit their iPOS before they have completed 50 percent of their programs. Failure to do so may result in a hold on registration.

The iPOS becomes the official record of your program plans and is a listing of what you have already taken, are presently taking, and will take to complete your requirements. It should be completed in consultation with your committee chair/advisor. Only a chair is required in order to submit the iPOS. Once an iPOS has been approved by the Graduate College, the student may then submit a committee change request to add committee members or to change chairs, co-chairs and members. Students also have the option of selecting their entire committee at once, which will eliminate the need to submit the committee change request later.

Committee change requests, petitions, course change requests and master's-in-passing applications are submitted electronically through your MyASU homepage.

Ph.D. students must have a committee formed before or at the time of the portfolio submission. Master's students will not be permitted to register for thesis credits or applied project until they have an approved iPOS on file.

To access the plan of study log in to MyASU

1. Click on the iPOS link
2. Select Graduate Interactive Plan of Study (iPOS)
3. Select your degree program and follow the directions to complete each page

For further details on how to submit your Plan of Study, see the Graduate College video tutorial and How to Guides.

If your program has different requirements (i.e., foreign language, thesis, applied project, capstone, written exam, etc.) you will select the appropriate requirements for your degree.

Foreign Language Requirement: Graduate programs in English have a language requirement (except for MA/PhD English Education, MAS, and MFA). Foreign language requirement results cannot be posted without an approved iPOS with entire committee on file. If you have completed the language requirement but have not filed an iPOS, contact englishgradadvising@asu.edu after your iPOS has been approved by Graduate College so the graduate program staff can update the requirement. The language requirement will remain “incomplete” until notification of completion (i.e., exam results, grades, etc.) is received.

1. Print out or email your summary page to your committee chair for review.
2. Obtain your chair’s signature somewhere on the summary page or email their approval. This indicates that your chair approves your courses and agrees to serve as chair. Note: All MA students doing an Applied Project must choose a chair and a second member.
3. Return (or send via email) the signed summary page. PhD students will send to Sheila Luna (RBHL 125) for department approval. MA students will send to Kira Assad (RBHL 124) for department approval. If there are any issues, the iPOS will be sent back to you and you will be notified of what needs to be changed.
   
4. Once the proposed courses have been approved, the iPOS will be sent to the Graduate College for final approval.

DEPARTMENTAL PROCEDURE (MTESOL and MA English Education) In order for the English department to approve your iPOS you must follow these instructions:

1. Submit your completed iPOS with a full committee (a chair and member). MTESOL students list Matthew Prior as the chair and Aya Matsuda as the additional committee member. MA English Ed students will pick a chair and list Jessica Early as the additional member. If Dr. Early is your chair, an additional English Ed faculty can be chosen as the second member. Note: If you are unsure of who will be your chair at the time of submitting your iPOS, please list Dr. Early as the chair until your official chair is chosen. She will then be switched to the additional member on your committee. 
2. Email Kira Assad to expedite the process after submitting your iPOS letting her know it has been submitted. A snapshot of your iPOS will be emailed to the program director for approval. If there are any issues, the iPOS will be sent back to you and you will be notified of what needs to be changed.
3. Once the proposed courses have been approved, the iPOS will be sent to the Graduate College for final approval.

DEPARTMENTAL PROCEDURE (MA English (English Studies) Online, MAS Film and Media Studies, and MTESOL Online) In order for the Department of English to approve your iPOS you must follow these instructions:

1. Submit your completed iPOS with a full committee. MTESOL Online students list Matthew Prior as their chair and Aya Matsuda as the additional committee member. MA English (English Studies) online students list Kathleen Hicks as the chair and Elenore Long as the additional committee member. MAS students list Julia Himberg as the chair.
   
2. Email Edith Velez Bermudez when the iPOS has been submitted. If there are any issues, the iPOS will be sent back to you and you will be notified of what needs to be changed.
3. Once the proposed courses have been approved, the iPOS will be sent to the Graduate College for final approval.

If you experience technical difficulty with submission, contact ipos-q@asu.edu.

Once you submit the iPOS, you cannot make changes until it has been approved. When your Plan of Study is approved, make sure you submit a course change request (through your MyASU iPOS link) if courses that you took do not match what you originally planned. You can also add and delete committee members by filing a committee change request through your iPOS link. If you are required to complete exams (foreign Language, oral/written) and hold a defense, make sure your committee matches what is on your Plan of Study. Please note: Students doing applied project or capstone must have two committee members.

Graduation Extensions: Students who have exceeded their time to degree (i.e., master's students must graduate within six years from the first course on their plan of study; PhD students within ten years) must file a petition for extension of graduation. This petition must be include a detailed justification: Why the petition is needed, what happened to cause the delay, when does the student intend to graduate, etc. A detailed timeline on progress toward defense such as: chapter 1 is due on ___, chapter 2 is due on ___. Include student statement: “I understand that there will be no further extensions petitioned, failure to meet agreed upon deadline will result in dismissal from the program.”