Checklist of Important Items

Below are the important items you must comply with in order to assure successful completion of your degree.  Keep this list in your folder of important documents as suggested and write the dates in for every item when it has been completed.

____________            Consult the Graduate Catalog (available only online) so that you have easy access to course descriptions, course prerequisites, and regulations.

____________            Gain acceptance into the program (matriculation). Be sure to include proof of certification and formal transcripts as needed, as well as two letters of recommendation (for M.A.T and M.S.Ed. students) from

                                    professors in English, rhetoric, or comparative literature.

____________            Gain approval for candidacy. You must apply for candidacy no sooner than the completion of 6 credit hours at Cortland and no later than the completion of 15 credit hours. Send this form to your advisor in the English Department.

____________            Transfer courses (limit: 6 credits). If you are transferring graduate courses from another approved institution, you must fill out a transfer approval form and make certain official transcripts are on file at SUNY Cortland. You must be approved for candidacy before you are allowed to transfer courses. Send this form to your advisor in the English Department.

____________            Complete successfully all required and elective hours. You must maintain a G.P.A of 3.0 throughout your graduate study. (A 3.0 G.P.A. is required for student teaching.)

____________            Complete a master’s thesis for the M.A. degree. (Consult with the coordinator of the M.A. program in English.)

____________            Compile and submit a portfolio (for M.A.T. and M.S.Ed. students)

____________            After official acceptance of the Master’s Thesis (M.A. students), submit thesis for binding. 

____________            File for graduation (through Banner) and State Certification (for M.S.Ed. and M.A.T. students).

If you have not done this for your undergraduate degree, students in the M.A.T. and M.S.Ed. programs must complete two clock-hours of the following workshops and be fingerprinted (submit proof to the Associate Dean’s Office):

________ Child Abuse Workshop    ________ Fingerprinting         ________SAVE Workshop