Qualifying Examination Requirements
The student's Qualifying Examination Committee must include at least one member of the WRaCS faculty. The Chair of the Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies designated emphasis and the student's Ph.D. program Graduate Adviser must co-sign the Qualifying Examination Committee form, which is submitted to Graduate Studies for approval by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The Qualifying Examination will assess the student's level of knowledge within the area of the DE, as well as in the Ph.D. program. Satisfactory performance on the Qualifying Examination for the Ph.D. will be judged independently from performance on the DE. Thus, an allowable outcome of the Qualifying Examination is that the student's performance may be "passing" for the Ph.D. but "not passing" for the DE.

In the event that a student passes the Ph.D. qualifying exam, but receives a "not pass" for the DE, the Executive Committee of the DE will define a plan for remediation. The plan may include, but is not limited to, re-examination by the DE Executive Committee, coursework, teaching, or preparation of a paper. If the student is re-examined, the outcome is limited to "pass" or "fail." If the student receives a "fail," the student is disqualified from the DE.

Dissertation Requirements
The student's Dissertation Committee shall be selected in accordance with the regulations of the Ph.D. program, but must include at least one member of the DE. The DE member may be the Dissertation Committee Chair. Further, the dissertation topic chosen must have some relevance to the DE.

Degree Conferral Process
The DE will be awarded solely in conjunction with the Ph.D. and will be signified by the degree designation "Ph.D. in X with an Emphasis in Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies" where X is one of the affiliated Ph.D. programs.