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The Department of French and Francophone Studies
Graduate Handbook
Graduate Curriculum
For established courses, please see the French Graduate Course Descriptions.
INDIVIDUAL STUDIES, INTERNSHIP, AND SPECIAL TOPICS COURSES
Independent Studies Courses
FR 596 INDIVIDUAL STUDIES (1-9)
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.
With the concurrence of a graduate faculty member, a student may take an Independent Studies Course. Students interested in Independent Study should think of a special title and complete the appropriate forms available in the office.
Independent Studies courses are not to be seen as a substitute for required courses in any French graduate degree program, unless expressly approved as such by 1) the student's advisor, 2) the faculty member normally assigned to teach the established course, and 3) the Department Head. In case of disagreement, the Department Head makes the final decision in consultation with all parties concerned.
Internship
Graduate students may work with a faculty member on the development and design of a course in their area of specialization and receive one to three credits of individual studies.
Rights and Responsibilities of Student
Credits: A graduate intern will be awarded 1 to 3 credits of FR596 to be specified as a teaching/research internship. Note that FR596 cannot substitute for any course or credit requirement in a student's course of study.
Undergraduate Teaching: A graduate intern who is selected by a faculty member for an internship in an undergraduate class is required to teach that class according to the following table:
Not less than: No more than:
1 credit internship 1 hour 2 hours
2 credit internship 3 hours 4 hours
3 credit internship 5 hours 6 hours
Graduate course teaching: A graduate student who is selected by a faculty member for an internship in a graduate class is expected to do an original research presentation related to the topic of the course at least once during the semester (1 hour minimum - 3 hours maximum). Graduate students are not permitted to teach any course material that forms the basis of the course evaluation for their peers.
Course attendance: A graduate intern is expected to attend 15 hours per semester of the course in which they are interning, including those hours they teach. Interns cannot be required to attend the full course.
Other responsibilities: Possible duties of an intern may include: (a) doing library/data-base searches for relevant information and readings, (b) assisting in the design of lessons and activities around a particular topic, (c) assisting in the development of course web-sites or course delivery systems (ANGEL), (d) assisting in the design of assessment measures in undergraduate courses only (assignments, exams, portfolios, etc.).
Working Hours
The hours given below are per semester. The actual weekly working schedule should be worked out between the faculty and the intern.
1 credit internship
• 15 hours total/semester course attendance, including hours teaching/semester
• 30 hours total/semester of course design
• 45 hours/semester (3 hours/week)
2 credit internship
• 15 hours total/semester course attendance, including hours teaching/semester
• 60 hours total/semester of course design
• 75 hours/semester (5 hours/week)
3 credit internship
• 15 hours total/semester course attendance, including hours teaching/semester
• 120 hours total/semester of course design
• 135 hours/semester (9 hours/week)
Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty Members
Professors who wish to engage a graduate student intern must post an announcement of this position on the UP Graduate/Faculty listserv (l-upfrog@lists.psu.edu). The header should read "Graduate Intern Position". The body of the message should include the number and title of the course, the number of credits (1-3), and a course plan in which topics, readings, and other pertinent information about the course are announced.
The faculty and the intern are required to agree upon a work plan based on the number of working hours per credit. The final version of this plan will be in written form. The faculty member must be in attendance when the graduate student intern is teaching or presenting.
The faculty must assess the intern's performance and assign a grade to the student at the end of the semester. Further, at the conclusion of the semester, the faculty member should provide the student with a written evaluation of the student's performance in the form of a letter. With the faculty member's permission, this letter may be used as part of the intern's dossier.
Note: Only one intern per course per semester is permitted.
Special Topics courses
FR 597 SPECIAL TOPICS (1-9)
On occasion, Special Topics Courses are offered by faculty under the experimental numbers French 497 or French 597. Such a course may be either a one-time offering without subsequent change to an established course, or it may be offered several times under the experimental number before being entered permanently (with its own number) into the French curriculum.
Special Topics courses are not listed in the Graduate School Bulletin. Each semester, the Department publishes a full list of courses to be offered during the subsequent semester. Students should consult the list before seeing their advisor during the University's advance registration period.
Course Offerings in Related Areas
Although the French and Francophone Studies Department requires that all students take a prescribed number of French courses each semester, interdisciplinarity is encouraged whenever appropriate. However, students must demonstrate to their advisors that courses outside the Department will make a substantial contribution to their area of specialization. In some specializations, some of the related areas are specified in the program description.
NUMBER OF CREDITS AND COURSE REGISTRATION
Credits for Graduate Students with Teaching Assistantships
To maintain full student status, Teaching Assistants must register for a minimum of 9 credits per semester and may take as many as 12 credits. Credits taken for audit are not counted into the minimum, but are counted into the maximum number of credits allowed per semester. Students who wish to take more than 12 credits must be granted an exception on an individual basis by the advisor (with the concurrence of the Director of Graduate Studies) and the Graduate School.
During each semester in which students hold a Teaching Assistantship the department usually enrolls them in French 602 for variable credit depending on the number of sections they are teaching during the given semester. Registration in this course involves weekly meetings with the course coordinator for further teacher development and exam preparation. A grade is given to each student for this course. French 602 credits are not counted in the number of credits required for a graduate degree.
Credits for Graduate Students without Teaching Assistantships
To maintain full student status, graduate students must register for a minimum of 9 credits per semester and may register for as many as 15 credits. Students who wish to take more than 15 credits must be granted an exception on an individual basis through the Office of Graduate Student Programs in Kern Building.
Course Registration
Except for students new to the Department, it is advisable that students register in advance for courses during the "Advance Registration Period" of the preceding semester. Failure to do so may result in one of the following consequences: (1) the course may be closed and the student may not be able to take it; (2) the course may be cancelled due to insufficient enrollment.
In general, students should select French graduate courses numbered 500 and 600. However, the Department permits the use of 6 credits of courses numbered 400 to 499. The decision to take a 400-level course should be made in consultation with the adviser. A 400-level course cannot substitute for a 500-level course on the same topic.
Students who have held a Teaching Assistantship during the two previous, consecutive semesters are given a tuition waiver for 5 credits during the Summer Session. Students are expected to pay tuition for any credits beyond the 5 covered by the tuition waiver.
Course Waivers
A skills course (e.g., FR 581) may be waived for students who have successfully passed an equivalent course at another university. A waiver of this kind requires the consent of (1) the person teaching the course, (2) the student's advisor, and (3) the Department Head. In such a case only the course requirement is waived; the credits must be made up by substituting another course.
In cases where a student can demonstrate successful completion elsewhere of a course with essentially the same content as one required for a graduate degree program in the French and Francophone Studies Department, the credits may be waived provided the following conditions apply. For M.A. candidates, the course must represent credits earned beyond the baccalaureate degree. For Ph.D. candidates, the course must represent credits earned beyond the M.A. degree. All such waivers require the consent of the student's advisor, Director of Graduate Studies, and the Department Head.
GRADING SYSTEM
The Graduate School Bulletin mandates the following policies:
A grade is given solely on the basis of the instructor's judgment as to the student's scholarly attainment.
The following grading system is in effect: any one of nine quality grades (A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, D, F) may be given a graduate student for course work. Cumulative grade point averages are calculated on a 4.0 scale.
At the 400, 500, and 600 levels, grades of A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, and C denote graduate credit, whereas D and F are failing grades for graduate students, D being the normal failing grade. A grade of F indicates doubt, in the judgment of the instructor, of the student's potential for further graduate study.
A minimum grade-point average of 3.4 for work done at the University is required for all graduate degrees.
Deferred Grades
If work is incomplete at the end of a semester because of circumstances beyond the student's control, or if very little work remains to be done, the instructor may report DF (deferred) in place of a grade. It is not appropriate to use the DF either casually or routinely to extend a course beyond the end of the semester or to extend a course for a student who is failing so that the individual can do extra work to improve the grade. The DF must be removed (i.e., the course must be completed) within nine weeks of the beginning of the subsequent semester (not counting summer), with three possible exceptions: (a) a completion deadline longer than nine weeks may have been previously agreed upon by the instructor and student, with a memo on the agreement having been sent to the Office of Graduate Programs (114 Kern Graduate Building) for inclusion in the student's file; (b) as the 9-week deadline nears, it may become evident that an extension is warranted; or (c) if the student is enrolled in the Summer Session, the deadline for removal of deferred grades from the spring semester is six weeks after the beginning of the Summer Session. The instructor then sends a request for extension (to a specified date) to the Dean in the Office of Graduate Programs, with a justifying statement. If the course is not completed or the instructor does not submit a quality grade for completed work, the graduate recorder automatically records a failing grade.
No deferred or missing grade may remain on the record at those times when a student reaches an academic benchmark. Benchmarks include completion of a Master's program, the doctoral candidacy and comprehensive exams, and the final oral defense. Graduate programs may add additional benchmarks.
There are only three circumstances under which a course grade, once assigned, can be changed: (1) if there was a calculating or recording error on the instructor's part in the original grade assignment (Senate Policy 48-30); (2) if it is a course for which an R grade has been approved and in which an initial R can be assigned and changed later to a quality grade; (3) if, as discussed above, a DF was assigned and the deadline for course completion has not yet passed.
"R" Designation
In the case of thesis work, either in progress or completed, and in certain courses (e.g., 590, 594, 595, 596, 597, 600, 601, and a few others) approved by the Graduate Council, the instructor may report the symbol R in place of a grade. An R does not influence the grade-point average. It indicates that the student has devoted adequate effort to the work scheduled but gives no indication of its quality. The symbol may be used, for instance, in courses that are officially designed to extend over more than one semester or in courses for which a quality grade is inappropriate. An R in an approved course need not be changed later to a quality grade, but may be changed if the instructor deems it appropriate when the course work has been completed. Normally, a quality grade must be reported no later than the end of the following semester.
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