[ATTW-L] [CPTSC-L] MSU RW PhD Program Pause

[Stephen Bernhardt]

It’s unusual to see a PhD program make such thoughtful decisions. I hope
you emerge stronger with a bright future.

On Mon, Dec 19, 2022 at 1:10 PM Potts, Liza <lpotts at msu.edu> wrote:

> Dear friends, colleagues, alums, students, potential and future applicants:
>
>
>
> We write to share an update regarding our PhD program in Rhetoric and
> Writing.
>
>
>
> We’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working over the past 20 years
> with an absolutely amazing group of faculty and PhD students. We’ve watched
> our alums go on to do incredible work in the field–as teachers, scholars,
> and leaders. We are proud of what we’ve accomplished, and even more, we’re
> proud of those students who have gone on to be the next generation of
> leaders who define the work of Rhetoric and Writing studies.
>
>
>
> And now, it’s time for us to take a pause.
>
>
>
> The landscape of our field and subfields and, indeed, the landscape of our
> institutions and our country, have changed drastically over the past years.
> The PhD program we built 20 years ago is a robust one, but it’s one that
> needs to pause, reflect, and transform in the face of this change in order
> to  best imagine the futures of our field, our students, and our graduates.
>
>
>
> Institutionally, MSU now has a shared vision for our future – a 2030
> Strategic Plan. We also have a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (and Justice)
> Plan developed and we’re in the process of transitioning our goals to
> action items.
>
>
>
> We are pausing admissions to our PhD program for the next two years, which
> will give us time to do the important work of reflection, reassessment, and
> reinvention.  We will next invite applicants in December 2024 to begin work
> in Fall 2025. In Fall 2020, we relaunched our MA in Rhetoric and Writing
> program after some exciting revisions. We will continue to invite, support,
> nurture, and mentor MA students while we’re working on our PhD program.
>
>
>
> We have, of course, reviewed and revised our curriculum, our exams, and
> our processes over the years, but we feel that now is the time to devote as
> much energy as required to rebuild who we are and what sort of experience
> we offer the students who join us to do their doctoral work here in the
> Rhetoric and Writing Studies program at Michigan State University.
>
>
>
> We’ve already begun a process of reflection and reinvention that entails
> design thinking exercises, user-experience-guided research, and reflective
> conversations among ourselves and with our alums. We plan to continue this
> work over the coming year, and then to guide our program and curriculum
> changes through our academic governance processes.
>
>
>
> We want to be transparent across our processes and conversations. We want
> to share what we’re doing, thinking, and imagining. If you’d like to hear
> more, if you want an update, or if you just want to check in, please feel
> free to do so.
>
>
>
> The Rhetoric and Writing Graduate Advisory Committee (RWGAC) in the
> Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State
> University
>
> Liza Potts, Associate Chair and Director of Graduate Programs
>
> Kristin Arola
>
> Stuart Blythe
>
> Julie Lindquist
>
> Keaton Kirkpatrick
>
> Ethan Voss
>
> _______________
>
> Liza Potts, Ph.D.
>
> Professor, Associate Chair and Director of Graduate Studies
>
> Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures
>
> Michigan State University
> _______________________________________________
> CPTSC mailing list
> CPTSC at cptsc.org
> http://cptsc.org/mailman/listinfo/cptsc_cptsc.org
>
-- 
Steve Bernhardt
Bayside DE
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