New English Writing Requirement

The Department is in the process of phasing out the (foreign) language requirement from the doctoral degree requirements and put in its place a new English writing requirement. The proposal adopted by the AMS faculty is to institute a mathematical writing requirement that is associated with the preliminary oral examination. The student must submit a document, typically 20 to 25 double-spaced pages long, containing the literature search synopsis for the proposed dissertation as well as research work accomplished to date. It must be given to the members of the Preliminary Examination Committee at least one week before the oral presentation.

The document must have the written approval for good English and writing style as well as correct content by the student's thesis adviser and a faculty member, not of the Preliminary Examination Committee, who is appointed by the graduate program director. International students may need extensive writing assistance from the ESL Tutoring Center established to provide exactly this kind of technical writing tutorial support. Tutorial assistance in writing, if needed, will also be provided to native students.

If the scientific content of the document is satisfactory, as evaluated by the Preliminary Examination Committee, but the writing needs improvement, the student will be advanced to candidacy, but the student must have a revised document approved by the end of the following semester. If the deadline for approval is not met, the student will be deemed not to be making satisfactory progress and may be subject to a reduction or termination of financial support.

The terms of the Graduate Bulletin in effect at the time when a student is admitted to the graduate program are legally binding contracts the University must honor. Since the foreign language requirement appears in the 2002-04 Graduate Bulletin, the student who entered or will have entered the AMS doctoral program by fall 2004 will have an option of satisfying either the old (foreign) or the new (English) language requirement.

If you have any questions regarding the above change, please do not hesitate to contact the graduate director.