They value their sense of community because we believe that a convergence of expert, caring, and interesting scholars at every level, from undergraduates to emeriti faculty, will promote the holistic development of our graduate students. They stress professional development in scholarship, teaching, and career preparation. Their approximately sixty faculty members provide intellectual excitement as they share their expertise and enthusiasm through their seminars and their supervision of independent work and dissertations. In addition, they stress the development of future college teachers through a seminar on pedagogy and through the mentored teaching of courses from freshman composition through upper-level literature courses. Their graduate students prepare to enter the profession by taking courses in advanced research methods and professional development skills. They also offer an array of relevant and necessary workshops on topics such as publishing and grant writing. Their English Graduate Student Association (EGSA) provides professional and work/life support as well as fun. Their community of scholars is productive and successful as indicated by their consistently high placement rate of PhDs in tenure-track jobs despite a tough job market.