CSU, Chico News

California State University, Chico is leading five CSU campuses in offering a collaborative Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree, the first in the nation to be offered by a consortium of universities. The program is currently enrolling students for the 1999 summer session.

The new five-campus consortium is comprised of CSU Chico, Hayward, Northridge, Los Angeles and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. As the lead campus, CSU, Chico will receive and process applications, coordinate admissions functions, provide graduate program coordination and arrange for multicampus advising.

The MFA in Creative Writing is a flexible, part-time degree program for students to develop their art in association with serious, like-minded peers.

A unique feature of the program is the low-residency component involving two, three-week summer sessions offered on consortium campuses on a rotating basis. This provides students an intensive group environment during summer without the inconvenience of a full academic load or the expense of permanent relocation closer to a particular university. It also provides expanded access to the academic resources of each of the consortium campuses.

The MFA in Creative Writing is a terminal degree program for writers, equivalent to doctoral degree programs. It requires 50 units of specified course work, focusing on poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction and playwriting, which will take between three and seven years to complete. The MFA program is expected to enroll 24 students in the inaugural year. Approval is pending by CSU, Chico’s accrediting body, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Throughout the year faculty and students will use the Internet to exchange work and initiate readings and discussions. Off-site academic advising and degree coordination will be accomplished primarily through electronic mail and two-way video conferencing.

“The new MFA in Creative Writing is an excellent terminal degree program that responds to the needs of writers in the West,” said CSU, Chico Provost Scott McNall. “We are pleased that the reputations of our own creative writing faculty have made it possible for Chico to serve as the lead campus in this new ground-breaking CSU collaboration.”

“We will be offering creative writing students the best resources available in the CSU,” said Robert Jackson, dean of CSU, Chico’s School of Graduate, International and Sponsored Programs. “The MFA in Creative Writing program will be a unique experience.”

California State University, Chico is a comprehensive institution offering 122 bachelor’s and 36 master’s degrees in a variety of subjects. Established in 1887, CSU, Chico, is the second oldest institution in the 23-campus California State University system. There are approximately 14,000 full-time students with 568 full-time and 322 part-time faculty members.

CSU, Chico has been offering credit courses in an accelerated summer session since 1919. A master’s in English with a Creative Writing thesis option has been offered since 1986. Chico has a long history of providing distance learning, delivering a variety of courses and programs statewide, nationally and internationally.

For details of the program, visit the MFA in Creative Writing Consortium Web site, http://rce.csuchico.edu/mfa. To apply for the 1999 Summer Session, write the School of Graduate Programs, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0875, or call (530) 898-6880. For further information, contact Carole Oles, MFA coordinator: e-mail, mailto:coles@csuchico.edu; phone, (530) 898-5240.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 1998 at 12:49 pm and is filed under 1998 Fall.