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Teaching in the English Department
MFA students may apply to teach Creative Writing courses in the English Department. In October of each year, a call is sent out for applications to teach in the following academic year. The application requires submission of a course description, a reading list, and a paragraph on why you want to teach the proposed course. The number of courses available each year depends on funding availability and need as determined by the English Department and Continuing & Professional Education. The MFA faculty reviews the applications and makes decisions based on the criteria listed below. Students appointed to teach these classes are required to participate in the Creative Writing Teaching Practicum (English 698L) and/or Practicum in Teaching MFA Online Courses (English 698MA) in the semester prior to teaching and the semester during their teaching of these classes.
Those who also have TOs with the Writing Program will be released from teaching for the semester they are teaching in the English Department. The stipend for teaching in the English Department is
$12,410.80 (AY 2023-24) and includes tuition credit and health insurance. Details about benefits may vary with individual circumstances.
Appointments are made for the following English Department courses:
English 140, Reading Fiction / English 141, Reading Poetry: General Education literature courses designed to introduce students to the reading of fiction or poetry. Maximum enrollment of 35.
English 146, Living Writers: A General Education literature courses designed to introduce students to contemporary literature, in which writers on campus for the MFA’s Visiting Writers Series visit the class. Maximum enrollment of 35.
English 254, Writing & Reading Imaginative Literature: A General Education course that is both an introductory creative writing course and a literature course. These sections are generally mixed-genre (poetry and fiction) with a maximum enrollment of 20.
English 354, Creative Writing: Intro to Fiction / Creative Writing: Intro to Poetry / Creative Writing: Mixed Genre: These creative writing courses can also count for credit towards the Creative Writing Specialization, and have a maximum enrollment of 20.
University Without Walls (UWW) Courses: The MFA Program provides instructors for English 254 and English 354 sections offered through UWW throughout the year. All UWW classes are online. In addition to a Practicum led by the MFA, technical training and support for online courses is provided through UWW. Due to the training investment, online appointments may be renewed for a second session if positions are available. Stipends for UWW classes are dependent on enrollment and may be cancelled if enrollment is low. (See below for further information on teaching for UWW.)
Eligibility
- Applicants should have completed at least two MFA writing workshops before the semester they will begin teaching.
- Applicants should have completed at least two graduate literature classes, ideally one in poetry and one in fiction, before the semester they will begin teaching. Applicants who don’t meet this criterion may still apply.
- Applicants must be making good progress towards their degree and may not have more than one incomplete. Any current incomplete must be resolved in a timely manner, usually within a semester barring extenuating circumstances.
- Applicants must be eligible for at least one semester of time and funding in the academic year for the semester they will be teaching. (Applicants with extension requests pending may apply.)
Criteria for Evaluation
- Merit of proposed course.
- Teaching experience and publications are considered, but don’t outweigh the evidence contained in proposed course description.
- Applicants who have already taught these courses are considered along with new applicants. However, the MFA faculty wants as many qualified applicants as possible to have the experience of teaching these courses, so when all other things are equal, the applicant who has not yet had the opportunity will be ranked more highly.
- The MFA Committee attempts to divide its final ranking as evenly as possible among applicants in both genres.