[Cwgrad-announcements] please help

[Courtney Santos]

Dear fellow graduate students,

At the risk of sounding like an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy...  I'll stick my third-year nose where it doesn't belong (as I'm no longer enrolled in conventional courses).

In my day, students approached the professor whose course they were curious about and said, "Hey, I was thinking about taking a class with you.  What books are you teaching from (or what craft techniques do you typically emphasize)?"  Generally (though I'm not suggesting flattery, no, no, never), the profs are pretty happy if you show interest in their endeavors to share their favorite books or writing passions with students.  This is also a great opportunity to start talking one-on-one about your thesis project ideas and get feedback on which courses will help you most.

In my first year I was always terrified to do this, being the sort of person who hides behind an email address, but I'll tell you, there's no substitute for personal contact.  However, if you must use email, I find that in my experiences as a student and also as a secretary that a personalized note always gets better results than a general notice sent out to multiple addressees.

Good luck on getting your course list.  I truly feel for your desire to plan ahead and get the most out of the MFA experience.  Those two years go fast.

And if I might throw in two more cents, don't spend too much time stressing over your choices.  Every professor in our department is here because they have something to offer to each of you.  I never regretted taking ANY Creative Writing course (though I certainly regretted a choice I made from the English department list that you hold in such esteem.)  

Courtney

==========================================
Courtney Santos
courtney.santos at email.ucr.edu
Graduate Student, Creative Writing and
Writing for the Performing Arts, 
University of California, Riverside



---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2006 16:19:30 -0800
>From: Carly Kimmel <chirs001 at ucr.edu>  
>Subject: [Cwgrad-announcements] please help  
>To: cwgrad-announcements at lists.ucr.edu
>
>   A few weeks ago I emailed the list serve in a
>   desperate attempt to get some answers regarding what
>   classes would be offered for winter quarter.  What
>   I was looking for was a list of class descriptions
>   put together by the faculty that details what
>   classes are being offered, what the format of the
>   class will be, what the reading lists will be, and
>   how much work to expect. I was told to wait and look
>   it up when the schedule of classes was released. I
>   still hoped some of the teachers would read my email
>   and send me the information I requested so that I
>   could compile it for them and then distribute the
>   master list to all of the graduate students in our
>   program. 
>   Well I waited, and my patience was a huge waste of
>   time. The schedule of classes is for the most part
>   totally useless. It does not give us reading lists,
>   it does not offer specifics, and often times it does
>   not even tell us who will be teaching the class.
>   After my first email, only one faculty member
>   responded to my email. ONE !!! Plenty of people
>   stopped me on campus to tell me they shared my
>   frustrations - students and teachers.. "good for
>   you," they said - and yet no one did anything. Are
>   we really that busy?
>   Most of the faculty already know what classes they
>   will be teaching in Spring. I think the students
>   should have that information as well. We are not
>   simply planning one quarter, we are planning two
>   full years, and what classes are being offered now
>   verses in Spring could and should make a big
>   difference in what we choose to register for. This
>   is not an outlandish request. It is unacceptable
>   that other than Professor Winer, who is on
>   sabbatical and not even teaching this quarter, no
>   one answered my call for help. Why aren't the
>   teachers eager and able to help us get the most out
>   of this program?
>   Rumors are flying around that Tom Lutz will be
>   teaching a craft class on our campus next quarter.
>   Why weren't we notified? How hard would it be to
>   send out an email or stick a flyer in our boxes? I
>   am assuming he would be a visiting or new professor
>   which seems worthy of a little advertising. Most of
>   us would jump at the chance to work with him, and
>   yet the majority of us had no idea a class with him
>   in Riverside was even an option.
>   The system is inefficient and here you have a
>   motivated capable student offering to help free of
>   cost. Please take advantage of it.
>   I care very deeply about this program, in fact I
>   feel absolutely privileged to be here - On the first
>   day of classes Susan Straight told us that it is our
>   responsibility as students to make it the strongest
>   and most prestigious writing program around- to make
>   it as good as Irvine and Iowa - and I took that very
>   seriously. I am willing to do my part - to read all
>   that I can, to perfect my craft, and to learn what
>   the professors on the campus have to teach me - I am
>   here to do nothing if not work my absolute hardest,
>   but along with my commitment comes an expectation
>   that the administration and the faculty will do
>   their part as well. There is no reason we can't work
>   together to get organized.
>   Faculty - please send  your class descriptions for
>   this quarter and next to carlyrose at mac.com . It
>   doesn't matter if you don't know when and where the
>   class will be offered - just let us know what we can
>   expect in the coming months.
>   I am sorry for the long rant, but I hope it will
>   prove worth the time it took to compose, and the
>   time you took to read it.
>   Thank you for doing so,
>   Carly Kimmel
>________________
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