Questions to Ask When Seeking an MFA Program
Go to MFA Overview
Go to MFA Admissions
Complete faculty information
Because so many choices are available (more than forty low-residency programs and many more traditional MFA programs), deciding which MFA program is right for you may be difficult. Here are some questions you may pose to yourself and to the different programs that interest you. Click on the questions in the “What to Ask the MFA Program” section to read answers regarding the Spalding MFA in Writing Program.
What to know about an MFA degree.
What is an MFA degree?
Why pursue an MFA degree?
MFA students and faculty in front of the Mansion Building
What to ask yourself
Is brief- or low-residency right for me?
What to ask the MFA program
What is your philosophy?
What special features do you offer?
What areas of writing do you offer?
What special help can I get?
What about the faculty?
What are the Workshops like?
Are there Workshops during the semester?
What is the curriculum like?
How much feedback will I get?
How much does it cost?
Where will I stay during the residency? What about meals?
What about financial aid?
How diverse is your program?
How do your graduates fare?
How do you support your alumni?
What to know about an MFA degree.
The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a terminal degree in an area of the arts, such ascreative writing, visual arts, music, or dance, requiring two to three years of study beyond the bachelor’s level. Often referred to as a “studio degree,” the coursework is primarily of an “applied” or “practiced” nature versus the research and academic inquiry of an MA or PhD. Usually the degree work is done in workshops or as individual projects. An MFA Program often culminates in a major work, such as a creative thesis.
While the focus in the MFA program is on an individual’s writing, the study of literature is an important part of the curriculum. From reading, students learn about craft, critical analysis, and the aesthetics of writing, which can be incorporated in one’s own work.
While the MFA is the degree most commonly held by writers who teach creative writing at the college level, many brief-residency students simply cherish the experience for its intrinsic value. The program is well suited for people who wish to become better writers and desire the experience of graduate-level instruction.
Why pursue an MFA degree?
According to the AWP Director’s Handbook (Association of Writers & Writing Programs, 2004) “The primary aim of writing programs, through work in writing, form, and theory, and through the study of contemporary writers and past authors, is to help students become better writers. . . . Writing programs are also characterized by the presence of active and experienced writers on their faculties. . . .” ( AWP, p. 4).
Pursuing an MFA degree gives you tools to improve your writing while studying with professional writers, who are also experienced teachers, and allows you to spend time with others who are as passionate about writing as you.
What to ask yourself
Is brief- or low-residency right for me?
The brief-residency (sometimes called low-residency) program format is ideally suited to the future life of a writer. While a majority of the course hours are taken on campus, students return home to pursue their creative writing through independent study, one-on-one with a faculty mentor.
During the program, the student establishes writing habits within a natural home setting, not removed to an isolated, solely academic environment. Writing time is not interrupted by attending classes. Because students are away from home only about ten days each semester, brief-residency programs allow students to pursue their studies regardless of where they live. Typically, brief-residency students are settled in lives, jobs, homes, and families.
Brief-residency programs work well for people who are self-motivated and disciplined, who can organize their own schedules and accomplish what needs to be done. (top)
What to ask the MFA program
Neela Vaswani with students after Graduation Readings
The Spalding MFA Program seeks to be intellectually stimulating and emotionally supportive. Our tagline “Where Every Individual Talent Is Nurtured” is not about coddling our students, but it does speak to our philosophy of support rather than competition among our students and constructive rather than destructive criticism by our faculty. We think students learn best when they hear honest assessments of their strengths as well as their weaknesses and when they receive instruction targeted to actively improve their writing. Some think the word “nurture” implies that our Program is not rigorous. But “nurture” and “rigor” are not mutually exclusive. The Spalding MFA Program has implemented several features, detailed below, that ensure the students achieve the best kind of MFA education.
Program Director Sena Jeter Naslund is a hands-on director who brings intellectual leadership to the Program. Sena is visible and approachable during the residency. Using her more than twenty years of teaching in a low-residency program and more than thirty-five years of teaching in the academy, Sena thoughtfully and purposefully designed the Spalding MFA Program to include the best possible learning opportunities for the students.
In the Spalding MFA Program, the word revision applies not only to writing but to the Program itself. Through various evaluations by students and faculty, the MFA Staff consider suggestions and often make changes based on the feedback. (top)
What special features do you offer?
Three semesters to chose from: Spalding MFA students may begin their studies in spring, summer, or fall. The spring and fall semesters are 6-months in length and have the 10-day residency in Louisville. We suggest students expect to spend about 25 hours a week on their writing and reading during the independent study portion of the semester. We offer a summer semester with the residency abroad (Paris 2012). The summer semester is 9-months long, and we expect stidents to spend about 15 hours a week on their writing and reading. The summer semester works well for teachers’ schedule and for those who have full-time jobs or very busy lives. For more information about offerings, see the webpage on flexible scheduling page.
Students in Paris
Program Book/Script in Common: All students and faculty read a Program Book in Common before coming to the residency. The Program Director leads a book discussion on the first night of the residency. Later in the week, the author of the book visits and gives a public presentation as well as a private question and answer session for our students and faculty. The area of concentration of the Program Book in Common changes each semester, so students normally read a book or script and meet the author in every area of concentration that we offer. Guests have included novelists Ernest Gaines, Ann Patchett, Susan Vreeland, Ann Patchett, and Michael Ondaatje; poet and essayist Yusef Komunyakaa; children’s writers Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), Donna Jo Napoli, Nancy Willard, Jacqueline Woodson; poets W. S. Merwin, Gregory Orr, and Claudia Emerson; essayists Terry Tempest Williams, Pico Iyer, Barry Lopez, and Scott Russell Sanders; poet and children’s writer Naomi Shihab Nye; screenwriter Bobby Moresco (Crash); and playwrights Heather Raffo, Marsha Norman, and Rebecca Gilman.
Additional Books in Common: Every student reads a Faculty or Guest Book or Script in Common in his or her area of concentration before coming to the residency. A group session, led by the author, discusses issues of conception, writing, craft, and publication. For the summer residency abroad, students also read books by authors of the visited country.
Acceleration: Students who have published a book(s) or produced a play or movie may qualify for completing the program in three semesters and four residencies.
Book-length Manuscript Workshop: In addition to traditional workshops, the Spalding MFA Program offers a workshop for book-length manuscripts during the spring residency. We believe we are the only program that offers this feature. Students in fiction, creative nonfiction, or writing for children may participate on a space-available basis during their fourth or fifth residency. Five students and one mentor spend two hours on each full-length manuscript. At times, MFA alumni join this workshop.
Publishing/Editing Component: Spalding University is the home of The Louisville Review (a literary journal since 1976) and Fleur-de-Lis Press. After returning home after the residency, students read submissions for TLR and are instructed how to compare and contrast the submissions. Graduate assistantships are available to second, third, and fourth semester students who wish to read as student editors for the magazine. During each residency, an agent, editor, and/or publisher speaks to the students about the publishing scene. A question and answer period is always included in the session. Publishing panels for all students and publishing panels by area of concentration are also presented. (top)
Interrelatedness of the Arts: The Spalding MFA Program encourages a continuing discussion regarding the interrelatedness of the arts. At each residency, students are given the opportunity to attend at least one arts event, such as a play, symphony, ballet or other dance performance, opera, or jazz performance. We might visit an art museum or bring in visual artists to discuss their creative process. Most residencies, the Program Director leads a discussion about the interrelatedness of the arts because all the arts have the creative process in common and much can be learned from thoughtful investigations of other art forms.
Preparation for Teaching: Because the MFA degree is the one most commonly held by teachers of creative writing, the Spalding MFA Program helps prepare students to become teachers. During the fourth residency, students lead a Small Group Discussion of a published work to gain experience in intellectual leadership. In their graduation residency, students deliver a lecture, gaining direct teaching experience. Faculty lectures and other discussions are held on teaching techniques and suggestions. Workshops provide an excellent model for how to teach. We offer a semester of teaching practicum.
Creative Thesis Discussion: One faculty member and two other students participate in a discussion of each graduating student’s completed creative thesis. In this way we celebrate, support, and encourage our students.
Egan Leadership Building on Spalding campus
Cross-Genre Exploration:
At Spalding, we believe writing is writing, and any writer can benefit from writing in areas other than their major area of concentration. We offer cross-genre study at each residency, and during the course of the Program, every student reads works in several areas of concentration and completes a few brief exercises in most areas. Students may participate in cross-genre workshops workshops offered in two areas of concentration and during one of the five residencies, students may request to be in a workshop in an area of study other than their major or minor area of study. In addition, students may study in more than one area during their time in the Program. Students may take an enrichment semester in their major or minor area of study or another area of study, if accepted in that area.
Enrichment Semester: During the regular course of four semesters, students study one area for three semesters and a second area for one semester. An enrichment semester enrichment semester is offered for students who wish to study further in their major or minor area or in an additional area. The enrichment semester, which is not required for graduation, focuses on creative writing and does not require a reading list or critical writing.
Assistantships and Scholarships: In 2011, the program gave 35 assistantships for the spring, summer, and fall semesters. Assistantships are available to students no matter where they live. Most are for reading for our literary magazine, The Louisville Review. Also, in 2011 the program awarded 32 scholarships to new students. The awards totaled nearly $80,000. (top)
What areas of writing do you offer?
Spalding offers six areas of concentration: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, writing for children and young adults, screenwriting, and playwriting. Students may study more than one area in their four semesters of study. In order to study more than one area during the semester, students must apply and be accepted in the area or areas they wish to study (exception: writers for children and young adults should see the writing for children and young adult brochure. (top)
Faculty identify students who need extra help with critical writing. An expository writing tutor is made available—at no extra expense—to students who need more help than the mentor can provide in the regular packet schedule. During the second residency, students meet with an expository writing coach to help develop their critical writing. While much more emphasis is given to creative writing, students are expected to be competent in critical writing.
Faculty are encouraged to identify students working on book-length projects who are not yet ready to work on such projects. These students are given assignments or exercises to help them become ready to continue on their longer project. (top)
Click here for a Spalding MFA faculty list. Most MFA programs list their faculty members in ads and on their websites. Even the most well-read prospective student may not be familiar with many names on the list. There are innumerable good writers out there and many good teachers, but the gifts for writing and teaching may not always coexist in the same person.
Students and faculty relax after a long day
It’s risky to choose an MFA program based on a desire to study with particular faculty mentors. Faculty members come and go from one semester to another, and your turn with THE ONE faculty member you want to work with may not happen. Instead, consider the faculty as a whole. Become familiar with the writing of the faculty in your area of concentration.
MFA faculty members should be published writers and ideally have teaching experience in an academic environment. In the Spalding MFA Program, all faculty members have published one or more books and all have several years of teaching experience.
When hiring a new faculty member, the Program Director first considers the quality of the candidate’s writing. Then she ascertains whether the faculty member shares her philosophy of teaching. Our Program sets forth to be intellectually stimulating and emotionally supportive. The Spalding faculty are expected to meet students at their current level and help them attain new levels of accomplishment in their writing.
The Spalding MFA Program holds the faculty to high standards. Faculty members are given a one semester contract, and faculty members who do not perform to the high standards set before them are not asked to return. (top)
Before the residency, students submit materials to be workshopped. Workshop Booklets are sent to students and faculty about three weeks before the residency. Everyone is expected to read the entire Workshop Booklet more than one time before arriving at the residency so everyone is fully prepared to discuss the work during Workshop.
Workshops vary from smaller Workshops with 5-6 students and one faculty member to larger Workshops that consist of no more than twelve students with two faculty leaders. Smaller workshops meet for the same amount of time as larger workshops; smaller workshops take advantage of extra sessions, where student work is not discussed, to discuss issues of craft, writing of a particular author, or editing/publishing.
Whenever possible, we attempt to place students with different workshop leaders from one residency to another. Workshops include students who are at different levels in their writing, and first, second, third, and fourth semester students are usually included in each Workshop. Students learn from each other under the guidance of the faculty leaders. Student learn the language of critiquing and discover, by observation, teaching methods.
The residency’s first workshop session is spent discussing published work, which is introduced by the faculty leaders. This exercise helps new students learn the language of critiquing and gives the Workshop a chance to develop its personality before students’ work is discussed.
Each student’s work is given one hour of discussion. Students learn from the discussion of others’ work as well. Specific questions of craft may be raised and discussed in the course of the Workshop. Workshops are guided so that a positive atmosphere is created, and while students are encouraged to say something positive about a work first, everyone is also encouraged to identify areas needing improvement.
At the end of the week, every student submits a one-page revision of their Worksheet based on comments from the Workshop. These sessions are gratifying, as everyone sees immediate improvement from the week’s discussions and comments. (top)
Are there Workshops during the semester?
Second semester students exchange a piece of work with other students during the semester. The students comment via discussion board on the piece. The exercise acts as a sort of mini-workshop. Spalding students often exchange work informally among themselves during the semester. All students have the opportunity to network in this way.
While students may engage in online chats and discussion boards during the semester, the emphasis on the semester work is on the indepedent study of creative writing through packets which are responded to by faculty mentors. Online workshops, which include students, do not provide the level of expertise or concentrated feedback that our packet system provides. (top)
The intense residency has each day scheduled from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. or later. Students have access to nearly 100 hours of classtime during the 10-day residency. After the residency, students engage in an independent study with a faculty mentor.
During the residency each student creates a SemesterIndependent Study Plan according to his or her own writing goals. The Student Independent Study Plan is an outline of what is to be included in each of the packets during the independent study portion of the semester. The study plan includes a list of 8-10 books that the student chooses with the help of the mentor. Students in their first and second semester write a short critical essay about each of the books. The study plan may be adjusted throughout the semester at the suggestion of the mentor or students to include different or additional books. If a need is identified, mentors may give students writing assignments or exercises.
Like other brief-residency programs, our curriculum includes a longer critical essay in the third semester. The Extended Critical Essay is from 20 to 30 pages. Students become familiar with MLA style beginning with their first semester. Students who are identified by faculty mentors as needing additional help with their critical writing are referred to an expository writing tutor (at no expense to the student) for individual tutoring. Before the second residency, all students write an extra essay that is workshopped at the residency with the expository writing coach. (top)
Typically in a traditional MFA program, students have two or three sets of work discussed in a semester. For example, a prose writer might turn in 50 to 70 pages (about 3 stories) for the semester. Most of the time in that class will be spent discussing other students’ work. In the Spalding MFA Program, a student sends 5 packets of original writing to his or her mentor during the independent study portion of the semester. These packets (except for poetry and picture book) may include up to 50 pages of original writing. The intensity of the brief-residency semester allows students to have four to five times as much work critiqued than in a traditional program.
Different low-residency programs have different page counts for packets, and in some cases the faculty decides just how much he/she is willing to read during the semester. This is an important point and should be researched among the different programs. Spalding packets consist of new creative writing, revision, short critical essays, and a cover letter that discusses the students’ goals and questions. The mentor gives feedback in a permanent form, such as a letter, email, or audiorecording, and also makes margin notes on the packet material. While online workshops or discussions may enhance a student’s education, they cannot take the place of individual feedback from experienced faculty mentors.
Students call the mentor for a midsemester phone conference. Mentors may suggest additional phone calls if they think extra contact is needed. At the end of each semester, students call the mentor for a closure phone conference. (top)
When comparing costs, you should consider the credit hours given for the degree. The Spalding MFA Program is a 64-hour degree. Each of the core semesters is 16 college credit hours. One way to compare costs is to figure the cost per credit hour, which is a way to compare oranges to oranges, so to speak. In such a cost comparison, our Program is one of the least expensive per credit hour. The Spalding cost per credit hour is competitive with many state institutions of higher education and is much lower then most private insititutions’ graduate programs.
When you are looking at cost, be sure to add in all the extras that other programs may have. Beginning with the fall semester 2012, our tuition is $7,900 per semester, which includes all fees (such as a creative thesis fee, graduation fee, and a fifth residency fee), except the application fee of $30. Transportation to and from the residencies and housing is the responsibility of the student. Some residency meals and postage/books/phone calls are the student’s responsibility. (top)
Where will I stay during the residency? What about meals?
For the fall and spring residencies, Spalding offers housing options: double or single rooms at a nearby four-star, four-diamond hotel. The prices range from $450-875, for the 9 nights of the residency. Sometimes rooms at the Spalding dormitory are available and they are less expenseive. Students may make their own housing arrangements. Several meals, usually catered by well-known Louisville caterers, are included in tuition. Breakfasts and a few other meals are on your own. Louisville is an easily accessible city by air or car located in middle America. Spalding is about 15 minutes from the Louisville International Airport and about 2 miles from Interstate 65.
Students, alums, and facuty relax in Brown Hotel lobby.
For the summer residency, which is held abroad, the Program identfies an appropriate hotel. Most meals are not included in the summer residency. (top)
Because brief-residency students are usually older and more established, they often do not make the decision of where to attend based on the availability of financial aid. Traditional MFA programs frequently have more to offer than brief-residency programs in the way of teaching assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships. However, the Spalding MFA Program offers scholarships of about $500-750 to new students based on merit, then need. To second, third, and fourth semester students, we offer assistantships, which result in tuition remission of from $600 to $1,800 of tuition. The assistantships are available to students no matter where they live. In 2011, the program awarded around $80,000 in assistantships and scholarships.
Most students who are U.S. citizens are eligible for federal student loans, which, for graduate students, is up to about $20,000 per year, or more. (Discuss details of federal student loans with a Financial Aid Counselor.) (top)
We are diverse in many different ways: heritage, race, geographical location, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion. Few venues in life offer such a range of diversity. It is a permanent goal of the Program to increase diversity and encourage acceptance of each person and of his or her individual creative expression.
Our students and faculty come from 42 states. We have also had students from foreign countries: Canada, Mexico, Israel, England, Singapore, South Africa, Britain, and Germany. The average age and median age of our students is 42. Our students have ranged in age from 22 to 82. About 30 percent of the students are in fiction, about 15 percent in poetry, 25 percent in creative nonfiction, 10 percent in writing for children, and 20 percent in dramatic writing. (top)
MFA alumni read from new books at Homecoming
The Spalding MFA Program began in October 2001. By October 2003 we had graduated thirty-nine students; of those, three graduates landed tenure-track positions, six had book contracts, and several others soon had part-time teaching positions. While most of our students do not seek teaching positions, more than 90 percent of our alums stay active in the writing field. Activities include publication, presentation, readings, literacy work, school visits, and more. Our more than 500 students and alumni have published and produced more than 250 books/films/plays. See the MFA overview page for a list of publishers. (top)
How do you support your alumni?
The Spalding MFA Program, which now has 381 alumni, works hard to keep in touch with our alumni. Every issue of the program newsletter, “On Extended Wings,” includes writing news from students, faculty and staff, and alums. At the end of every spring residency, we have Homecoming activities. We have offered weeklong writers’ retreats and also offer our summer residency abroad locations as vacation destinations for alumni and guests.
Each residency ends with graduation. Excerpts from student work is read.
Through Blackboard, and now Facebook, alumni have a discussion venue where they can keep informed of one another’s activities and discuss books, craft issues, or other topics of interest. Through online writing groups, alumni may exchange materials and critiques with other alumni. Other groups of alums have begun writing groups and book discussions in their regional areas.
Our alumni association has a website, Facebook page, and newsletter, called SOARING. See http://www.spaldingmfaalum.com
At each residency about eight Post Graduate Residency Assistants, who are alumni, are selected to attend. These PRGAs assist with Workshops and help the MFA staff in many ways. At the end of the week, they participate in a public reading of their own work-in-progress. We continue to look for ways to support our alumni; it is a goal of our Program.
During each spring residency in May we have a Homecoming weekend, where alumi can visit with each other, students, faculty, and staff. During the Homecoming, the program provides a variety of special events, lectures, and the alumni assocation sponsors a reading Celebration of Recently Published Books by Alumni, where our alumni read from books published within the last year. This event it followed by a book signing. (top)
Go to MFA Overview
Go to MFA Admissions
Complete faculty information
Spalding University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the Master of Fine Arts in Writing. Spalding University’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing is a member of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.
Contact us:
MFA Office: (502) 873-4400 or (800) 896-8941, ext. 4400
mfa@spalding.edu
Spalding University
851 South Fourth Street
Louisville, KY 40203
FAX: (502) 992-2409
last updated 04-12-2012 information subject to change without notice
