Current Online MFA Student Announcements

Fall 2009

September 21, 2009

Online MFAs:

I must begin these Fall 2009 Announcements with an apology.

I’ve been meaning to send out a few updates since my last e-mail, but I’ve been waiting to hear from administrators I’ve been working with to find out whether we’ve been successful in getting some kind of tuition equalization for our online MFA students who live out of state.  Unfortunately, I’m afraid, the news isn’t good: After working nonstop for two years on this issue, trying to overcome many obstacles including budget restraints, state law, and numerous attempts to make this a self-sustaining program through our continuing education department, I’ve been unable to make any of it work.  I still hold out some hope that some time in the future we can do more, but for now our Online MFA students who live out of state will continue to pay out-of-state tuition and additional UT Telecampus fees.  I’m as disappointed as I’m sure most of you are, but in a time of significant budget restraints there’s not much more I can do.  All I can say is this: I did my best, and I’ll continue to try to find ways of making taking online classes less expensive.

Here are a few announcements and updates for Fall 2009:

Changes to the Online MFA Webpage

Because we now have students working full-time on our MFA web site, over the next year and on an ongoing basis, we’ll updating our online MFA web pages so that our current students may go there for updates such as this email.

For this reason, we’ve created a new Current Online MFA Student Announcements Page and we will be updating it with your feedback.

If you have a chance to go to the Online MFA Webpage, please do so and let us know if there’s any information you would like for us to include for our current students.  Since, unlike our on-campus program, we’re unable to meet directly with our students each semester, we thought this might be a chance to bring more information to you directly when you need it, but we need your help:  If you have any suggestions for the Online MFA website, please e-mail them to our new online MFA webmaster, Daniel Ríos (danielrios400@hotmail.com ), and he’ll work with our on-campus MFA webmasters to begin supplying the information you request.

We’re also adding an Alumni webpage to include news from all our students, both online and on-campus.  If you wish to update us with your important recent publications and performances, please e-mail that information directly to our webmasters:

Changes to Your Contact Information

Our Online MFA graduate student, Monica Reyes (mdreyes3@miners.utep.edu ), is currently in the process of updating all your contact information for our files.

When you have time, please send Monica the following information:

1.    Your full name

2.    Your UTEP Student ID number

3.    Your current home address

4.    Your current home and miners.utep.edu e-mail addresses

5.    Your current home, work and mobile phone numbers

We respect your privacy and will not share this information with anyone.  If you have any other changes to your contact information, please e-mail Monica with that updated information.

Thesis Guidelines

As some of you may know, our first Online MFA graduating class has begun working on their theses: Dennis Bush and Marlena Fitzpatrick.  If any of you are finishing your coursework and would like to begin preparing for your thesis projects, please let me know as soon as possible.  If you’re unsure about how to plan for your thesis, be sure to check the new time table listed at the end of the guidelines.

Also note that we’ve updated our Online MFA Thesis Guidelines page .  Please download the most recent guidelines and read them closely.  We’ve made a few changes, especially in our requirements for the thesis’s critical preface.  Also make note of the changes to the thesis guidelines on this page concerning our Online MFA students.  Remember: You do not have to defend your thesis on campus.  We will instead use Elluminate to teleconference with you during your thesis defense.

Online MFA Director's Office Hours through Elluminate

Now that I have more help and can spend more time working directly with students, I’m posting online office hours this semester so that you may contact me directly from your computers: For the Fall 2008 semester I will be available via Elluminate from 2-4 (Mountain Standard Time) Thursdays through the end of November, 2009.  To visit me during my office hours, please click on or copy the link for my Virtual Office: 

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp password=M.E98EE791CB3A313324D4BC4612DD52 .  

You will be asked to give your name for the session before you can login.  The first time you log in, you may also be asked to install Elluminate on your computer and then to register.  The program is free for all our students, and it works well.  If you plan to meet with me, please e-mail me a day or two before you log in so I’ll know when to expect you.  Chats include video, audio and text.

The Upcoming Course Schedule

To view our current course schedule, please click here .  I’ve also made a few minor changes to the Online MFA Course Roster for spring and summer, and through 2012.  We’re in the process of developing several exciting new courses in this list so check them out.

Advising Each Semester

If you’re new to our program and wish to be advised when it’s time for summer or fall registration, here’s the process you’ll need to go through:

1.    Click on this link to download our current Online MFA Student Advising Sheet .

2.    Fill the sheet in with all the courses you’ve taken and the courses you wish to take.  Please include all the information requested, including CRN numbers, semesters and instructor names.  I’ll be updating our Course Roster with CRNs before each semester, so be sure to download the latest version.

3.    E-mail your advising sheets to me at lex@utep.edu .

4.    Once I’ve approved these sheets, I’ll email our graduate assistant in charge of clearing holds, and she will clear your advising and course holds. Please give her at least a week to clear your holds after I’ve sent the e-mail requesting that she do so.

If after a week you’re still having problems getting registered, please contact Monica Reyes, the graduate student in charge of clearing holds, at mdreyes3@miners.utep.edu , and she will do her best clear your holds.  Like you, she’s a busy graduate student so please don’t overwhelm her with requests.  Better yet, please don’t try to register at the last minute.  Plan ahead so we have plenty of time to get you through the complex process of clearing holds for registration.

If you’ve been in the program awhile, please update your current advising sheet and e-mail it to me, and I’ll have your advising and course holds cleared with in a week.

A Few Final Words

Our online MFA, the only one of its kind, has been building a strong reputation across the U. S. and even the world.  Recently my panel, The Online MFA: An Innovative Alternative to the Resident and Low-Resident MFA, has been accepted for the forthcoming Associated Writing Programs Conference in Denver next April.  We’re excited about this new program, and we’re sharing our experiences with MFA students, writers and professors.  If you have any questions or topics you’d like to see us discuss for the panel, please e-mail them to me.  As a student in our MFA program, you’re entitled to a reduced registration fee: http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2010reg.php .  AWP, established in the seventies, is a wonderful resource for MFA students.  Check out the site: http://www.awpwriter.org .  If you’re interested in the conference here’s a link to the AWP Conference website: http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2010awpconf.php .  Some of our on-campus students will be there representing us.  We’d love to see you there, too.