Impressive.  Will for President, Grand Poobah, or whatever. :-)

I can help distribute Mon and Tuesday, and I'm available Thursday to help count.

It was a great meeting, and I really like the idea of taking our PW program further. Everyone benefits in the long run.

Also thanks to Richard for suggesting Hastings. Free coffee samples are yummy :-)

-Jessica

On 11/18/05, William Prescott <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

NOTE: If formatting problems occur, read the attachment.                         

 

  Minutes from 11/17/05  PWAL Meeting

 

I .Forgiveness

           

I am the epitome of the disorganized male. If these minutes seem screwy, incomplete, or otherwise odd, I hereby nominate you to be the PWAL secretary.

 

II. The Need to Organize

 

We recognized the need for a more active, organized Professional Writing Association in order to combat the invisibility, underrepresentation, and gross misunderstandings about the mission and needs of the Professional Writing program.

 

We are in the process of identifying short-term and long-term goals for both the PWA and the program in general. Any and all additional input is encouraged as well as desperately needed.

 

Short Term Goals

1. Survey
1. Create and distribute a survey about general student satisfaction with the program, how they chose this major/graduate program, and what additional resources PW students would like to see.
2. Due Dates

                                                               i.      Prototype – Will be distributed for review by the end of the day.

                                                             ii.      Conducting the survey – Given to every PW student, during class, on 11/27-11/28.

                                                            iii.      Tally results – we need volunteers to tally the results. We hope to have enough volunteers to be able to compile the results in 30 minutes or so.

                                                           iv.      Present results – see #2

                                                             v.      Future surveys – alumni survey, etc.

 

2. Checking out the Competition
1. Research other MPW programs and Professional Writing Schools.

                                                               i.      Reason – to identify aspects we like from other programs and to strive towards implementing them here at OU.

                                                             ii.      Estimated time commitment: 2 – 3 hours

                                                            iii.      Method – select one program from the following list. Email the list to notify us which program you are researching. Then, note its (a) # of faculty, (b) interesting classes offered, (c) any resources offered that you would like to see at OU (d) post on the PWAL list serv

                                                           iv.      Due Date – 11/28

                                                             v.      Other schools/programs:

1.      University of Southern California: MPW

http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/mpw/admissions/overview.php

2.      Chatham Online: MPW

http://www.chathamonline.info/chatham/mpw.html

3.      Towson State University: MPW http://www.towson.edu/~duncan/ENG/prowrprg.html

4.      UMass Dartmouth: MPW

http://www.umassd.edu/cas/english/professional_writing/welcomepwp.cfm

5.      Carnegie Mellon: MA in Prof. Writing http://english.cmu.edu/degrees/ma_pw/ma_pw.html

6.      Kenesaw State University: MA in Prof. Writing

http://www.kennesaw.edu/english/mapw/index.shtml

7.      Western Connecticut State University: MFA in Prof. Writing

http://www.wcsu.edu/english/mfa/

8.      UW Milwaukee: MA in Prof. Writing

http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/English/bustech/grad/ma.htm

9.      University of Texas: MFA in Prof. Writing

http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mcw/index.html

10.  SUNY-Courtland: BA in Prof. Writing

http://www.cortland.edu/profwriting/index.html

2. Continuing research

                                                               i.      The above is only a partial list, please continue to search and add programs to the list

                                                             ii.      Keywords: MPW, Master in Professional Writing, Professional Writing programs

 

3. Establish contacts with Dean Foote
1. Present results of survey – We want to establish contacts with the administration, illustrate the needs of the program, and demonstrate that the PWAL is willing to take responsibility for improving our own program
2. Needs

                                                               i.      Increased Visibility of the PW program

                                                             ii.      Adjuct Faculty – if we can recruit adjunct faculty that have been trained in the OU method of professional writing (i.e. published alumni or former instructors) then Davis and Chester can offer other courses than just the basics i.e. Fantasy Writing, Writing For Children/Young Adults, etc.

                                                            iii.      Visiting Scholars – considering the number of students and limited faculty, we want to encourage Gaylord College to recruit visiting professors that will teach the PW students

4. Christmas Party
1. We want to increase the feeling of community between PW students. We are looking to organize a Christmas party and have a good ol' time.

 

Long Term Goals

 

1. History of the PW program
1. The Professional Writing program has been around since 1938. We have a long tradition of outstanding instructors and successful alumni. However, this history is in danger of being lost.
2. Goal – Recruit a team to identify all published PW alumni and their works, revive our trophy case, and write a short history of the program to publish on the web and have readily available in the library.
2. Recruit additional faculty
1. We want more full-time faculty
3. Create a Professional Writing alumni association
1. We have a plethora of successful alumni that are not being recognized for their achievements. Furthermore, their knowledge and experience are a tremenedous, unutilized resource for students.
4. Scholarships
1. Increased recognition of exisisting schoarlships
2. Creation of additional scholarships i.e. Graduate Scholarships, etc.

 

5. Funding for OUSA (Oklahoma University Student Association)
1. Budget – organize and secure funding for MPAW in order to create a newsletter, start a Professional Writer speaker series, etc.

Best,

 

Will

 

P.S. I have also included the minutes as an attachment.

William D. Prescott

University of Oklahoma

office no. 405-325-2710

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