By Hannah Gordon
News Editor
St. Bonaventure University introduced a new undergraduate major, combining the strengths of English and journalism and mass communication degrees.
The professional and creative writing major will begin in fall 2015. It will mostly consist of already-existing journalism and mass communication and English courses, lessening the need for funding, according to Michael Fischer, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
“The new professional and creative writing major has been developed to draw heavily on existing course offerings and faculty within the Department of English and (Russell J.) Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication, so the initial funding needs will be relatively modest,” Fischer said. “We will monitor enrollment growth and resource needs of the program as it develops.”
Chris Mackowski, associate professor of journalism and mass communication, helped develop the program. He said the need for the program developed from previous journalism and mass communication major’s interest in creative writing.
“Aside from the few creative writing classes the English department has been able to offer, there’s not been much of a formal course of study to help them develop those talents as writers,” Mackowski said. “On the flip side, all of the academic programs I’ve been associated with in my own education have focused on the art of creative writing without really talking about the business side of it.”
The new major will unite the focus on the art of writing from the English department and the professional skills and knowledge of the writing business the journalism school brings, said Mackowski.
“Plus we’re adding in some theory and rhetoric so students have a broader understanding of writing as a discipline,” Mackowski said.
He stressed the importance of the program beyond academic work.
“I want us to have a program that nurtures a writer’s ‘writerly soul’ while also developing their skills,” Mackowski said.
The professional and creative writing program is the second major approved to begin in fall 2015, second to industrial management from the school of business.
From the 2012-2013 academic year to the present, a total of six undergraduate major and three minor programs have been approved by the faculty senate and president, Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.M., for suspension or discontinuance, Fischer said. Those major programs include B.S. computational physics, B.S. biophysics, B.S. pre-engineering, B.S. environmental science, B.B.A. business information systems, B.A. gerontology and minors in pre-engineering, web application and development and gerontology. All of these programs will remain active until all currently enrolled students graduate.
St. Bonaventure’s Academic Program Evaluation Committee (APEC) suggests courses for discontinuation, and then the final decision is made by faculty senate and university president. APEC is charged with the ongoing review of all existing academic programs, the primary focus being the quality of program offerings defined by student learning outcomes and their assessment, Fischer said. APEC also takes a wide variety of data into account regarding program enrollment and costs.
“We continue to review and modify our existing academic program offerings in an effort to ensure that they are offered in the highest quality way possible and that they meet the needs and interests of our current and prospective future student,” Fischer said. “Our research indicated that there was a student need not being met by our existing major offerings that could be met in a high quality way by the new professional and creative writing major.”
APEC has no formal role in the approval of new academic programs. The final approval for any program to be offered by any college or university in New York State is by the New York State Education Department, according to Fischer.
“A variety of criteria are used to determine whether a new academic program should be approved,” Fischer said. “Chief among those criteria (is) compatibility with our university mission, our ability to deliver the program in a high quality way, expected enrollments and costs to offer the program.”
