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The Unofficial MFA GuideCongratulations on the wise choice of enrolling in the UMass MFA program in creative writing. Welcome. This brief orientation guide (not an official document of policy for the UMass English Dept.) has been assembled by current and former MFA students as a way of giving you some practical help in getting established in the academic program as well as in the community at large. Starting graduate school while attempting to simultaneously re-organize your entire life can be overwhelming. Above all, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Contact the MFA Office (413-545-0643) if you have any questions, or to be put in touch with a current student who can help you out. Read on! MFA Program: The General Atmosphere
The MFA program here is quite different for each student. The sort of writing one decides to undertake, the level of purely academic course study, and the kind of ancillary work done while here (teaching, research, etc.) are factors which can vary greatly for each student. An individual can, for the most part, tailor the program specifically to her/his needs. Although eminently adaptable, UMass is far more rigorous in its requirements than most MFA programs. That’s why many people stay an extra fourth year. However, students are not held to a specific timetable for completion of course work, and the faculty is open to independent study and other ideas for accommodating the special interests of individual students. Also, the program here has, for the most part, a non-competitive feel. The MFA students are generally very supportive of each other, thus creating a relaxing atmosphere. In addition, many students form their own workshops which meet off-campus and feature the added bonus of booze to really get the critiques flowing. Local readings and events frequently turn into excuses for someone to have a party, and social events are usually announced via blanket emails. If there is bad news, it might be for the student who requires a rigid structure. Indeed, some might feel that the administration of the program is too "hands off." The program works best for the committed and motivated writer who is not afraid o f seeking out and being assertive about her/his needs. Professors are generally willing to read your work with fair notice, and students should not be shy about making use of their office hours.
Period of Study and Course Load Although the official statute of limitations is four years, students are expected to be able to matriculate in three. In the past, students have extended their period of stay longer than that, but do not count on being able to do this. Funding (especially through the writing program) is generally limited to six-semesters. Correspondingly, students most often take on a course load of 9-12 course credits per semester. Thus, one workshop (6 credits) and two academic courses (3 credits each) might be regarded as a "normal" load. However, it is not unusual for a student to take more or (more often) less than this, particularly if one is working, teaching, or concentrating for a period of time on one's own writing. (See graduate school handbook and check with administration regarding the minimum number of courses that maintain one's "full-time" status.) Again, there can be large variations in course load, particularly with independent study or thesis credits (basically unsupervised writing that delivers credit to the student). But generally, a workshop and one or two academic courses is what a beginning student might consider to be a full load. Academic Classes — Registration occurs via telephone before the beginning of the semester. You will receive a course catalogue and registration information from the graduate school about one month before the semester begins. An MFA student may register via phone for almost any graduate class. Certain courses offered by MFA faculty (including workshops) are "off-line". This means that to register, you must contact Sylvia (the English Department Secretary) via phone or email and request to be placed on the class-list. It is best to register as early as possible to ensure yourself a spot in the classes you want. If the course is full, don’t despair. First, register for a second-choice class. Second, keep trying to register via phone. As other people drop the class, spots become available. Third, it’s always a good idea to go to the first meeting of a class you really want to be in. Often professors will expand the maximum enrollment of the class and sign an override form (also available from Sylvia) which lets you register off-line. It’s always a good idea to check the MFA Program Requirements before you register. Although MFA students can take whatever English Graduate courses they like, there are some period requirements, and the classes that fulfill them are not necessarily offered each and every semester. Workshops- Four one-semester workshops in each student's area of concentration (fiction or poetry) are required for graduation, but some students take more. There are generally five poetry and four or five fiction workshops offered in each academic year. Fiction workshops are generally larger than poetry workshops, but no workshop has more than 12 students. Each teacher conducts her/his workshop differently, and a new student might consider talking to a more experienced student as to how each teacher works. Because fiction workshops tend to fill up, there are rules as to how students are admitted. Generally, students closer to graduation and who have not taken a teacher previously are given priority over others. Also, those who have satisfied their four workshop minimum are given lower priority than those who have not. Students may take workshops outside their area of concentration, but are given lower priority for admittance. Sylvia Snape and Wanda Bak Sylvia Snape is the secretary for the MFA program and will be a constant source of information and assistance. Wanda Bak, the secretary for the English MA-Ph.D. program, shares the office (fourth floor, Bartlett Hall) with Sylvia, and is another important resource. MFA Representatives Each fall, two representatives from the program (one fiction writer, one poet) are elected to sit in on an annual English Department meeting. Thus, there is an official representation of the grad students for matters of policy and procedure. In the last year MFA representatives have become more active, acting as liaisons between the students and faculty. Have a concern or complaint? Talk to your rep. And they can help you get to the right pair of ears. Additional graduate student representation is handled by GEO, the Graduate Employee Organization. GEO is the graduate student union, and is part of the UAW. All graduate students with waivered positions have the option to become members, and the union handles our negotiations for stipends, benefits, and the like. The GEO office is located in the basement of the Student Center. The Pioneer Valley Referred to affectionately by the locals as "the Valley," this is the area in which you'll be living and going to school. Including Hampshire County ( where Amherst and Northampton are) and Franklin County to the north, it's a special place. The scenery is beautiful. The people who choose to live in this lovely area are, well, special. There are distinct seasons in Western Massachusetts. Fall is the big tourist season; they come by the busload to look at the leaves. There is no mistaking winter. Snow can begin as early as Thanksgiving and continue through March and even into April. Spring actually does arrive sometime (usually near the end) of spring semester. Summer can get hot and humid, and it's usually pretty quiet in the Valley with most of the students gone. Check out MassLive for a comprehensive look at the news and events in the Pioneer Valley. Campus: What's There? Since the University of Massachusetts is a large state school, there are quite a few on-campus services made available to the student population, so many that students are often unaware of the bulk of them. Since an exhaustive survey seems inappropriate for the purposes of this manual, here is a brief synopsis of on-campus facilities. In the MFA Program in English at UMass, you will spend most of your time in the spartan confines of Bartlett Hall. The MFA Program and English Department offices are located there, and most graduate English courses are taught in the building . (Spanking new Macs are also available for use in the Journalism MacLab on the first floor of Bartlett–they usually post the schedule on the door at the beginning of every semester.) But in case you do wander out, here are a number of important places on campus: W.E.B. Du Bois Tower Library - The tallest building on campus at 26 stories, the tower library houses the library collection, which is the largest in the area. Computer facilities, including a PC Classroom, a Mac Classroom, and a number of e-mail carrels are located on the 7th floor (see OIT's PCCO Dept.) for details on computer use). Private-access study carrels are also available in the library to students (See Meg Caulmare in Bartlett 166 to get a carrel). Students may also order books from any of the five-college libraries which will then be delivered to DuBois. On-Campus Housing - There are two graduate dorms on campus, Prince and Crampton Halls. Scholars from all disciplines, many of them foreign students, choose these residences as home. Prince and Crampton are located in the Southwest Residential Area, which is home to literally thousands of students housed in several giant high-rises in the area of a couple of blocks. This makes for a "Zoo Mass" atmosphere which some graduate students may find particularly disconcerting. Last year, during a power out caused by an errant raccoon, a bunch of undergrads dragged furniture out of their dorms and set it on fire in the Southwest Courtyard. If this hasn’t deterred you from choosing to live in a dorm, maybe this next fact will–the only rooms available are doubles, which means you’ll be living much like you did your first year in college. On the bright side, two dining halls, a theater, and an art gallery are also located in Southwest. In spite of this, the unofficial MFA guide cannot in good conscience endorse the on-campus living arrangements provided for grad students. Go find an apartment–you’ll thank us for it later. Financial Aid and Student Employment Offices (413-545-0801) - Located on the second floor in the Whitmore Administration Building, the offices of Financial Aid and Student Employment provide financial assistance to students. There is a posting outside of the Student Employment office for a wide variety of jobs both on campus and in the Amherst/Northampton/Springfield area. If you’re planning on taking out loans, it’s a good idea to stop by the Graduate Financial Aid office as soon as you get to campus. Loans can get held-up for a variety of reasons, none of which ever seem to make any sense, and the best way to get your money sooner is by contacting the Bursar and the Financial Aid office as frequently as possible. Anne Peramba has been a godsend to many poor MFAs. She works in the Financial Aid Office and is also responsible for assigning Graduate Work Study. The only way to get work study is to call Anne Peramba and get on her waiting list. It is a good idea to do this before you arrive, but chances are good that you will get it quite quickly if you get on the waiting list as soon as you get here. Some graduate positions require candidates to have work study funds. If you receive work study and then find a position that does not require it, you can always decline the funding which will then be given to another desperate graduate student. Call the Financial Aid office for more details. Bursar's Office (413-545-2368) - Also located in Whitmore, the Bursar's office oversees student accounts. Each semester, the Bursar's office computes students' bills and excess checks. Office of Information Technologies (OIT) (413-545-9400) - The OIT offices are located in the Lederle Low-Rise building. As soon as you arrive on campus you should stop by their help desk to find out how to set up an account. You can also pick up OITs starter software CD which includes internet applications you’ll need to connect to the school’s servers. E-mail accounts are available to all students through OIT and are $20 a semester. GEO members have this fee waived. When you open your account, you will receive a username and password on one of the mainframe systems on campus that will grant you access to the OIT PC and Mac Classrooms anywhere on campus. OIT generally runs mass sign-up sessions on computers in the Campus Center during the first few weeks of school. Call OIT for more information. Parking Services - Parking Services is located in a trailer in front of the E-Lot, near the Mullins Center. To park on campus between the hours of 8am-5pm, you must have a valid parking permit or park in one of the metered locations. There are 5 lot categories - Yellow (available to all students), Purple (available to on-campus residents), Green (available to staff, grad students, and commuters), Red (available only to staff), and Blue (available only to faculty and grad assistants). Yellow stickers allow you to park in any yellow lot. Green, Red and Blue stickers allow parking in designated lots, usually much preferable to yellow lots. (Night stickers, which allow parking in any lot from 3 PM until 8 AM, are also available to graduate students.) Get on a waiting list for a "good" lot as soon as you arrive in the area. Generally only the farthest lots are available to those new to campus, but with perseverance you may be able to get a little closer each year. Prices for parking passes are staggered–yellow is the cheapest lot at $10 a year, and the most abject, being little more than an unpaved field next to the Mullins center–and the good news is that GEO members receive a 50% discount. Make sure you bring your contract, if you have one, when you go to purchase your pass. There is also a campus parking garage, which costs $1.00 an hour, and the truly decadent can purchase a garage pass for about $350 a year. Pretty steep. Two, three, and five hour meters are scattered around campus, and parking is free in any lot or metered spot on campus after 5:00 PM. Campus Center & Student Union - The Campus Center has a Campus Store (books, magazines, housing supplies, school supplies, art supplies, toiletries, etc.) and several restaurants which offer full meals, vegetarian dishes, pizza, burgers, etc. A graduate lounge serving alcoholic beverages and espresso is also located here. The Top of the Campus Bar & Grille affords a view of the Pioneer Valley from the 11th story. Also on the 11th floor is the Skybox, a sort of "second-stage" for musical acts not quite big enough to play the Mullins Center. The Campus Center Hotel, located on several floors of the Campus Center, offers discounts to students (with valid ID's, don't expect a discount without one) and is extremely convenient for visiting campus. As its name suggests, it is located smack-dab in the middle of campus. Attached to the Campus Center is the somewhat cozier Student Union building. Currently the Student Union houses Earth Foods, a student run restaurant that serves dirt-cheap, healthy, hot lunches every week day. Also try the People’s Market (also student run) for coffee, bagels, and lots lots more. There are a few lounges in the Student Union (very popular among the cooler, hippier undergrads) where you can sit down and eat your bagel with hummos, as well as an outpost of The Five College Credit Union (a popular bank with faculty and graduate students), an art gallery and ballroom in which many events and sales are held. The Off-Campus Housing Office is located on the second floor. Faculty Club - One of the privileges of being a graduate student is access to the Faculty Club in the Stockbridge House on campus. The Faculty Club has a bar, furnished sitting rooms, and a restaurant. The English Department generally holds their welcome party here in the Fall, as well as the department Christmas Bash. UMass / Five-College / PVTA Bus System - For students living off campus, the Five Colleges have a bus system that runs free of charge throughout the school year and winter intersession. There are buses that go to and from each of the Five Colleges (Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, and UMass), traveling through and connecting with other buses which service the cities of Amherst, South Amherst, North Amherst, Hadley, Sunderland, Northampton, and Florence. The buses run quite often when school is in session, and are an easy and convenient means of transportation for all in the area. Buses are equipped with bike racks during the warmer months. Schedules are available at the Campus Visitors Center, as well as at the PVTA’s web site. (Link above). Although the PVTA bus system is fairly comprehensive, the unofficial web guide wishes to encourage every grad student to arrive with their own vehicle. Even if you live in the center of Northampton or Amherst, it can still be difficult (not to mention unwieldy) to get to basic services like grocery shopping via bus–especially University Health Services (UHS) (413-577-5000) Mental Health Services (MHS) (413-545-0041) UMass Health Services is a hypochondriac's dream come true: you get tested for all sorts of scary diseases at the same place (there's even a pharmacy at UHS, so you can fill all your prescriptions right away!). You can receive most kinds of medical attention at UHS. Do you need a physical exam? Go get one. A gynecological exam? A blood test? Do you want to see an allergist? Go to Health Services. UHS also has a full-service Eye Clinic, and yearly exams are subsidized for those with the basic graduate student insurance provided by the University. The Urgent Care clinic is open 24 hours a day for emergency treatment. UHS also provides free parking in the back of the building. Mental Health Services is located in the depressingly blue building across the way from UHS. There's a pretty extensive staff at MHS - psychiatrists, psychologists, and licensed social workers - to help you with any number of problems you may have (stress about graduate school, depression, eating disorders, etc.). In addition, MHS offers a number of helpful workshops throughout the academic year (managing stress, for example). If you're looking for long term therapy (or if you would like to continue extensive therapy), MHS will work with you to decide on the best course of action, and possibly provide you with a local referral if necessary. If you choose to receive therapy at MHS you might end up seeing more than one person (for example, you might see an MD for medication, an LCS W for therapy, and someone else for biofeedback). And don't be surprised if you run into a fellow MFA student in the waiting room. If you're a private person, you may want to see a therapist off campus. There are many therapists in the Pioneer V alley, and MHS can refer you and even get you a discounted rate, in some cases. Health coverage is too extensive to go into here. If you have the Supplemental Insurance Plan, most visits will be covered, but it's a good idea to read any literature you receive. Additional On-Campus Services and Useful Phone Numbers The Stonewall Center - A Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender educational resource center, located in the Prince/Crampton complex at UMass. University sponsored and funded. Stonewall sponsors workshops, a Speakers' Bureau, lecture series, performances, and readings. They also have a large lending library of GLBT and non-GLBT related materials. There are more resources and services than can be listed here. For further information, call 545-4824 or check out their web page: http://www.umass.edu/stonewall. The Everywoman's Center - Offers short-term personal counseling, assessments, referrals, support groups, and crisis intervention and support services for victims of rape, battering, sexual assault, and harassment. Also University sponsored and fun ded. Phone: 545-0883. Fine Arts Center Box Office - Stop by and pick up a listing of the year's shows. Student ticket prices are quite cheap. Last year's shows included Stomp and Kodo drummers. Phone:545-2571. Athletic Event Info - Because grad students don't pay the same
fees as undergrads, tickets are not quite as cheap (or free), but are
usually reasonably priced. Phone: 545-2439, tickets: 545-0810.
Temporary Places to Stay in the Area (All listed are clean and presentable. Generally, if you want to pay a lot, try a place with "Inn," "Hotel," or "Howard" in its name.) Amherst Motel, Amherst 256-8122 Autumn Inn, Northampton 584-7660 Black Walnut Inn, Amherst 549-5649 Clark Tavern Inn, Hadley 586-1900 Campus Center Hotel, UMass campus, Amherst 549-6000 Country Belle Motel, Hadley 586-0715 Days Inn, Northampton 586-1500 Econo Lodge, Hadley 584-9816 Hotel Northampton, Northampton 584-3100 Howard Johnsons's, Hadley 586-0114 Inn at Northampton, Northampton 586-1211 Lord Jeffrey Inn, Amherst 253-2576 North King Motel, Northampton 584-8847 University Lodge, Amherst 256-8111 The academic community in the Amherst area is known as The Five Colleges. Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire, and Amherst College are all located within about ten miles of UMass, Amherst. Thus, many theatrical performances, concerts, readings, etc. are avail able to the students in this region, and most of the events are well advertised. The five institutions have highly cooperative policies. Your UMass student ID entitles you to check out books, videotapes, etc. from any of the colleges' libraries. You can even request a book that resides at a different college and it will be delivered for you to the UMass library. UMass has a fairly large and comprehensive collection of books in most fields, while other colleges' libraries tend to be less well-rounded and concentrate on specific areas. For example, Amherst College has a particularly strong holding of literary and film documents, Smith boasts a big science collection, etc. Although more limited in scope, the libraries at the colleges are without doubt much more comfortable and aesthetically acceptable than the monstrously ugly WEB DuBois library at UMass. The college libraries are often used for study and writing by MFA students. Additionally, the public libraries (Jones in Amherst, Forbes in Northampton) are of exceptional quality for libraries in a small city. The institutions of the Five Colleges share academic courses; that is, students may take courses at any of the other institutions. This is a greater blessing for undergraduates (who can pay UMass tuition and take courses at Smith or Mt. Holyoke or Amherst College, for instance) than for grad students, since very few of the courses offered can count for graduate credit. Be sure to check with the MFA powers that be (director of grad studies, MFA director, advisor) before assuming that your hard work at another institution will count for anything more than your own edification. The UMass Environs / Off-Campus Living Nearly all MFA students choose to live off-campus. Conscientious snow-plowing, excellent bus service, and reasonable rents make it possible to live in one of the pleasant towns and villages surrounding UMass. Roughly equal proportions of the MFA population live in one of the three places outlined here: Amherst, Northampton, and the outlying areas. Finding an Apartment Finding an apartment in the Valley is nowhere near as traumatizing as house-hunting in say, New York or San Francisco, but finding a place in Northampton or Amherst with a lease that begins on September 1 can often be a struggle. UMass undergrads are only required to live on campus for the first two years of their college careers, and there are a lot of them-they take up space. Our best advice is to start looking early and to be flexible about your dates. If you can pay for an extra month or more (moving in August or even July) you might find the extra money well worth it. First, send an email to Sylvia describing what you are looking for, and she can forward this info to all the MFA students–someone who’s leaving town might have just the place for you, or someone who’s staying might need a roommate. Second, make sure you check the Off-Campus Housing Database on a regular basis. New ads go up every day for everything from roommate opportunities to condos for sale. Third, check the Hampshire Gazette real estate listings. They have by far the most comprehensive listings of any local paper for apartment hunters. (Incidentally, the Gazette also has great classifieds for when you’re trying to furnish your new place). The best way to find an apartment is to be in town–if you need a place to stay while you’re looking, let Sylvia know and she’ll send out an email to see if someone can put you up for a few days–it’s frequently done and usually no problem.
Amherst - During the academic year, you will see a lot of undergraduates walking around Amherst. Maybe too many. You will almost always be aware that you are in a college town, or, as in the case of Amherst, a three-college town (Amherst College, Hampshire College, UMass). Do you want to know some useless information? Maybe you do. If you live in Amherst, you'll be 87 miles from Boston and 157 from NYC. How about the population? Do you care about that? Okay, it's over 35,000. The Amherst Chamber of Commerce is the best place to contact for more detailed information about Hampshire County. Amherst’s restaurants are mostly of the student variety. You’ll find burritos at La Veracruzana and Bueno y Sano, an abundance of noodle shops and coffee places (Rao’s is by far the best coffee and snack place in Amherst, with lots of outdoor seating), Chinese, Italian, Indian, and more. If you're used to a large city, you may be disappointed in the lack of eating options after eleven o'clock. You might drive around searching for a greasy spoon and never find one in town. Also, don't be surprised if you're in a bar and last call comes a few hours before you're used to hearing it. Bars (open 7 days a week) must close at 1 AM, and no liquor stores are open on Sunday in Western Massachusetts (except the Sundays between Thanksgiving and Christmas). Most of the bars in Amherst are sports bars which are student infested and smoke-free. Try Noho for the better bar bets. The two main streets in Amherst are Pleasant Street and Main Street, which intersect right at the town common, on which various festivals, sales, and events are held every weekend. How about some useful information? Parking is a pain in the ass. Parking attendants will nail you more often in town than they will on campus. The meters take dimes and nickels (and some take pennies, really!) in addition to quarters. The Amherst police officers are not likely to come across any gang violence or wilding, but they like to keep busy by directing traffic and pulling you over to point out your busted headlight. The best thing you can do to get the most out of Amherst and the surrounding area: get a free copy of The Valley Advocate. The Advocate lists movies, restaurants, concerts, and just about everything else going on in "The Happy Valley" Their Annual Manual usually comes out in early September. Rents in Amherst have sky-rocketed due to the housing crunch, and you may get less for your money than you would in Northampton, certainly than you would in other outlying towns. Possible housing includes large apartment complexes, sharing situations, and apartments in restored houses. There are nicer neighborhoods with Victorian houses, student ghettoes, as well as places within smelling distance of the farms on the outskirts of the town. A studio can run from $500, and one bedrooms usually cost upwards of $600. Northampton - The city of Northampton (abbreviated colloquially as "Noho") presents the most cosmopolitan atmosphere of all the municipalities in the area. In a "downtown" area of roughly five blocks in size, there are Thai, Japanese, Greek, Moroccan, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, and vegetarian restaurants. Northampton has a curious feel that is part Berkley/New Age/alternative-life-style, part tourist/yuppie/gift shoppe, and part academic. (Towns such as Florence, Hatfield, and Easthampton are further from UMass but close to Northampton, and offer much cheaper rents.) There are probably as many espresso machines per capita here as in any major city. As well, there are over a dozen new and used bookstores. There are lots of good, independent films to both rent and see on the big screen here, i.e., excellent video rental stores (such as Pleasant Street Video) and a couple of decent movie theaters, most notably The Academy of Music. Northampton has a remarkably active music scene. One can pick from several possibilities for live music at various venues every single night of the week. While there are plenty of kids hanging around downtown with tattoos, piercings, and skateboards; one will also find enough older locals to keep bingo games, churches, and non-espresso coffee houses full–not to mention that you may see local celebrities Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, or Kurt Vonnegut (who recently accepted a teaching position at Smith College) strolling through the center of town. Northampton is a very pretty town, with Smith College and its ultra-groovy art museum located in its center. Behind the college is a stream with an idyllic, Dickinson-esque path that runs alongside it for a couple of miles, stretching into a thick woods. A good place to read Neruda or hide severed body parts. For those who prefer their nature within four walls, there is a beautiful greenhouse that sits beside a high volume frog pond on campus. Besides the paths that run through the well-maintained, ivy-walled Smith campus and the many sidewalks that stretch through town, there is a paved bike path (skaters and joggers also allowed) that runs nine miles through woods and fields into Amherst and another three miles the other direction into Florence. On any of these paths, one is likely to meet a dog and its owner. Lots of dogs in Noho. There are numerous bulletin boards around town where one can find information as to services offered (yoga classes, guitar lessons, sofas for sale) as well as opportunities for housing. Expect to pay $300 and up for a sharing situation and a good $600 or more for a private apartment, utilities not included. University housing services will certainly list many possibilities in Northampton. Another option for finding an apartment is using a real estate agent. An agent will normally charge a half month's rent as the fee for finding you an apartment. Some people sign leases, others rent on a month to month basis. For those with normal, decent, vampiric hours, Northampton is a disappointment. It is nearly impossible to find any place to eat after 10 PM except Jake’s, located next to the Calvin Theater on King Street, which stays open until 3 on the weekends. The Whately Diner (50's architecture and food originally frozen in about that same time period) is only twenty minutes away (north on 91) and is open 24/7. The half dozen bars in town have a much less collegiate (i.e. more normal) feel than those in Amherst, but sadly must conform to the 1 AM closing time in Western Mass. Check out Hugo’s for $1.25 Pabst and pool if your feeling gritty, or the Calvin Theater’s Bar 89 if you want to see the beautiful young things of Noho converging. Greenfield & Franklin County - Greenfield is the hub city of the many towns in Franklin County. Whether you live in Turners Falls, Millers Falls, Montague or beyond, Greenfield will be, well, the place with the Stop and Shop. Franklin county is more depressed than the wealthy Hampshire county to the south, and the feeling of these northern areas is much different. Many students swear by them, and Greenfield, though a small town, has two movie theatres, many shops, a few decent restaurants, and most of what you might need once you’re home. One bedroom apartments can be had for $400 or cheaper, and a two bedroom can be anywhere from $500-$600. Well worth the price of the extra gas. Getting from Greenfield to Umass takes about 30 minutes, perhaps slightly less once you get your groove on. There are a lot of places to live within striking distance (under 30 minutes) of UMass that are not nearly as expensive as Amherst and Northampton. Other advantages include lack of traffic, lack of parking difficulties, lack of nasty Route 9 (the well-traveled road which connects Amherst to Northampton) commute, lack of boisterous undergraduates and Noho scenesters (an advantage for the crusty grad student writer). These places are also attractive if you're a cyclist, cross-country skier, kayaker, etc. because of proximity to less congested reaches of the Connecticut River and tons of untrammeled land. If you head for Franklin County (Millers Falls, Turners Falls, Montague), there's the quite wonderful Bookmill (a mill-turned-bookstore, with good coffee and readings by MFA students) in your neighborhood, as well as numerous junk shops, thrift stores, and roadside fruit and vegetable stands. More subtle advantages: small-town quirks and oddities, weird little band concerts on the village green, being able to check out a book from the library without showing any ID, knowing your neighbors. The bottom line: say you're here three years, and in that time you're paying $300/month less rent than you would in the bigger places. That adds up to over $10,000 debt you won't have to pay when you struggle out the other side of this program an d get one of those fast-paced, high-paying jobs we're all destined for. If you decide the outlying areas are the ticket, the Student Housing Database also carries listings for these towns. Also get a copy of The Greenfield Recorder , Franklin County’s biggest newspaper, or check it out on-line. Travel and Transportation The Pioneer Valley is a lovely place to live, but you'll be glad to know that it is very close to other lovely places. New York is about three hours away (car, bus, train). Boston is less than two hours away. Peter Pan buses run out of Northampton and Amherst, and the Amtrak station in Springfield is only twenty minutes from Northampton (there is also an Amtrak station in Amherst, but it has a more limited service). Bradley International Airport (outside Hartford, Conn.) is the nearest airport, at about an hour away, accessible by bus and shuttle The Valley Transporter (phone: 413-253-1350). Many students also fly in and out of Boston’s Logan Airport. Don’t forget about the rest of New England, either. Want to get some winter gear or antiques? Brattleboro, Vermont, is just 40 minutes from Northampton. How about tax-free booze and cigarettes? Take a ride to New Hampshire in under an hour. Departmental Traditions Visiting Writers Series - Besides occasional faculty readings, the department brings several well-known writers to campus each semester for a reading. Readings are usually held in Memorial Hall and are followed by a wine and cheese reception. Oftentimes the visiting writer will also participate in a question and answer session just for English graduate students. In the past couple of years, the MFA department has sponsored on-campus visits by, among others, fiction writers Paul West, Dennis Johnson, Rick Moody, and Amy Hemple, and by poets W.S. Merwin, Christopher Merrill, Gillian Connely, Tomaz Salamun, Russel Edson, Charles Simic, Charles Wright, and Simon Armitage. Live Lit - Every other Friday night (when not snowed-out), readings by MFA students are held at Atticus Books in downtown Amherst. Generally, one poet and one fiction writer read for about 30 minutes each. Live Lit also features group readings, the most popular of which being the First Year Reading, where the new students get a chance to strut their stuff. The scheduling committee generally disseminates sign up sheets early in the Fall. An important feature of the evening is beer for a dollar. MFAs have also been seen reading at other venues around Amherst and Northampton. Keep an eye out. The Vets' Club - The World War II Club in Northampton features cheap drinks, a friendly bartender, an excellent jukebox, two pool tables, and an actual working periscope. What more could you want? Thursday night is unofficial MFA night, when ten to twenty members of the program show up to discuss important events of the day, shoot pool, and show off their muscles. MFA Barbecue — The MFA Barbecue is the first social event of the year, usually held over Labor Day weekend. For the past two years it’s been hosted by Noy Holland, the head of the Department, at her home in Heath. The program provides beer and meat, and older students pitch in with the rest (Which often leads to an excess of deserts-go figure). Come meet your new classmates and have a few beers–just make sure there’s a designated driver. Heath is one of those towns "in the outlying areas," and country roads at night is are dark and wind-y. MFA Mailboxes - You'll have your own little piece of real estate (approximately 3" x 6" x 12") in the Pioneer Valley. On the fourth floor of Bartlett Hall, check the area just BELOW your name for contest and job opportunities, love notes, and flyers. Grad Student Lounge - Looking for a place to stash your yogurt for a couple of hours? How about somewhere to finish the last half of Ulysses before class begins? Settle into the sumptuous green faux-leather couch in the English Dept. Grad Lounge, located on the fourth floor of beautiful Bartlett Hall. Coffee machine, espresso machine, refrigerator full of someone's old milk. Open 9 AM - 4 PM. Just around the corner from your MFA mailbox, a great place to read the latest handout. MFA Basketball Team - The men have an intramural basketball team. Good luck trying to play without an invite. Expect to lose to a wide variety of teams: from Mathematics to Sports Management. The games provide a rare opportunity to see certain of the poets without a cigarette in hand. Awards and Competitions Check your MFA mailbox and department bulletin boards concerning rules and deadlines for several national and departmental fiction and poetry competitions throughout the academic year. Most awards are selected by the MFA director, or a committee or judge chosen by the director. Not all awards can be applied for–some are chosen rather mysteriously by the faculty on the basis of unknown achievements. Last year's awards included: SPUG - "Small Poem Under Glass" - One small poem chosen for display on the fourth floor of Bartlett Hall each semester. We do mean small. Sylvia can give you the guidelines. Delaney Fellowship - Awarded to women fiction writers over 35 years of age. Amount of prize and possibility of tuition waiver varies. Juniper Fellowship — Awarded to two poets each year. Award of job carrying two responsibilities: 1) co-reader/judge for Juniper Prize (a publication of a book of poetry by UMass Press) and 2) assistant to MFA director for various projects, most importantly the Visiting Writers Series. Fellowship includes a stipend for two semesters and usually a tuition waiver. AWP Intro Journal Awards — Each Fall the department nominates one work of fiction, one of non-fiction, and two of poetry for a national competition. National winners get published. Harcourt Brace’s Harvest Books Best New American Voices (Formerly Scribner’s) — Students may submit short stories for judging by the department, which then nominates two stories for this national contest. If selected, the winner receives a publication guarantee as well as a cash prize for the national winner. Harvey Swados Fiction Contest - End of the year competition for fiction writers within the program. Small cash award and reading at Awards Ceremony. Academy of American Poets/Joseph Langland Poetry Contest - End of the year competition for poets within the program. Small cash award and reading at Awards Ceremony. Daniel and Merrily Glosband MFA Fellowship In English/Poetry - $1000 award to poet based on merit. Announced at MFA Awards Ceremony. Slosberg Prize In Poetry - One poet receives small cash prize, based on merit. Announced at MFA Awards Ceremony. Modern Poetry Association Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship - Nomination of poetry submission for national competition. $15,000 prize for national winner. UMass Graduate School Fellowship - A committee selects two or three students for this campus-wide award which includes a tuition waiver. Office Of Minority Graduate Student Recruitment - For incoming as well as current students. Check with Office of Minority Graduate Students for details.
The Truth About Jobs Funding is one of the key issues with any graduate program, but at the MFA in English Program at UMass it is especially important. This is because funding is very seldom guaranteed to a student. Each year the program offers a few fellowships to promising incoming writers and there are also scholarships available through the graduate school, but most students will have to seek stipends and tuition waivers through Graduate Assistantships. The following information is taken from The MFA Job Booklet. This book, compiled by faculty and students, focuses primarily on how to get a job after graduation, but has much useful advice about obtaining funding, structuring your program, and making the most of your MFA. You can view the MFA Job Book on-line (see link above) or get a copy from Sylvia when you get to campus. Finding Funding Because of the size and shape of the University of Massachusetts MFA program, many students arrive for their first semester without funding. However, most students are able to find Teaching Assistantship or Graduate Assistantship positions fairly quickly. Graduate Assistant jobs may involve tutoring, office writing positions, academic advising, research, or a variety of other tasks. Before you sign a contract the Graduate Student Employee Organization (GEO, our union) requires that you be supplied with a detailed job description. Most jobs have flexible scheduling that takes into account your primary status as a graduate student. Obviously, if you are teaching you will be assigned a specific class time, and other positions require that you work during regular office hours, between 9AM and 5PM. Some tutoring positions require evening hours. Full-Stipend: These graduate positions come with an (official) workload of approximately 20 hours a week and pay around $5,000 per semester, or approximately $10,000 for the academic year. These positions also include a tuition waiver, which means that you will only be responsible for paying a graduate fee of around $365.00 a semester. If you are taking out school loans, this fee will be deducted automatically from your loans before you receive your excess check. Health insurance is also fully covered by your waiver. Call Health Services (577-5000) if you have questions about the extent of your coverage. (Teaching positions in the writing program all come with a full stipend.) Half-Stipend: These are also graduate positions, but with a scaled down work-load. If your financial position is such that you don’t need a full-stipend, you may want to look out for these positions. They come with the same benefits (tuition waiver, health insurance) as the full-time positions, but the workload (again, officially) is 10 hrs. per week and the pay is approximately $2,500 per semester, $5,000 for the full academic year. Where to Look: If you’re looking for funding the best thing to do is begin as soon as you hit campus. The Writing Program only hires once a year, in the Spring, so if you enter without a teaching position you will have to wait at least a year to re-apply. There is no guarantee that you will be offered a position in the Writing Program during your tenure at UMASS. Most MFAs do eventually teach in the Writing Program, but if you’re counting on getting a position your second year, you may be disappointed.
It is important not to give up. Even if you find a funded position later in the semester, you will still receive a full-tuition waiver for that semester. Opportunities may seem invisible, but they are certainly there. A Word About Financial Aid: If you’re planning on taking out loans, it’s a good idea to stop by the Graduate Financial Aid office as soon as you get to campus. Loans can get held-up for a variety of reasons, none of which ever seem to make any sense, and the best way to get your money sooner is by contacting the Bursar and the Financial Aid office as frequently as possible. Anne Peramba has been a godsend to many poor MFAs. She works in the Financial Aid Office and is also responsible for assigning Graduate Work Study. The only way to get work study is to call Anne Peramba and get on her waiting list. It is a good idea to do this before you arrive, but chances are good that you will get it quite quickly if you get on the waiting list as soon as you get here. Some graduate positions require candidates to have work study funds. If you receive work study and then find a position that does not require it, you can always decline the funding which will then be given to another desperate graduate student. Call the Financial Aid office for more details. Funding Limits: Funding provided by the English Department (including the Writing Program) is currently limited to six semesters. This means that if you enter the MFA Program with a Writing Program TA-ship, you are only guaranteed six semesters of funding. If, during this time, you accept another English Department TA position (such as a regular (Fall/Spring, excluding Continuing Education) semester appointment to teach Creative Writing or another English Department course, this will count as one of your funded semesters. TA/TO-ships with other departments or schools (such as SOM or the Honors Program) do not count as part of your six-semester limit. It is important to make plans about your funding at the beginning of your MFA career. It is possible to extend your stay here, but funding will not be guaranteed (even if you already have it) for a fourth year and beyond. CONTACTS: What follows is information about important numbers you will need for your funding search, as well as a list of a few organizations that hire graduate students for a variety of jobs and positions. (Beware: not all of the jobs for which these organizations hire graduate students include a tuition waiver and benefits–some are simply by the hour part-time gigs.) Graduate Assistantship Office (524 Goodell): 545-5287 Financial Aid Office (255 Whitmore): 546-8100 Bursar’s Office (225 Whitmore): 545-2368 Graduate Employee Organization (GEO): 545-5317 Minority Engineering Program (MEP): 545-2030 Committee for Collegiate Education of Black and Other Minority Students (CCEBMS): 545-0031 The Writing Program: 545-0610 Learning Disability Support Services (LDSS): 545-4602 The Commonwealth College (previously Honors Program): 545-2483 United Asia Learning Resource Center (UALRC): 545-1844 American Culture and Language Program (run by the International Programs Office 545-2710): 546-6259 Department of Continuing Education: 545-0530 School of Management (contact Linda LaDuc): 545-5580 The Princeton Review: 584-6849/586-4939 Center for Teaching : 545-5143 Pre-Major Advising : 545-2191 The Writing Program: The primary source of funding in the program is the Writing Program Teaching Associateship. A number of Writing Program TA's are awarded each year, renewable (at present) for several semesters. A few TA's in the Writing Program are set aside for first year students, primarily those with prior teaching experience. Information regarding application is sent to each student during the fall, in plenty of time for the spring deadline. Although taking a course is by no means a guarantee of landing a teaching job, those students interested in Writing Program TA's who want a better chance at securing a position might be advised to take an English Department Composition/Rhetoric course in the Fall. Course offerings vary, so check your catalogue. The MFA program also offers a number of creative writing TA's, but these are awarded almost exclusively to second and third-year students in the program, and never to entering students. The English Department has a number of Teaching and Research Assistantships that are awarded each year. Generally, these positions are awarded in the Spring for the Fall Semester. They include TA's for Technical Writing and miscellaneous English courses as well as RA's for a few journals associated with the department. Announcement of application for most of these jobs are advertised, but the truly interested might want to double check with Sylvia or the MFA director. Often, students in the MFA Program are left to look for jobs outside the department. Whereas most English Department Assistantships are advertised through notices in MFA mailboxes, Assistantships outside the department must be sought out by the individual. There are lists available from Wanda and Sylvia in the Graduate English Department office which details departments that have hired MFA students in the past. Sylvia posts current job information on the MFA bulletin board across from Bartlett 456. Financial Aid Work-Study awards are especially useful in landing jobs around campus, because the hiring department is then responsible for approximately one-third of the stipend for the student. Listings for available assistantships around campus can be found at the Graduate Assistantship office in Goodell, and at the Student Employment Office next to the Financial Aid Office in Whitmore. It is important to note that even if a position does not carry a tuition waiver, that if you earn enough money in a given year (approximately $3600) in a position related to your course of study (which does not necessarily have to be on-campus), the Graduate School will provide you with a tuition waiver. The University of Massachusetts is the largest employer in the Pioneer Valley, however, students have also been known to get jobs at one of the other colleges in the Five-College system. As with any job search, the best advice is to apply early and often. Good luck. Web Bibliography For those of you with access to the burgeoning world of the Internet, here are a few useful URL's at which to point your web browser for more information. UMass Home Page [http://www.umass.edu] - An obvious starting point. The home page can point you to many other on-campus sites. English Department Home Page [http://www.umass.edu/english/edwelc.html] - A informative page by former MFA student, Tom Greene. Contains information about the department and useful links to sites of interest to English Department students and faculty. Financial Aid [http://www-vms.oit.umass.edu/~umfa/homepage.html] - Offers information on Financial Aid at UMass. Also includes a link to the Student Employment Office work-study and non-work study job database, but they seldom list Graduate Assistantships. Commuter Center and Off-Campus Housing Services [http://home.oit.umass.edu/cgi-bin/chsrc-bin/front] - Contains listings for apartments, condominiums, house-shares, and houses for ren t in the Five College area. Also includes information on renting. Virtual Valley 'Zine [http://virtual-valley.com] - Contains information about businesses and entertainment in the Pioneer Valley. GazetteNET Classifieds [http://www.gazettenet.com/classifieds/index.html] - The Hampshire Gazette is the local daily newspaper of Hampshire County, whe re Amherst is located. This is there on-line newspaper, with classifieds that may prove useful in finding a realtor or an apartment. DH Jones, Realtors [http://www.dhjones.com] - D.H. Jones is a popular realtor for students, because they don't charge a finder's fee. They have an office on Triangle Street in Amherst. Illustrated Guides - Northampton And Amherst [http://www.thunderweb.com/guides] - Has listings for area businesses and hotels that you can find on an on-line map. Town of Amherst [http://wwwastro.phast.umass.edu/guest/amherst.html] - Has information and demographical statistics for the town of Amherst. Northampton, Mass. [http://www.noho.com] - Contains links to various different organizations in Northampton, including the Chamber of Commerce. Five Colleges Incorporated [http://fivecolleges.edu] - Contains information about the Five Colleges (UMass, Amherst, Hampshire, Smith and Mt. Holyoke) and area, including Bus Schedules. Peter Pan Bus Lines [http://www.peterpan-bus.com] - Peter Pan is the only interstate bus line that connects to Amherst. Their hub is in Springfield, MA and they connect to locations around the Northeast including Boston, New York City and Bradley International Airport (Hartford-Springfield). Orientation Guide Contributors (in alphabetical order) Tamara Grogan Tracy Majka Nicholas Montemarano Steve Richardson Susan Steinberg Andrew Varnon Guide Updated 10/00 by Leah Clarkson and Karl Wachter |