Department of English & Comparative Literary Studies
University of Warwick
HANDBOOK FOR MFA STUDENTS
CONTENTS
IMPORTANT DATES
WELCOME
CONTACTS
THE MFA
Structure and Aim
Placements
Assessment
Critical Component
YOUR WARWICK
Making contact
Pigeon Holes/Mailboxes
Postgraduate Noticeboard
Common Room
Arts Faculty Graduate Space
PG Hub
IT Facilities
Conference Expenses
PRACTICAL SUPPORT
Staff-Student Liaison Committee
Counselling Services
Disabilities
Financial Difficulties
ACADEMIC SUPPORT
Monitoring student progress
Changing supervisor
Temporary withdrawal
Applying for an extension
Permanent withdrawal
Complaints Procedure
Extenuating/Mitigating Circumstances
Ethics Review
IMPORTANT DATES
2013-14
TERM 1
•Monday 30 September 2013 – term starts
•Friday 29th November – deadline to submit Termly Review Form to Graduate Secretary
TERM 2
•Friday 7th March 2014 – deadline to submit Termly Review Form to Graduate Secretary
TERM 3
•Friday 20th June – deadline to submit Termly Review Form to Graduate Secretary
•Monday 1 September - deadline to submit final project IN TRIPLICATE to Graduate Secretary (one copy to be submitted electronically if appropriate)
WELCOME
This handbook will introduce you to the MFA and to a number of important ways that the department organises postgraduate research. It is based on agreed departmental practice as well as University and national guidelines. It is designed for use by current and prospective students as well as members of staff.
This handbook supplements the Graduate School’s information for current students, found at . This is the key University website for all students taking higher degrees at Warwick. All current students are expected to be familiar with it. Students should consult two other documents outlining university regulations governing research degrees:
*The Guidelines on the Supervision and Monitoring of Research Degree Students (http;//www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/academicoffice/gsp/formslibrary/guidelines_on_supervision_and_monitoring.pdf)
*The Guide to Examinations for Higher Degrees by Research (http;//www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/academicoffice/gsp/formslibrary/guide_to_examinations_for_higher_degrees_by_research.pdf)
All of these documents are all available for downloading from the Graduate School website. It is the responsibility of research students to be familiar with the guidelines and regulations governing their degree.
CONTACTS
The Head of the Department is Prof. Catherine Bates – email , tel: +44 (0) 24 76 523340. Her office is H501.
The Director of Graduate Studies is Dr Christina Britzolakis – email , tel: +44 (0) 24 76 522820. Her office is H508.
The Directors of Postgraduate Tutors are Dr Nick Monk – email , tel:+44 (0) 24 76 150528, his office is in Millburn House - and Dr Cathia Jenainati - email , tel: +44 (0) 24 76 573093.
The PhD Admissions Tutor is Dr Emma Francis – email tel: +44 (0) 24 76522403. Her office is H511.
The PG Funding Officer is Dr Emma Francis – email tel: +44 (0) 24 76 522403. Her office is H511.
The PG Placement Officer is Dr Paul Botley – email tel: +44 (0) 24 76 523341.
The MFA Convenor is Professor Ian Sansom – email tel: +44 (0) 24 76 150337.
The Department’s postgraduate secretary is Mrs Cheryl Cave l. +44 (0)24 76 523665. She is in her office (H504) from Mondays to Thursday 8.30am – 2.30 pm. She is not there during vacation time.
Post: Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL
Telephone: +44 (0)2476 523323
Fax: +44 (0)247 52475
THE MFA
The Warwick MFA is a two-year Master of Fine Arts degree. It develops creativity at the highest level by grounding it in rigorous academic study and in professional practice.
Full information about the MFA can be found at
Structure:
The first year comprises one of the existing taught MA courses offered by the Faculty of Arts and by the Institute of Education.
The second year is project-based and takes the form of an independent project undertaken with full supervision but normally without residence. The MFA thus combines both taught and research elements over the course of study.
Aim:
The aim of the MFA is to enable students to carry through to completion viable, independent projects which they can theorise, justify, and rationalise. The degree is designed to encourage creativity and interdisciplinarity by making it possible for students to think and practise both within and outside disciplinary boundaries.
The MFA is designed so that students who wish to specialise in a particular discipline (for example, writing, theatre or pedagogy) will be able to do so if they so choose. It also creates the opportunity to work across disciplines in creative ways. Some of the most interesting projects might involve a student moving across from the Department in which they took their first-year MA modules into another Department where they develop their second-year project. Similarly, some second-year projects might involve co-supervision from across departments in the Arts Faculty and/or in the Institute of Education, thereby further fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and research.
Placements:
Students undertaking the Warwick MFA have the option to include a work placement, work-based learning, or professional experience placement as part of their individually tailored second year programme of study. The partner ogranisations (see will be chosen on the basis of their professional reputations as well as the relevance and appropriateness of the learning opportunities/work environment they can offer. Partner organisations will primarily be drawn from those with which departments already have a prior relationship, although additional partners will be recruited if necessary to provide appropriate environments and opportunities to support individual student needs.
Placements are designed to give students insights into the workings of a creative, cultural, or media organisation and an opportunity to apply their learning in a professional (rather than an academic) environment. The emphasis will be on the analysis of creative practice, but also on creative practice itself.
Assessment:
The MFA comprises 360 CATS in total, 180 CATS in each year of full time study.
Year 1: forms of assessment will be specific for each individual MA programme. Each MA course carries a total of 180 CATS. In order to be admitted onto the MFA, students must have passed their MA modules with an overall average of 65%.
Year 2: for those students admitted onto the MFA, the second year will consist of a single, supervised project that carries a total of 180 CATS. The MFA project will contain elements of creative and practice-based work, the working definition of which is “an original creative contribution to the field of study which is of an appropriate professional standard or worthy of peer-review publication”.
Given that each project is going to be unique in its scope, the precise breakdown between its various components (formal essays, creative writing, practice-based work, placements, and so forth) will depend on the nature of the project and the individual research interests it represents.
Given the unique nature of the MFA project, a degree of flexibility will exist in the exact proportion between the different components (critical, creative, practice-based) of any submission and therefore in assessment methods, so long as a continuous dialogue is maintained between the student and their supervisor/s. However, upper and lower limits are set as follows. In any given project a proportion ranging from 12.5% to 50% of the overall submission would consist of critical work (in the form of one or more commentary/critical essay/reflective piece, amounting to between 5,000 to 20,000 words), and a proportion ranging from 50% to 87.5% of the overall submission would consist of an evidential body of body of creative work (in whatever form or forms that were appropriate to that project). In effect, a minimum of 12.5% of the module (5,000 words) would be formally assessed on the basis of a commentary/critical essay/reflective piece, and a maximum of 87.5% would be formally assessed on the basis of a creative body of work, although flexibility would be permitted between these two poles.
In each case, the various proportions between components and the different assessment methods appropriate to each will in the first instance be proposed by the MFA Selection Board at the point when project proposals are considered, and acceptance onto the MFA will be conditional on the student’s agreement to follow the assessment method designed for them, with the proviso that, in the continuing dialogue between the student and their supervisor/s, these proportions may vary to some extent as the project develops.
The ‘critical component’
The critical component of the MFA may be a work of commentary, a work of criticism, or a work of self-reflection on the student’s creative work. The English Department defines a postgraduate thesis/dissertation as a sustained piece of research organized around a specific and defined topic. The argument will be broken down into subdivisions/chapters, but each chapter will work towards explicating the overall thesis of the research. The thesis/dissertation is expected to reach (and not exceed) the maximum words allowed for the degree in question. The Department is not likely to accept a thesis made up of a series of discrete, unconnected chapters even if the prescribed word length is achieved. For the MFA, students are strongly advised to discuss the shape and content of their theses/dissertations regularly with their supervisor(s).
YOUR WARWICK
Making contact
All MFA students should make contact with the postgraduate secretary, Mrs Cheryl Cave, on arrival and supply her with local and home address and, immediately after registration with IT Services, an email address. If you do not make use of your campus email account, it is your responsibility to set up a forward to your home email address so that tutors can contact you at all times. The Warwick email address will be used for all communications. Please notify the office of any change of address.
Pigeon Holes / Mailboxes
Due to a lack of space, students do not have individual pigeon-holes. However, if you become a postgraduate tutor, your pigeon-hole will be in the staff common room (H502).
Postgraduate Noticeboard
This is located to the left of Reception (through the double fire doors). Check this regularly for information, seminars, etc.
Common Room
There is a Faculty Postgraduate Common Room in H0.42.
The Arts Faculty Graduate Space
This is the area on the fourth floor extension to the Humanities Building (go through the doors to the left of the lift at the back of the fourth floor of the Humanities Building, and over the bridge) dedicated to postgraduates in the Arts Faculty. You can book this space for seminars, events, conferences etc (consult the Arts Faculty Secretary).It contains noticeboards with information about seminar and conference events, the office of the Humanities Research Centre and the office of the Renaissance Studies Centre.
PG Hub
The PG Hub is a space for Warwick postgraduate taught and research students to access support and to work and share experiences together in the broadest context of postgraduate life, not just study.
Use the following link to find out more:
IT Facilities
When you enrol with the University you will be given information about registering with IT services. The Graduate Space contains dedicated IT facilities for Arts postgraduates. H454 is a general work area and H447 a teaching room/work area. These rooms are equipped with networked computers and printers, for the exclusive use of graduate students. See the Arts Faculty Secretary in Room H045 for registration forms and access code. There are also designated desks and workstations for postgraduate students in Millburn House.
Departmental Support for Conference Expenses
The Department may offer limited financial help to MFA students attending conferences of up to £250 per annum. This is at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies and the availability of funds. If you would like to attend a conference which is central to your area of study, and if you have been accepted to give a paper, contact the Cheryl Cave as soon as possible. Enclose a copy of the programme or acceptance letter, confirming the acceptance of your paper and provide costings (return rail/bus fare, the conference fee, accommodation costs etc). The Director of Graduate Studies will then consider whether the department can offer some financial support. This usually takes the form of a partial reimbursement of funds outlaid. When you have returned from the conference you will need to fill in the university’s form FP16a: Claim for Travelling and Subsistence Allowance, attach relevant receipts and hand all the documents in to the Departmental Office (H506). Another source of funding for conference expenses is the university’s Humanities Research Fund, which is administered by Research Support Services. You can download an application form from their website
Decisions are normally made within 4 weeks.
This allowance may also be used to support other relevant research activity such as the acquisition or improvement of a language essential to your research, at the discretion of the DGS.
PRACTICAL SUPPORT
Staff-Student Liaison Committee (PGSSLC)
This is one of the principle ways staff and students communicate about practical matters relating to graduate provision in the department, from library provision to conference funding. The student body of the department will elect annually representatives from each of the MA programmes, and two PhD students to serve on this committee. These representatives will nominate a student chair and a secretary (to take minutes). This committee will meet each term with the Director of Graduate Studies and the MA convenors. Minutes of each meeting should be taken by the student secretary, and the chair will report annually to the University Board of Graduate Studies. The subject librarian must attend one of these meetings annually and should be invited by the PGSSLC chair. If you have any matters which you want to raise about the course, the department, or the facilities supplied to you, please do so through your SSLC representative. Details of who they are will be posted on the departmental graduate notice board, and available on the dedicated website here:
nts/pgsslc committee/
Counselling Services
The University’s Senior Tutor is responsible for all aspects of student welfare. Postgraduate students can consult the Senior Tutor on a wide range of issues, including accommodation, study skills, harassment and financial difficulties. The Senior Tutor can be contacted on extension 23761. Counselling Services also provides free counselling to students. Counselling Services also offers on-line information on a range of common problems. Information about these services will be disseminated at the Faculty Induction meeting.
Disabilities
The University employs a Disability Co-ordinator, Ms. Despina Weber, who offers support and guidance to all students with disabilities. She can be contacted by email at
Financial Difficulties
If you find yourself unexpectedly in financial difficulties, please speak to someone immediately – your supervisor or mentor, the Director of Graduate Studies or the Head of Department. The University has a range of Hardship Funds to which both Home/EU and international students may apply. The application form is available from the Student Development & Support Centre, at University House.
ACADEMIC SUPPORT
Monitoring Student Progression
All MFA students in the English Department will be subject to the monitoring structure detailed below:
Department of English and Comparative English Literature / Monitoring student progress: MFA Full-Time and Part-TimeLead Academic: Director of Graduate Studies
Point / Point
Terms 1/2/3 and Summer / Regular (monthly) supervisory contact in person/by email / Regular submission of written work
Monitored by
- Submission of students’ termly review reports
- Termly supervisors’ reports
Changing your supervisor
The department is aware that difficulties sometimes arise between students and their supervisors, often through no fault on either side. If you have any concerns, please feel free either to raise the matter directly with your supervisor, or to discuss the matter in confidence with the Director of Graduate Studies. You may also wish to speak with your mentor, who can offer impartial advice. Every effort will be made to ensure that excellent communications are maintained between MFA students and their supervisors. In all cases, the department will endeavour to ensure that supervisory arrangements are entirely satisfactory. Any difficulties raised by the student will not prejudice that student in any way. However, it is important to note that it is the responsibility of the student to bring the difficulties to the attention of their mentor, the Director of Graduate Studies or the University Graduate School Office ingood time. The University cannot remedy difficulties or failings of which it was not made properly aware.
Temporarily discontinuing your studies
If, for any reason, you are not able to study for a period of more than two or three weeks, it is essential that you contact your supervisor, and ask about the advisability of applying for a Temporary Withdrawal. If he or she thinks this is advisable, both you and your supervisor should notify the Director of Graduate Studies in writing about you needs and your reasons for seeking a Temporary Withdrawal. You should also supply medical evidence where appropriate. The Director of Graduate Studies will then forward your letter, along with a covering letter indicating the department’s support of your need for a suspension of study, to the Chair of the Board of Graduate Studies. You should then receive an official response from the Graduate School regarding the request. If you do not hear within a reasonable period of time, ask the Director of Graduate Studies to contact the Graduate School on your behalf.
Temporary Withdrawals are, effectively, time-out from your period of registration: you will not be liable for fees during this period, and this period will not count towards the total time allowed for your MFA study. Withdrawals are normally granted for periods of up to six months in the first instance. If you are AHRC-funded, or funded by any other source, it is essential that you and your supervisor also contact them to clarify your funding position. Note that it is only possible to apply for withdrawal during the first three years of full-time study (or first five years of part-time study). It is possible to arrange for Library privileges to continue while on Temporary Withdrawal.
Applying for an extension