Here's a draft from Shannon of our Creative Writing Student Association Proposal
The proposed Creative Writing Student Association (CWSA) will enhance the creative, academic, and social experience of our bachelor and graduate students. By enabling students to organize events and programs, the CWSA will support the extra-curricular and mentorship work of Creative Writing faculty and staff. Fundraising and volunteering will be the primary source of support for the association and its endeavors, but we also ask for a small sum from the department to subsidize events and pay one chair person. The chair person will mange funds and activities. He or she will also attend a portion of faculty meetings to enhance communication between faculty, administration and students.
Here is an example of some of the activities the Creative Writing Student Association would organize:
Orientation : We would expand the faculty’s orientation to include a social aspect facilitating information exchange between incoming and established students. The orientation would extend into the first semester and include
MENTORSHIPS: Partnering new and experienced students throughout the first semester to help familiarize them with the program, the school, and some aspects of the Vancouver writing community. Mentors could also help faculty and staff field questions from incoming students.
The WORKSHOP WORKSHOP: A discussion in workshop protocol and exploration alternative models of workshopping
Seminars and resources: The association will adapt campus-wide resources on academic skills to suit the needs of Creative Writers. (For example, the Grad Studies department holds Time Management Seminars, which the CWSA could expand to apply to creative projects: “How much time should I allot to get a good idea?” ) It would allow our students to reap the benefit of university-wide programs; as UBC is not a Fine Arts school, it is important that we build these stratagem and resources internally.
Town Hall Meetings or Brown Bags: Regular open-house meetings to address creative and administrative interests/concerns of students in the department.
Representative to Faculty Meetings: The Association would nominate a communications officer to liaise between faculty, admin and the student body
Readers: The association would have funding available to students who would like to invite readers and host writing-related events
Creative Collaborations: The association would help enhance the networking opportunities of the program by initiating in-house writing festivals or showcases which encourage writers to explore inter-genre, inter-disciplinary and multi-authored forms of publication.
BUDGET
We are asking for $3 000 dollars in total. This will cover the Chair Person’s 5 hours per week, the honorarium for the undergraduate co-chair, and the pool of funds for readers and volunteer stipends.
1 Grad chair Person Salary @ 5 hours/week: $ 1 000
1 Undergraduate Co-chair Stipend: $ 500
Events/honorariums/materials: $ 1 500
Total: $ 3 000
