New graduate certificates in creative writing and teaching college writing are coming to Middle Georgia State University (MGA) this fall.

Housed in MGA’s School of Arts & Letters, the certificates are primarily geared toward working professionals who already hold bachelor’s degrees and want to fine-tune their skills and knowledge to move into the next stages of their careers.

“Both certificates are unique among colleges and universities in Georgia,” said Dr. Mary Wearn, dean of the School of Arts & Letters. “These programs help fulfill specific professional workforce needs in the state’s creative economy but also, especially in the case of the creative writing certificate, will appeal to those who want to fulfill their avocational aspirations.”

The fully online Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing supports those already working in a creative field, students honing their craft before navigating the publishing world or film industry, and those pursuing a personally enriching goal that runs parallel to their current careers.

The classes, each taught in 8-week sessions, are:

CRWR 5040: Fiction Writing (3 hours)
CRWR 5050: Poetry Writing (3 hours)
CRWR 5440: Screenwriting (3 hours)
CRWR 5700: Narrative Journalism (3 hours)
CRWR 5900: Publishing and the Creative Writer (3 hours)
One of the instructors in the creative writing program is Andy Davidson, an MGA assistant professor of English and published novelist. His most recent novel, The Hollow Kind, made numerous “best” lists last fall and received rave reviews from The New York Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA Today, and other publications.

“The graduate certificate in creative writing will be the only online graduate credential in creative writing in the state of Georgia and the only program with admission standards that foster access and inclusivity,” Wearn said. “The program will prepare students to work in emerging, high-demand fields in Georgia such as web content development, digital storytelling, and content marketing.”

Students in the creative writing graduate certificate program can count up to two of the courses as electives should they later decide to pursue MGA’s Master of Arts in Technical and Professional Writing.

The fully online Graduate Certificate in Teaching College Writing is an 18-hour program that provides targeted professional development for those who plan to teach at the college level.

This certificate provides expertise and evidence of specialization in an area of vital need to higher education: strong, effective writing instruction, especially on the first-year level. It provides targeted development for any who want to add college instruction as a career component or enhance their current qualifications.

The classes, each taught in 8-week sessions, are:

ENGL 5650: Theory and Practice in Editing and Style (3 hours)
COMM 5000: Rhetoric: Written, Visual, and Oral Communication (3 hours)
ENGL 6300: Teaching First Year Composition (3 hours)
ENGL 6400: Teaching Developmental Writing (3 hours)
ENGL 6500: Teaching Online Research and Writing (3 hours)
Students who are not currently active educators should take:

ENGL 5900: Graduate Internship (3 hours)
Students who are currently or have been educators at the collegiate level may choose to take one of the following courses instead of ENGL 5900:

ENGL 5106: Technical Writing in the Digital Age (3 hours)
ENGL 5206: Public and Professional Writing (3 hours)
“This program will be the only rhetoric and composition graduate credential of its kind in the state,” Wearn said. “It will provide a pipeline of efficiently trained graduates to respond to postsecondary workforce needs in Georgia. This credential will be particularly popular among teachers and communication professionals who would like to pivot to teaching writing at the collegiate level.”

The Graduate Certificate in Teaching College Writing can be added as an additional credential to the Master of Arts in Technical and Professional Writing.

For more information, contact Dr. Monica Miller, coordinator of MGA’s graduate technical writing programs, at [email protected].