Master's in Professional Writing

Master's in Professional Writing Program

Teaching and Graduate Assistantships for Fall '12 are available! Applications submitted by March 1 will receive full consideration for acceptance and assistantships.

Graduate students in the Professional Writing Program join a writing community where they engage in extensive writing and editing practice and receive a solid background in rhetoric and communications. Our goal is to prepare students for the realities and challenges of writing professions, whether they seek new professional opportunities or publication. Our students focus in their main areas of interest while developing a broader range of communications practices in order to become more professionally versatile.

Degree requirements
Internships and teaching assistantships

Our areas of study include:

Technical and Business Communication
Journalism
Web Design
Document Design
Public Relations
Writing Pedagogy
Grant Writing
Creative Writing (non-fiction/fiction)

Apply to the Master's in Professional Writing Program. We consider applications on a rolling basis. The graduate studies office will provide us with your application as soon as all materials have been submitted.

Questions? Email the English department's Director of Graduate Programs.

Master's in Professional Writing Degree Requirements

The MPW degree requires 33 total credits for completion.

You will take 30 credits of coursework, made up of the following requirements:

ENL 501 Rhetorical Theory (3 credits), typically taken during the fall of your first year
ENL 510 Thesis Research (3 credits), offered each spring
Seven additional elective Professional Writing courses, of which four must be 600-level courses (21 credits)
One internship (A second internship may be taken in lieu of an elective course) (3/6 credits)

You will earn an additional 3 credits designing and assembling a professional-caliber portfolio of original and exceptional work completed while in the graduate program. You will register for ENL 750 during the semester you are completing your thesis portfolio. Your portfolio will serve as your Master's thesis, and will be submitted to your committee at the end of your graduate studies. You will design your portfolio to serve your professional pursuits for after you've completed the program.

In preparing for the portfolio, you will research (in ENL 510) the historical trends, rhetorical and theoretical underpinnings, and current best practices in your chosen field of writing. Based upon the research, you will draft a thesis proposal demonstrating your understanding of that field and justifying your proposed portfolio concept, including an in-depth discussion of your work as it relates to writing professionally. Your mission in the thesis proposal is to demonstrate expertise in your chosen field and rhetorical acumen for constructing a sound, professional portfolio.

You will have six years to complete the program. Although most students manage that schedule, you may appeal to the graduate committee for a deadline extension should special circumstances arise.

Elective Courses

Check the Graduate Catalog for a list of current Professional Writing courses from which you may choose to fulfill the remainder of your course requirements.

Internships

You are required to take one internship; you may take a maximum of two. Please see the internship or project guidelines page for more information.

ENL 701-702 Internship in Technical Writing ENL 703-704 Internship in Journalism ENL 705-706 Internship in Creative Writing, Scriptwriting, or Translation ENL 707-708 Internship in Business and Professional Writing

Graduate Thesis or Project

You are required to complete a thesis or project, registering for ENL750 Thesis or Project I

Assignment of Advisors

Once you have been accepted into the program and have declared your area of interest, the Graduate Director will assign you a faculty advisor. You should schedule a conference with your advisor to ensure that you are fulfilling all the necessary program requirements.

Credit Requirements for Full-Time Status

Full-time degree candidates are required to take 9 credits (three courses) a semester. If you want to take more than 9 credits in a semester, you need the approval of your advisor. You may take fewer than 9 credits; however, you will be listed as a part-time student. Teaching assistantships are limited to full-time students. To maintain full-time status, teaching assistants are required to take 6 credits (two courses) each semester. TAs will be limited to 6 credits in their first semester, but may register for 9 credits each semester thereafter.

Grade Requirements

You must maintain a grade point average of B or better. You will be dismissed if:

your grade point average falls below a B (GPA 3.00) after 15 or more semester hours (5 classes) or 50 percent of your course work has been completed;
you receive 3 grades of C or below in graduate courses; or if your thesis or project receives a final grade of F.

During work on your thesis or project, you will be given a grade of IP (in progress). Once your committee has approved your thesis or project, your graduate advisor will submit a grade and your thesis title for inclusion on your transcript. Distinguished work will be so noted on the transcript.

Master's in Professional Writing Internship Guidelines

You are required to take one internship in this program; you may take two.

Areas of opportunity for internships include but are not limited to:

technical writing
journalism
creative writing
web authoring
scriptwriting
business or other professional writing

Your internship gives you the chance to apply classroom work, gain experience, and earn credits while working in a professional setting.

Most of the time, students find their own internship opportunities. From time to time, local companies request interns, and local organizations have developed some long standing relations with the department. Occasionally, internships are available at UMass Dartmouth. All these opportunities will be announced to current graduate students.

Before applying

Because of the importance of the internship to your program, please consult with your graduate faculty advisor while making your plans.

Interns reflect directly on the quality of our program. To ensure that sponsors get qualified interns, the graduate committee will withhold internship requests until you have demonstrated the requisite skills and professionalism through the quality of your coursework and record of attendance in this program.

Before applying for your internship, select a field site and negotiate entry by talking with the director of personnel, editor, manager, or the appropriate decision maker. You should then work with that person to determine if an internship would be mutually beneficial. Creative writers not planning to work on site must submit their work to their faculty sponsor.

Once the organization has agreed to sponsor you, discuss your projected responsibilities with your assigned on-site supervisor and your graduate advisor. Then write your proposal. You will also need to prepare a contract form and a cover/signature sheet. Proposal guidelines and templates for the contract form and cover/signature sheet are below.

Once you begin

Once you begin your internship, you are responsible for fulfilling your contract. If you have no compelling reason for an incomplete internship, you will receive an "F." If you have problems at the site, discuss them with your advisor.

To receive credit

To receive credit for your internship, you must write a final report describing your experience. This report must be submitted no later than one week prior to the last day of classes of the semester interned. (Attach copies of the documents produced on site.) Creative writers must write a critical preface to the work done during the internship, attach a copy of the work, and submit the final report to the faculty sponsor.

If you receive a poor final report from your supervisor, you may receive no credit, and you may be denied future internships.

Preparing your proposal

Proposal format

Your proposal package will consist of three parts:

the main document
the contract form
the cover/signature sheet

The format for your proposal may vary, as proposal format will depend on the work you propose to do. But the headings below should appear in the main document.

Proposal title
Proposer and area of work (technical writing, journalism, etc...)
Qualifications (include graduate courses taken to prepare for the internship, comparable experience, relevant undergraduate study, publications, and so on)
Graduate courses you will be taking while doing your internship
Proposal
- Description of field site/organization where internship will be done
- Background (e.g., Why have you chosen the site? What are your goals?)
- Work description (Explain the work you will do, the hours (weekly) you will spend on site, the documents expected of you (e.g., newsletters, public relations pieces, articles, reports, grants, etc...))
- Other responsibilities at the field site
Deadlines and due dates (e.g., If you are responsible for a major on-site project, when is it due? What other deadlines must you meet? When will you submit your internship report?)
Dates and/or arrangements with faculty sponsor for sharing your work with the sponsor.

Where to submit your proposal

Submit copies of the typed contract (with proposal attached) to your on-site supervisor, faculty advisor, and the Director of Graduate Programs. Secure their signatures on the cover/signature sheet and attach at the front of the document. Submit signed copies to the on-site supervisor, faculty advisor, and the director of graduate studies.

Contract form

You can download a copy of the Internship Contract Form template in one of two formats: