Alumni During the Summer Residency

The hope is to have this conversation here rather than via email. Thinking about the presence of the alumni organization at the summer residency, I would like to propose a one or two day presence in order to keep it focused. I know there are a lot of ideas out there and we can discuss them further. Right now, it seems like the Alumni Dinner Hour style event, where alumni spend a dinner time moving from table to table, or presenting during dinner is a nice idea. We also discussed an off campus event where alumni and students/mentors get to meet.

I know there is some good discussion about an alumni writer’s conference/workshop around the time of the residency, but I think that would be a stand alone event.

Other ideas are an alumni only workshop, on or off campus, alumni reading of selected readings, and other events.

• What do we think about a one or two day event on the weekend?
• What elements should be the most significant?
• Alumni & new student arrival dinner – social?

I know there are some good ideas, but we have no money right now and while we have good resources and connections, I don’t want to over extend for the first residency. If we take one or two days, it will give us a start and we can build. Use the comment section below for feedback and ideas. As we get some of these events in place, we should write descriptions so we can share them with alumni and the program.

* Remember, if you want to stay connected to this conversation, just sign up for email updates and you will receive notification. Might free up the mailbox. Be well. Ron

We have an official name!

Thank you to everyone who voted, and thanks to Ron for organizing the voting. The official name of our alumni group is the MFA Alumni Writers’ Cooperative.

Now that we have finalized on a name, let’s get the word out to more of our graduates. 🙂

 

Thanks,

 

Becca

Welcome

Greetings,

Welcome to the WCSU MFA Alumni Association web space. We had a formation meeting at the winter residency and we have some very talented and dedicated people helping to shape the alumni experience.

Our mission is to represent and promote alumni membership by creating and fostering relationships between alumni members and the current program. Our vision is to advance the goals and the mission of the program, provide alumni an opportunity to work on alumni initiatives, create social and learning opportunities for the membership, and generate scholarship and other funding streams to continue the success of the program.

As we speak, we are working on a membership structure, communication avenues (this blog being one of them), book awards that will sponsor scholarships for incoming students, and alumni events during the summer residency. Even if you are not working on a committee, we would love to hear about your ideas and your vision for the alumni association.

We are moving right along, so keep up with us by following us through email updates. Eventually, we will have a presences on Facebook and other social media sites.

If you would like to connect with us, click here and fill out a form. We will add you into our list and keep you posted. You can also add some information about what you have been doing. We would love to hear about life changes, jobs, writing projects, publishing deals, and other things going on in your life. Join us in bringing great writers together.

Please feel free to share our blog with other alumni who may not know about us. Everyone who graduated from the program is welcomed to be a part of this group.

Be well – Ron Samul

Executive Committee:

Ron Samul

Andy Alexander

Holly Azevedo

Rebecca Simas