Below and posted on our webpages are details about topics included on your Academic Calendar. At the end of this document is the Calendar itself with important due dates for the current January–May, 2013 academic term. The Calendar also includes June 2013 and January 2014 residency dates and projected June 2014 residency dates. Let me know, please, if you have questions.
You are responsible for knowing all the information contained in this letter.
Registration for June–November 2013 term
- Those students currently enrolled who plan to continue do not need to do anything
—we assume you will be here in June 2013, as scheduled.
For Those Students who are Currently on Leave of Absence (LOA) or Withdrawn
- March 1 is the application/reentry/reapplication deadline.
- Those of you who are currently on a Leave of Absence must notify me in writing by March 1 of your intent to return (Email is fine.)
- Forfeited matriculation deposits must be repaid and received in the Writing Seminars Office by March 1.
- Reapplications must be completed and received in the Writings Seminars Office by March 1, as well.
For Those Current Students Considering Requesting a Leave of Absence (LOA)
The notification due date for requesting a LOA for the June 2013 term is March 1. Students must submit requests to the Associate Director in writing by March 1 (Email is fine.).
- If you decide after March 1 to take a leave of absence, you will forfeit the $500.00 matriculation deposit.
- Additionally, if you decide after March 1 to take a leave of absence, you will be considered withdrawn at the end of the term and will be required to reapply to the Seminars with the same status as other applicants seeking admission for the term to which you are reapplying.
Third Term Genre Switch
- If you are currently in your second term, you have the opportunity to request a switch to another genre in your third term (June 2013).
- Requests to make a genre switch must be submitted to the Associate Director in writing by March 1 or sooner (Email is fine.). Approval of your 2nd-term (current) teacher is required. If you are considering making a switch, please let me know as soon as possible, so that we can discuss the process.
Midterm and Final Evaluations
- You are required to write a midterm evaluation of your teacher. I will send you an evaluation form in March that you will need to complete and return to me via email. Estimated due date: March 15.
- You are required to write a final evaluation of your teacher. I will send you an evaluation form in May that you will need to complete and return to me via email. Estimated due date: June 7, 2013.
*Important Reminder to Evaluation Policy: Midterm and final evaluations by students of faculty will be shared with faculty as anonymous documents. Residency evaluations will be read only by administrators.
Faculty Preferences
- You will receive brief biographical profiles of all faculty who will be teaching in your genre during the June-November 2013 term and will be asked to list up to six in your order of preference. Estimated time you will receive the profiles and preference form: mid April 2013.
June 2013 Workshop Material
- You will be sending 12 copies of your workshop material (original work) so that it arrives in the Writing Seminars Office by Tuesday, May 7. As much as you are able, I encourage you to plan ahead which material you will be sending for the June residency workshop so that the deadline does not creep up on you. Remember, this submission of a creative manuscript for workshop is not the same as your May 2013 packet submission.
- We encourage you to send your best work in progress, i.e., strong work you think will benefit from the critique of your workshop teachers and peers.
- Our goal is to distribute the workshop material in time for students to read and fully annotate one another’s work prior to coming to the residency. Fully annotate means fully respond to the work in writing. Students will give their written responses of each MS to its author. We have received many requests from students who want there to be more consistency in the quality of the critique of workshop manuscripts. Thoroughly critiquing manuscripts for workshop will benefit student critics as well as student authors.
- Amount of original material: not more than 20 pages of fiction or nonfiction (double spaced, single-sided, in a readable font—12pt Times New Roman, for example) and not more than 10 pages of poetry.
- If you miss the deadline to get your workshop material into the Writing Seminars Office, you will be responsible for sending the material to those in your workshop group, including sending a copy to the Writing Seminars Office and one to each of your workshop teachers. We will strictly adhere to the Tuesday, May 7 deadline. No extensions.
- Students living abroad have the option to send one copy of their material via email to me.
A word of caution: If your material is not received on time, teachers have the option to omit your work from the workshop.
Letter-grade Requests
- Letter grade requests for the current January-May 2013 term have already been noted. Letter-grade requests for the June-November 2013 term are due in writing by June 13 (Email to me is fine). Please remember, with the completion of course work, assigned letter grades cannot be changed back to a pass/fail rating.
June 2013 Residency
- Plan to arrive on campus Thursday, June 13 for Student Check-in: noon–5:00 pm and before 6:30 if you plan to have dinner on campus.
- There will be a faculty reading that evening at 7:00 pm.
- The academic events of the program get underway Friday, June 14, with orientation in the morning and the first meeting of your workshop group in the afternoon.
- Graduation is Saturday, June 22 at 5:00 pm.
- Students are required to participate fully in all workshops. The final workshops will be held Sunday, June 23, from 9:00–11:00 am. We hope this will lessen the stress of timing your travel plans home. Please plan to participate fully in the entire final workshop and make travel plans that leave you enough time to get to the airport or train station without having to be distracted by time constraints. Your peers deserve your full attention every workshop, including that final one. The first shuttle will leave campus for the airport/train station no earlier than 12:30 pm. You are welcome to stay over Sunday night. If you have any questions, please call me at 615-794-2203 or 802-440-4454, or send email to vclausi@bennington.edu