Consider the possibilities

Our Professional Writing Program offers a forward-thinking education in a small college environment with faculty dedicated to excellent undergraduate teaching.

A Professional Writing degree gives students the chance to have important career-building learning experiences within the context of a well-rounded liberal arts education. In consultation with faculty, students create a professional writing portfolio to show to prospective employers. College graduates who are confident, well-trained communicators have an edge over their peers in the job market. Majoring or minoring in Professional Writing can give you an important advantage as you move from college into your professional life.

Potential Careers

A Professional Writing degree opens the doors to a range of exciting careers in editing, new media, publishing, corporate communication, technical, medical, and scientific writing, marketing and journalism. As has been noted by authors such as Thomas Friedman (The World Is Flat), Richard Florida (The Rise of the Creative Class) and Dan Pink (A Whole New Mind), we are in the midst of an economic shift that is informed by the twin forces of globalization and technology. Our Professional Writing degree is intended to prepare students to pursue careers in this emerging creative economy by providing students with strong a technical foundation and communication skills while helping them realize their creative potential and expand their ability to think creatively to a wider range of contexts.

Our Faculty

Professional Writing faculty represent a diverse range of knowledge and experience in technical and professional communication, new media design, poetry, fiction, and scholarly research in rhetoric and composition.

Our commitment to continuing growth and innovation means that you are assured of an education informed by the latest research and professional writing practices and supported by new technologies.

We realize that the value of the professional writing degree we offer is its balance of a great all-round college experience with the professional writing skills that will give you an edge in starting your career. As such,we encourage our students to participate in writing retreats at SUNY-Cortland's Raquette Lake, contribute to our literary magazines, and perform at open mic readings.

Program Areas

We divide our courses into four core areas: writing theory, new media, creative writing, and professional writing. As our program requirements demonstrate, our majors take courses across these areas while also having the opportunity to focus on a particular area that interests them. Many of our students are interested in creative writing, and some go on to attend Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) programs around the nation. Others express interest in the publishing industry and focus their studies on editing. Still others are interested in working in new media and participate in our technology-intensive courses.

Comments

[Alex Reid]

You can go here for information on NYS certification requirements:

http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/

Our English department offers an MAT (Masters of Art in Teaching), which is the kind of degree you would probably want to pursue.

[Emily Housecamp]

I will be graduating with a BA in English. How do I obtain a teaching certificate in New York state? What master's program do I need to look for? Is there any way to teach with just an English degree WHILE I am obtaining a master's in education?

[Alex Reid]

Joann, currently our program is at the undergraduate level, but yes you certainly could take our courses. We are hoping to develop a graduate certificate in writing in the next year or so, in conjunction with our becoming a National Writing Project site.

[Joann Haberli]

I already have a BA in World Literature and an MLS could I still take courses in your program?

[Alex Reid]

Good question Robin. Unfortunately, we do not currently offer a graduate degree in professional writing. There are graduate programs in professional writing out there though. I'm guessing your question though is whether or not an MA in professional writing would meet your requirements for permanent certification as a teacher in NYS. I'm not sure about that. However I do think you could get an MA in English with a concentration in writing or rhetoric/composition.

[Robin]

I just graduated with my BA in English Education. I am certified to teach English 7-12. Is professional writing a program that I could pursue for my Master's degree and still be able to teach English?

[Robin]

I just graduated with my BA in English Education. I am certified to teach English 7-12. Is professional writing a program that I could pursue for my Master's degree and still be able to teach English?

[Alex Reid]

That's a good question Richard. There are a couple of avenues here you might consider.

If you want to teach HS English in NY, then you will need to be certified. There are two ways to do that at Cortland. You can get a BA in our Adolescence Education-English program or you can wait until you graduate and enter our graduate MAT program.

Here's what I consider the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches. If you get the AEE BA, you'll be certified to teach right away. However the program has so many requirements, you really won't have any freedom to explore other things that interest you. You really won't have much opportunity to take writing courses, for example. And you will still need to get a Master's degree within five years.

If you go the MAT route, you will have more opportunity to explore degrees. You might double-major in English and Professional Writing, for example. However, you won't be able to teach HS when you graduate. You'll have to get your MAT degree, which takes a little longer than an MA, so you'll end up being in school longer. That said, at the end you'll have had a potentially broader education than if you went the other route.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to what you really want to do. If you want to be a teacher, then study to be a teacher. If you want to be a writer, then study to be a writer. If you want to be a teacher because you think of teaching as a safe choice for a career then I would urge you to consider a different path.

[richard]

Hi I'm a tranfer student that has just been accepted to Suny Cortland for the spring. currently I'm tranferring into the english degree. but i'm considering changing it to the writting degree because that is where my real passion is. i'm plannning to teach english/writting while I work on getting myself published proffesionally. So which degree should I consider going for?- richard