Registration

Creative Writing MFA

Contact

English Graduate Programs
[email protected]

Meghan Crowther
Graduate Admissions Coordinator
[email protected]

Terry Thaxton
Graduate Programs Director
[email protected]

Faculty member chats with student in an officeActive and Current MFA Students

Your academic advisor is the MFA Program Director.

You must complete a Program of Study form prior to completing 12 credit hours.

All English Department graduate courses are registered using permission numbers. This means that when looking up an English graduate course in MyUCF, it will always be marked as closed, even when no one has yet registered for it.

Registration for graduate courses within the English Department is handled in an entirely different manner from undergraduate registration. This fact can make registration especially confusing for students who completed their bachelor’s degrees here. Please read carefully if you attended UCF as an undergraduate.

Registration for the Spring semester usually takes place in October, while registration for Fall and Summer semesters takes place in March.

Before Registration Begins:

Several weeks before registration begins, the Graduate Admissions Specialist will e-mail your UCF account. All graduate students will be given the same date for registration. Speak with your academic advisor (the MFA Program Director) to ensure the courses you want to take fit into your Program of Study (the courses you need to attain the MFA).

Request Permission Number from MFA Program:

When the registration date arrives, each student should email their registration requests to the Graduate Admissions Specialist, [email protected]. Do not email any requests before the date arrives. Students will be given a permission number unique to each request that will allow them to register for their classes.

Register on myUCF:

Use the Permission Numbers (PNs) to register for your class selections on myUCF. Permission Numbers will expire two weeks after their issue. If a registration number expires, a student may request another one if space remains in the class.

MFA students are permitted to request a permission number for any graduate course offered by the English Department. The genre in which a student was admitted is considered the student’s primary genre. Students can request permission numbers for the workshops that are focused on their genre. Students are encouraged to take workshops outside their genre, but must have permission of the instructor of that workshop.

Why do we register our graduate classes in this way?

The permission numbers allow us to register English degree-seeking graduate students before all others (students in other graduate degree programs, non-degree students, and undergraduates). Without this system, our degree-seeking students might be prevented from taking the courses they need by students who do not need our courses for their Master’s degrees. As a result, however, our students need to register quickly. Generally speaking, students who make their requests at the time that registration opens do not have difficulty getting into classes. Those who miss the opening sometimes do. If a class a student wants to take is full, the student will be placed on the wait list. The English Graduate Program Office will contact the student if and when a space opens up. At that point, the student will have a limited amount of time to register: how limited depends upon how quickly classes are scheduled to begin. Students on wait lists will need to monitor their UCF email accounts carefully.

 

Non-Degree Seeking, Non-Program, Post-Graduate, and Undergraduate Students

We permit Non-Degree, Non-Program, or undergraduate students in our courses if there is space available. Active and current students in our program have priority registration for our courses. Students seeking to enroll who are not admitted, active, and current Creative Writing MFA students should use the following process to register:

  1. Decide which course(s) you want to take at least one month before registration begins.
  2. Contact the instructor teaching the course via their university email requesting permission to enroll. This email should contain a brief statement about why you wish to take the course, your academic goals, and how it will benefit your studies. You should also copy the English Graduate Program to ensure we have record of your request.
  3. Once permission is acquired, forward that email response to the registration email address.
  4. If granted permission by the instructor, and you’re not in another degree program at UCF, you must apply to UCF as a Non-Degree seeking student before you can enroll in the course.

Course permission can be obtained at any time, and we strongly suggest doing so before registration. You will still need to send your course requests once registration opens in order to receive a permission number, but should no instructor grant permission via email, you will not be issued a number. Ultimate decisions for admitting Non-Degree and Non-Program Student lie with the instructor of the course, and should an instructor refuse permission to enter a course there are no appeals or overrides.

 

Independent Study and Internship Registration

To register for an Independent Study or Internship, you must have a supervising faculty member who is a member of the MFA Creative Writing faculty. If you wish to complete an independent study, you should have in mind what work you plan to conduct: research for a writing project, supplemental and focused reading, etc. Once the faculty member has agreed to consider your request for an Independent Study, you should draft a proposal that includes the following:

  • Rationale
  • Central focus
  • Reading list with deadlines, or
  • Activities with deadlines
  • Consultation policy (how often you’ll be in contact with the faculty supervisor)

If the faculty member agrees, you can complete the process to register:

  1. Initiate the Restricted Registration Form (dynamic form) with the following:
    1. Your name and information
    2. The course Prefix is CRW
    3. The course Number for Independent Study is 6908; for Internship, the course number is 6946
    4. Usually 3 credit hours
    5. Grade Scale is A/F
    6. Assignment details with weights for each assignment (must equal 100%)
    7. The consultation policy you agree to with your faculty member
  2. Submit a copy of the proposal to the English Department Graduate Program

To Register for Thesis Hours

To register for thesis hours, you must have a current Thesis Advisory Form on file. Then for each semester, you register for thesis hours. You initiate a Restricted Registration form and submit the form to the MFA Graduate Program Assistant. Review the thesis requirements and full-time enrollment requirements in the UCF College of Graduate Studies Catalog.

Before you begin the form, ask your director what their expectations are for

  • “Assignments,” “Deadlines,” and Grade Percentage (weight) for these assignments–this must equal 100%.
    • There must be at least one assignment.
  • “Consultation Policy”
    • Briefly describe how often you and your director agree to meet during the semester.
  • “Learning Outcomes”
    • Briefly list one or two (or more) learning outcomes (i.e. “Complete thesis draft,” or “Defend thesis”).

Now complete the form:

  • Complete the top portion with your Student Information.
  • Course Prefix: CRW
  • Course Number: 6971
  • Hours: 3
    • If you have already completed 6 credit hours of thesis, you may elect to register for 1 credit hour to avoid excessive costs.
  • Grade: S/U (do not put A/F)
  • Instructor (Director) Name with correct email.
  • Include information for assignments, deadlines, grade weights (must equal 100%), consultation policy, and learning outcomes.
  • Check the box asking for your agreement.
  • Sign name and date the form.
  • The form will then route to your thesis director and then to the College of Arts & Humanities for manual registration.