Creative Writing Committee Meeting

Tue. 10/1/24, 3pm

Room C-317

Minutes

The first Fall 2024 meeting of the Creative Writing Committee met in a hybrid format, both in person

and via Zoom remote link.

In Attendance: Gregory Bruno, Robert Cowan, Elroy Esdaille, Lea Fridman, Amy Karp, John

Keller, Kevin Kolkmeyer, Jennifer Oliveri, Frank Percaccio, Joanna Stein, Eben Wood.

1. Greetings and Introductions: returning members, new members, updates on

professional development: Attending members shared updates on recent publications,

readings or performances, ongoing projects, etc.

2. Status of Creative Writing Concentration (Liberal Arts): There was little new to share

with the committee on this item beyond the following:

a. Prof. Brian Katz is on leave for the 2024-25 academic year; Eben Wood has

assumed sole duties as program or area director. Liberal Arts concentration

directors now receive 2 credits of release time per semester.

b. Students selecting the concentration will not be eligible to do so before the Spring

2025 semester, and new updates will follow meetings to be held in the Fall 2024

semester in preparation for that initial group.

c. We discussed ways to widen student awareness of the concentration and the steps

necessary to declaring the concentration, including upcoming meetings with

advisement on how best to provide outreach, information, and support (a meeting

with Dr. Yelena Bondar, Dean of Student Success Programs at KCC, which

includes advisement, was scheduled for the following Wednesday 10/9; updates

on that below).

3. Updates on courses and teaching opportunities:

a. With the recent addition of ENG 60: Creative Writing: Screenwriting, our course

offerings are currently stable pending enrollment increases and faculty interest.

b. With the current enrollment challenges, we will expand our number of course

offerings during the semesters and modules as permits. Participating CW faculty

should email Eben Wood directly to state an interest in a particular course or

courses and the semester in which they wish to teach them.

c. Because ENG 58: Creative Writing: Non-fiction had not been listed as a Pathways

course, it has consistently failed to run in recent years (there may have been other

factors, but this was a significant discovery by our department chair, Annie Del

Principe). That error will be corrected for the Spring 2025 catalogue and we will

see whether the correction produces increased enrollment for that course.

4. Program by-laws and governance, committee membership, etc.:

a. In line with Annie’s recent focus on formalizing committee membership status

and in defining “active membership” in departmental committees, those seeking

active membership status in the Creative Writing Committee should be sure to fill

out the departmental form. Regular attendance in committee meetings and active

participation in CWC activities is also required.

b. Departmental discussions concerning governance of committees and related

aspects (length of committee leadership terms; election procedures; etc.) are

ongoing. With the addition of release time for concentration directors and the

importance of college service for tenure/promotion files, this remains a significant

issue. We will revisit this as discussions with Annie on this matter proceed.

5. 2024-25 events and activities calendar:

a. We generally agreed that the annual Creative Writing Fair seems to have run its

course in terms of attendance and impact on the college community. Attending

members were asked to bring ideas for readings, open-mic events, and other CWrelated

activities to our next meeting. We agreed that regular readings with invited

readers drawn from CUNY faculty was a priority, to occur at least once per year

or per semester. One of the driving principles of the Fair as conceived was to

widen student awareness of creative writing and the CWP, and we will seek

alternatives to that outreach in subsequent meetings.

6. Co-curricular groups/activities: Creative Writing Club; Antheon:

a. Current print issues of the 2023-24 Antheon issue are available in the department

office. Please pick up issues to share with students and alert them to the existence

of KCC’s award-winning arts and literary journal. Many thanks to Anthony

Iantosca for his work on preparing and editing this issue. The current status of

Antheon and the CW faculty advisor position remains an open question, to be

taken up on our next meeting.

b. John Keller and Frank Percaccio are currently re-starting the Film Club through

the Office of Student Life.

c. The current status of the Creative Writing Club also remains an open question, to

be taken up at our next meeting.

d. We discussed using one of the wall-mounted vitrines outside the department

office to provide information on the CW; Jenn Oliveri has volunteered to

coordinate that work with Christine Marchese of the department staff.

7. Advisement:

a. Per item 2c, above, a meeting was scheduled with Dr. Yelena Bondar and her

advisement staff for Wednesday 10/9. She met via Zoom with Annie, Eben as CW

area director, and Jane Weiss as Literature area director. We discussed best

strategies to inform advisement of the concentration requirements and how to

provide meaningful outreach to interested students. Rob Cowan has expressed

interest in working with Eben, the CWC, and advisement to advance this work in

the lead-up to concentration declarations in upcoming semesters. This work is

ongoing and announcements will follow.

8. We concluded the meeting with a celebration of our longtime and recently retired

colleague, Lea Fridman, who was in attendance with treats and good spirits. As we noted,

Lea was an early champion, supporter, and tireless worker for the creative arts in our

department, including work on Antheon and student co-curricular activities. Lea shared

her creative work and our thanks to her for her efforts throughout her career, without

which we would likely not exist as a program and now concentration. Many thanks Lea!

9. Our next meeting date remains TBD; announcements will follow.

Submitted respectfully by Eben Wood, director and secretary pro tem