Department of English Statement of Support for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

On April 12, 2016, the University of Illinois Department of English issued the following statement in support of our non-tenure track colleagues:

We, the faculty of the Department of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in continuity with resolutions we have passed in previous years, call upon the university administration to bargain in good faith with the Non Tenure Faculty-Coalition and agree to a contract along the lines that the NTFC has proposed. We believe that agreeing to such a contract is essential to maintaining and improving undergraduate education. Because our non tenure faculty are indispensable to the university’s commitment to excellent teaching and research, we express our support for the NTFC, including our support for the right ofnon tenure faculty to participate in a lawful work action without retaliation.

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Alumni Snapshot: Luke Trayser, Copywriter

luke-trayserWe add new alumni to the Department of English  Alumni Mentoring Network all the time. Our newest participant is Luke Trayser, a senior copywriter at Ivor Andrew in Chicago.  Luke was kind enough to send along some advice for current students interested in careers in copywriting:

  • Even if you don’t have experience, you have your words. Your portfolio is vital. Write all the time, write for free, and put the stuff you’re proudest of in your portfolio.
  • During an interview, don’t try to be someone you think they want. That’s a good way to be stuck in a job that doesn’t fit. Instead, just be you. If you do that and get turned down, it was not the right place for you.
  • Most writing jobs require a cover letter and résumé, but it’s much easier, and more effective, to apply with your portfolio and résumé instead. It’s a hilarious little irony that the people who ask for cover letters can’t stand reading them.

Not sure what Luke means by “portfolio”?  Have a look at his!

2016 Undergraduate Creative Writing Award Winners

“resonates beyond the page”
“blown away by the taut restraint of the language”
“harrowing emotional journey”
“unsettled, unsettling, raw. And yet, the complexity of the thinking shines through”
“Wow.”
 
These are few sound bites from the judges’ comments on this year’s creative award winners. Thirty-eight students submitted stories; fifty-seven students submitted poems. Although only nine prizes were awarded, the nature of creative writing is such that we in the English department can all take pride in these achievements. People fDepartmentOfEnglish_graphic_vertical (2)rom a wide range of disciplines at the U of I choose to hone their writing talents in our workshop
classes, where students routinely transcend the role of “learner” to become audience, critic, and artist all at once, and where the deeply personal act of writing becomes a collaborative endeavor. 
 

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