College of DuPage to offer creative writing certificate program

With recent approval by the Illinois Community College Board, College of DuPage is the now the only community college in Illinois to offer a creative writing certificate program.

The new program, set to begin this fall, will offer students an affordable option to develop writing and editing skills for publication across a variety of disciplines.

"We are very excited to be the first community college in Illinois to launch a Creative Writing Certificate," said COD Dean of Liberal Arts Sandra Martins. "The program offers new and returning students a concentrated series of courses designed to develop writing and editing skills for publication. The capstone experience provides hands-on publishing and editing experience with published, professional writers. In addition, courses in the program are transferable and stackable, articulating with creative writing degrees at Midwestern universities."

Trina Sotirakopulos, Assistant Professor of English at COD, said the ICCB approved the program without revisions or stipulations, which demonstrates that state educational leaders values creative writers and the importance of studying liberal arts. She said the new program is one of only three creative writing certificate programs in Illinois.

"One is a graduate program at Northwestern University and the other is a 300- and 400-level program at Northern Illinois University," she said. "A student does not need to be enrolled in a graduate or baccalaureate degree program to earn the Creative Writing Certificate at College of DuPage. The curricula serve students who already have a degree and want to earn a stackable credential. It also fits the needs of adult learners who have always wanted credentials in order to prepare to publish. For first- and second-year college students, this affordable program contains 100- and 200-level courses that build into the college's 2+2 partnerships. In addition, the program provides students with soft skills that are transferable to writing-intensive fields such as law, criminal justice, nursing, education and business."

The Creative Writing Certificate is a 14- to 15-credit-hour program featuring four tracks: creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry and screenwriting. The Introduction to Creative Writing class is required for students in each track, followed by one genre writing course, one literature or theater course in the chosen track, one program elective and one capstone course.

Sotirakopulos said the program came about in response to a need felt by employers for skilled creative writers.

"According to data released in 2019 by labor market analysis company Emsi, the previous three years saw more than 160,000 job postings for creative writing," she said. "Of all states, Illinois ranked fifth highest in job postings for creative writing hard skills. This place of prominence makes it clear that we need more professional training in creative writing. Our program offers writers a clear path to achieve their professional goals. With four program tracks available, students have a variety of areas to study under professional writers and screenwriters who have years of experience in the industry."

For more information about the Creative Writing Certificate program at College of DuPage, contact Sotirakopulos at sotirakopulost@cod.edu.