MEMO: Master’s Project Guidelines
Below, a memo aimed at Master’s Project print advisers (broadcast and new media advisers; and those advising the MA Master’s Thesis received separate instructions).
To: M.S. Master’s Project Advisers
From: Laura Muha, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs
Date: Sept. 18, 2009
Subject: Guidelines for Master’s Project advising—Print Projects Only
What is the Masters Project?
The print M.S. Master’s Project is a magazine-length story or newspaper series of at least 5,000 words on a topic of significance. It provides an opportunity for students to probe, to analyze, to test various hypotheses, and to learn the art and craft of completing a work of long-form narrative journalism. Projects are evaluated according to their originality, reporting depth, organization, writing acumen and publishable quality. The project is not a master’s thesis in the traditional academic sense, but rather an in-depth exploration of a topic as a journalist would pursue it.
Relationship of the instructor to the student
The Master’s Project is a tutorial-style course. The instructor works with the student on a one-to-one basis, shepherding the story through each stage of the process from idea, to research and reporting, and finally to writing and rewriting and rewriting again until the final draft. Students look to instructors for help in a number of areas, including which sources to seek out, what sorts of questions to ask, how to navigate roadblocks, and how to test the validity of their reporting. Helping students structure their story and compose a narrative arc will likely encompass the majority of your time. For most students, this is the first time they have tackled a project of this complexity and length.
Advisers are encouraged to conduct periodic sessions with their advisees as a group, to discuss the differences between an idea and a story, to study the best practices in long form journalism, to guide reporting and research beyond the obvious, and to help young reporters use their time wisely. You may also want to schedule workshop-like sessions where students share reporting dilemmas and writing challenges.
How often to meet
We recommend that you meet or at least touch base with your advisees either separately or as a group very frequently as they are settling on their topic, and beginning the early reporting. The definition of “frequently” varies from one adviser to another, but many instructors meet with their students weekly or biweekly in the earliest stages of the project. For the remainder of the project, the number and length of meetings are up to the adviser’s discretion. Students want and need face-to-face meetings, rather than conferences by phone or email. Once the project is underway, instructors should meet with advisees often enough to be sure they are on the right track; once every two or three weeks is the average. From one meeting to the next, students should provide evidence of having made significant progress in their reporting, and later, in their writing.
All drafts should be carefully reviewed with timely feedback provided to the student. By timely, we mean within one week. Students have less than four weeks to rework their drafts before each deadline, and they are competing for this time with many other spring courses.
When and where to meet
During the fall semester, Friday afternoons after 4:00 p.m. are set aside for work on the Master’s Project, so this is a good time to schedule conferences. If this is not possible, you may schedule meetings at a time mutually convenient to you and your advisees. Meetings can be held at the school, or even at your place of work. But we do not advise holding meetings in your home. Care should be taken, however, that students do not offer to shave time off of regularly scheduled classes to meet with you.
Choosing a topic
Students are expected to come up with a variety of proposals for a topic. Instructors are expected to pass judgment as professional editors: Is the subject newsworthy? Would it be interesting and/or important to an informed audience? Is it manageable; i.e., can the student get the necessary access? This last aspect may end up being the most important of the three, as students will need to return to their subjects over a period of several months.
Research for the story must be conducted in and around New York City. Requests to travel any distance requires instructor approval. This is because work on the Project will be ongoing throughout the fall and spring term, and interview subjects should be easily accessible. We do not reimburse students for travel expenses related to their projects.
The Schedule
Work on the project should be divided into three sections: (1) picking a topic, (2) research and reporting, and (3) writing and re-writing. The first few weeks of the semester should be spent hammering out a workable idea, during which instructors are encouraged to challenge the students to make sure they can deliver the topic they have chosen.
The next phase involves initial reporting. Students should test their topics to make sure they stand up, in terms of access, viability, and public interest value. By December 1, students should be hard at work so they have the bulk of their reporting in hand before the winter break. Some instructors wish to see written evidence of this progress in the form of an outline or story proposal. Others prefer to gauge their students’ progress in meetings. The winter break is the only time students have to work on their projects without the pressure of other courses. To use this precious time wisely, students should complete the bulk of their reporting before the winter holiday, and spend the remaining few weeks composing a polished first draft.
Deadlines for 2009-10 M.S. students:
Project Approval Friday, November 6
Outline and Source List Monday, November 30
Partial Draft(*optional)
Monday, December 14
First Draft Tuesday, January 19
Second Draft Monday, February 22
Final Project Monday, March 22
Missing one of the non-optional deadlines listed above is grounds for placing a student on probation. Instructors should notify the Dean of Students office if they encounter any such a problem. (dos@jrn.columbia.edu)
* The first draft should be handed in or emailed to the adviser. Instructors should return edited drafts and hold conferences within one week of this date.
The second draft is also to be handed in or emailed to the adviser. Advisers should edit and hold conferences one week later.
For the final project, one copy is due at noon of the deadline day in the Dean of Student’s office on the 2nd floor. This is the version of the Master’s Project that goes on record in the Journalism Library. A second copy should be emailed or delivered to the adviser. Students will receive detailed formatting instructions a week or so prior to deadline. (Note: Advisers may give students permission to hand in their projects prior to the deadline if they are satisfied with the final version.)
Sources
A list of all sources and contact information should accompany the final draft, to allow instructors time to conduct a random check of the story’s veracity.
Format of the Master’s Project
The print Master’s Project takes the form of a traditional magazine story or a newspaper series. Besides one-on-one instruction from you on long form writing, students will also be able to attend sessions with Professor Paula Span and others on narrative writing (date to be announced).
Grading is required
The Master’s Project is a 3-credit course during both the fall and spring semesters. All advisers must use the on-line grading system to submit a pass/fail grade for each advisee at the end of each semester. You must use your Columbia email account to access the grading system; my office will send all relevant messages to that account.
Additional suggestions:
Story selection: add rigor to the story selection process by requiring students to generate and explore more than one story idea and test them through initial reporting to narrow down which is the most viable.
Provide a model: help students conceptualize what they are supposed to be producing by requiring them to choose a “model” for the story they wish to do at the beginning of the process: something already published that the student and instructor feel represents a reasonable goal.
Review other Projects: some advisers distribute copies of exemplary Master’s Projects to their advisees as a useful teaching tool. Many faculty members keep copies of favorite submissions from previous years, so feel free to ask your colleagues or come to me for reading suggestions.
The last five years of Master’s Projects are kept in the Journalism Library. There is also an online author-title list of Master’s Projects for the past ten years on the web at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ lweb/indiv/jour/masters/index.html
Perspective: In its scope and duration, the Master’s Project is a student’s most sustained effort of the year. In terms of relative importance, credits and priority, however, it should be kept in proper perspective with the rest of the curriculum.
Finally, we hope you will enjoy the experience of being an adviser. The Master’s Project is one of the most meaningful and formative intellectual endeavors for our students during their time at the Journalism School. We are delighted that you will be part of it.
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