Albany State University
Release: 06/03/08
Albany, Georgia

ASU now offers M.Ed. degree in English education

            Albany State University’s Department of English, Modern Languages, and Mass Communication is now one degree stronger thanks to the revitalization of the English Education Program (M. Ed.). Students with an undergraduate degree in English education, or the equivalent, from an accredited college and satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination are eligible to pursue their master’s degree in English education at Albany State.
            “This is a way for us to get people interested in literature into the classrooms,” said Dr. Charles Heglar, chair of the department of English, Modern Languages and Mass Communication. “Traditionally English is a delayed gratification field as far as employment is concerned. Now the students can extend their knowledge of literature while preparing for gainful employment in the area of need.”
            The program had been offered at ASU until its demise in 2004.
            “With so many different chairs in and out of the department, the program gradually became neglected,” said Heglar, who joined the ASU in 2005. “There was no one to recruit or publicize the program, and the numbers eventually went down until they finally decided to place the program on hiatus.”
According to Heglar, students already in the program were allowed to continue their studies with the last students coming out in spring 2007.
Once the chair position became stabilized, department personnel were able to concentrate their efforts on re-establishing the program. Heglar said that he and staff members in the department surveyed middle school and high school principals and English teachers to determine if they had an interest in the program. Heglar assured them that convenient class times, including summer classes, would be available.
While the degree program targets educators, it’s not limited to just teachers.
“The program is for anyone interested in bulking up their content area,” Heglar said. “The education part of the degree is pretty standard, but if you wanted to bulk up your knowledge of various types of literature and composition, then this would be something you could take courses in and not necessarily pursue a degree.”
            The program requires a total of 36 semester hours, a minimum of 21 hours in required and elective graduate English courses, and 15 hours in education or related fields. Students must remain in good academic standing in the program and are required to pass a written comprehensive examination near the end of their course study. The program provides an opportunity for students to strengthen strategic academic and pedagogical areas and to relate coursework to classroom teaching and learning experiences.
            For more information, contact the Department of English, Modern Languages and Mass Communication at (229) 430-4833.