COMMENT & RESPONSE: COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE CREATIVE WRITING IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY/TIM MAYERS RESPONDS/KELLY RITTER AND STEPHANIE VANDERSLICE RESPOND

[...] an expectation in no way implies that a writer who proves inept at teaching would simply be kept on by his or her department. Because MFA programs train their students in close reading, literary theory, and craft theory, the MFA degree is equally, if not more, valid as an academic credential than a PhD focused on theories of creativity.