Each summer, WPA hosts a 4-day intensive workshop for new and renewing writing program administrators and a 3-day conference. Workshops are generally limited to 25 participants. The conference generally has space for 30 panels or roundtables, each with 3 to 6 presenters. Workshop Announcements and conference Calls for Papers are generally issued in the late fall and early spring.
Upcoming Conferences and Workshops
2008 location and dates:
Denver, CO---
Workshop: July 6-9;
Assessment and Research Institutes: July 10
Conference: July 10-13
Learn about the 2008 WPA Workshop, Institutes, and Conference
Past Conferences
2007 location and dates:
Tempe, AZ---
Workshop: July 8-11;
Assessment and Research Institutes: July 12
Conference: July 12-15
Learn about and register for the 2007 WPA Workshop, Institutes, and Conference
WPA Conference Siting CFP
Grand Rapids, Anchorage, Chattanooga… the WPA gets around. Each year, the WPA Summer Conference and Workshop is sponsored by one or more institutions and hosted by local WPAs, members of the Executive Board, and the WPA at large. And now it's time for us to look for sites for WPA 2008, 2009, and 2010. This is a terrific opportunity to get/stay active in WPA, to build working relationships with WPAs in your area, to showcase your academic institution, and to enjoy the conference in your own back yard (so to speak).
Those interested in sponsoring a WPA Summer Conference and Workshop in 2008, 2009, or 2010, should submit a proposal to be considered at the WPA Executive Board meeting in Chattanooga this summer. Proposals should include the following:
(1) Information about the people on the local arrangements committee. Provide names, contact information, institutional affiliation, (contacts, institution, etc.). Describe the "management structure" of responsibilities (local chair, coordinators for conference registration, web site, Saturday night social, local amenities, liaison with publishers, etc).
(2) Information about the site(s) for the Conference and Workshop. Describe the site, indicate the size of the hotel and the meeting facilities (number, size, location) for a three-day conference (250-300 attendees-one room must be able to hold 300) and the four-day workshop preceding the conference (30 people). Provide cost estimates for hotel rooms, parking (if any), meals, meeting rooms, and AV equipment (including set-up and take-down). List local sightseeing and cultural opportunities for conference attendees. Describe transportation to and from the conference.
(3) Information about the institutions that will sponsor this event (collaboration with other local colleges and universities is recommended). Note types of sponsorship, including any institutional conference arrangers, and in-kind contributions your institution(s) can provide, including personnel, financial support, web hosting, publishing and photocopying services, etc.
Please submit your proposal via email attachment by June 15th to Carol Rutz crutz@carleton.edu, Chair of the WPA Summer Conference Siting Committee. Questions are welcome! Other committee members include Joe Janangelo, Elizabeth Vander Lei, and Barbara Lutz.
Registration Information for the 2007 WPA Summer Conference, Workshop, and InstitutesNOTE: Online Registration closed on June 28. Mail-in registration must be postmarked July 1 or earlier. After that date, only onsite registration will be accepted.
Sponsored by the Council of Writing Program Administrators Hosted by Arizona State University at the Tempe Mission Palms and Conference Center, Tempe, Arizona, July 8-15, 2007..
(Note: online registration closes June 28; mail-in registrations must be postmarked July 1 or earlier; after July 1, only onsite registrations will be accepted)
Click on the links to read about each and add one or more to your shopping cart. Check out when ready. To pay by check, print and mail the form attached below
Additional info about conference including lodging
Preparing Ourselves & Our Programs: Readiness, Relevance, Relationships
Tempe Mission Palms Hotel
Tempe, Arizona
July 12-15, 2007
Deadline for proposals: March 1, 2007 Extended to March 12, 2007. The submission window is now closed.
The conference will begin Thursday evening, July 12, and continue through Sunday morning, July 15. We invite proposals for individual presentations, panels, workshops, forums roundtables and other sessions addressing the conference theme, "Preparing Ourselves and Our Programs: Readiness, Relevance, Relationships."
We also invite attendees to prepare poster presentations or other exhibits of their programs' special initiatives, research projects, or signature areas.
To allow conference attendees to begin planning as soon as possible, review of proposals for individual presentations, concurrent session panels, roundtables, poster sessions, and multimedia presentations will begin on January 1. Proposals received after March 1 will be considered on a space-available basis only. The submission window is now closed.
The program will also include professional development mini-workshops on such topics as Preparing an Administrative Portfolio/WPA Promotion Case, Planning Writing Program Research, and Publishing Work in Writing Program Administration. Ask your department chair or dean for funding to attend these wonderful workshops!
WPA work occurs in multiple and intersecting spheres and arenas. Hence, these questions are meant to be generative, not exhaustive. We welcome your ideas and approaches!
*Readiness
*Relevance
*Relationships
A copy of the near-final draft of the 2007 WPA Conference Program can be accessed in two formats: as a downloadable pdf and as a downloadable Word document, both available as attachments.
Please note you must be logged in as a registered site user to view and download the attachment.
Dear WPA 2007 Workshop, Institute, and Conference Participants:
The local arrangements committee is excited to welcome you to WPA 2007 in Tempe, Arizona. With about a month to go before the WPA conference begins, we wanted to pass along some information concerning airport shuttles, check in procedures, and social activities at the conference that may help your planning process.
Arriving in Tempe. If you are arriving by plane at Sky Harbor International Airport and staying at the conference hotel, the Tempe Mission Palms and Conference Center offers transportation for individual travelers to and from Sky Harbor International Airport every ½ hour from 5:30AM – 10:30PM daily. Courtesy phones are located in the baggage claim area. Once you have your luggage, use the courtesy phone to call the hotel and they’ll tell you when the next bus will arrive, and where.If you need to call the Tempe Mission Palms directly for some reason, the phone number is 480 894-1400. Those who are driving to Tempe and staying at the conference hotel may park at no charge at the Tempe Mission Palms.
WORKSHOP: Sunday, July 8 - Wednesday, July 11:
Workshop Check-In. Check-in for the workshop is from noon-3:00 pm on Sunday, July 8, in the Tempe Mission Palms main lobby near the hotel check-in area. At 3:00, the workshop officially begins with a snack reception/get acquainted session sponsored by Houghton Mifflin in the Delores Room, which is just off the courtyard and is the site of all workshop sessions. You can see a floor plan of the hotel at http://www.missionpalms.com/phoenix_meetings_plans.htm.
If you will arrive after 3:00 on Sunday, look for the group in the Delores Room or check at the main desk to learn the group’s current location. If you are staying for one of the Thursday institutes and/or the full conference, we’ll check you in for those events when you check in for the workshop.
Workshop Agenda: http://wpacouncil.org/node/879
Workshop Meals. Your breakfast and lunch on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, as well as morning and afternoon breaks on those days, are included in your workshop tuition. Additionally, dinner on Sunday night is included.
Wednesday Night Outing. We’re still working on a fun outing for Wednesday night and will keep you posted on our plans.
ASSESSMENT INSTITUTE OR RESEARCH INSTITUTE, Thursday JULY 12
Institute Check-In. Check-in for the institutes is from 3:00-6:00 pm on Wednesday, July 12, in the Tempe Mission Palms main lobby near the hotel check-in area. If you will arrive later than 6:00 on Wednesday, a local committee member will be in the main lobby from 7:30-8:30 Thursday morning to check you in. If you are staying for the main conference, we’ll check you in for the conference when you check in for the institute.
Institute Locations and Shuttle. Both the Assessment Institute and the Research Institute will take place at the Tempe Mission Palms from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm on Thursday, July 12. The Assessment Institute will meet in the Delores Room. The Research Institute is scheduled to meet in the Abbey. Both rooms are on the first floor of the hotel; you can see a floor plan at http://www.missionpalms.com/phoenix_meetings_plans.htm.
Institute Meals. Your lunch on Thursday, as well as a morning and afternoon break, is included in your institute tuition. If you want to purchase breakfast at the Tempe Mission Palms before heading to the institute, the Mission Grill Restaurant serves a full buffet breakfast and offers vegetarian menu items as well.
CONFERENCE Thursday, July 12-Sunday, July 15
Thursday: Conference Check-In. Check-in for the conference is from 2:00-5:30 pm on Thursday, July 12, in the Tempe Mission Palms main lobby near the hotel check-in area. At 5:30, the conference officially begins with Kyoko Sato’s plenary talk. The plenary will be followed with a welcome reception sponsored by McGraw-Hill and Longman Publishers.
Friday: Banquet. Following a 6:30-7:30 cocktail time sponsored by Prentice-Hall and Bedford/St. Martin’s, Friday night’s banquet will start at 7:30 pm and includes an address by Edward White and the annual awards presentations. The banquet is included in your registration fee. The cocktail party will be held at the University Club; the banquet is in the Old Main Ballroom, both on the campus of Arizona State University -- about a ten minute walk from the hotel.
Friday Evening Plans. After the banquet, you are on your own to explore Tempe or just enjoy some downtime. The local committee will include in your packet some venues for enjoying live music and other events in the Tempe area.
Saturday: Outing. Thanks to Allyn & Bacon / Longman’s generous sponsorship, conference goers will enjoy free admission to see the Arizona Diamondbacks play the San Diego Padres, at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. The game starts at 6:05 pm, so busses will leave at 4:45 pm sharp from the Tempe Mission Palms. Dinner will be on your own Saturday night (and they have great hot dogs at Chase Field).
Sunday: The conference ends at 10:00 Sunday morning after the closing “Town Hall” session. While you are welcome to explore the Tempe area on your own, literature on other areas of Phoenix and Arizona will be readily available at the Tempe Mission Palms.
Thanks and best,
Greg Glau (for Duane Roen and Barry Maid) Local Arrangements Chairs WPA 2007
The following Professional Development Workshops, Program Development Workshops, and WPA Working Sessions will be part of the program for the 2007 WPA Summer Conference in Tempe (for more information about the conference: http://wpacouncil.org/conference2007).
WPAs are encouraged to request funding from their institutions for participation in these special workshops.
Professional Development Workshops for WPAs:
Mapping WPA Spaces: Creative Approaches to Creative Work
Leaders: Rita Malenczyk, Lauren Fitzgerald New and experienced WPAs will have the opportunity, using postmodern mapping, to discover and tap new imaginative resources for creative and scholarly writing.
Crafting a WPA Peer Review Process: Part 1, Reasonable Criteria
Leaders: E. Shelley Reid and Irwin Weiser When WPAs want peer feedback on our administrative work outside of (often unshared) tenure review letters or a consultant-evaluator visit, we have very few options. This session will ask participants' help in designing a menu of criteria for possible use in outside peer reviews of WPAs by WPAs. (Part 2 is planned for WPA 2008 in Denver)
Untenured WPAs as Change Agents: When to Rule, When to Run, When to Hide
Leaders: Doug Downs, Shelley Reid, Rita Malenczyk, Barry Maid How can untenured WPAs respond to calls for their participation in institutional change? Assistant Professor Administrators (APAs) will share scenarios concerning changes at their institutions, consult with other APAs, and hear responses from tenured WPAs. Participants are encouraged to email short scenarios to Doug Downs (downsdo@uvsc.edu) by July 6.
Reconstructing the WPA: Building an Inclusive Paradigm
Leaders: Suellen Duffey, William Klein The paradigm that defines the WPA has remained relatively static over the past two decades, and has become characterized by common workplace issues and tasks that do not capture the diverse realities in which WPAs find themselves. In this workshop participants will begin building a new, more inclusive paradigm.
Writing for the WPA Journal
Deirdre Pettipiece, Timothy Ray, Bill Macauley, the WPA Journal Editorial Team will meet with prospective authors and prospective guest editors of special issues
Writing Program Development Workshops
Preparing a Writing Program Self-Study
Leaders: Doug Hesse and Ed White, (with Shirley Rose, Chris Anson, Joan Mullin, Bill Condon, and Joe Janangelo) Sponsored by the WPA Consultant-Evaluator Service, the session covers writing and using writing program self-studies for a variety of contexts, not just in preparation for a WPA C-E visit.
The History, Theory, and Practice of Good Program Assessments
Leaders: Brian Huot, Peggy O'Neill, Bill Macauley, Cindy Moore This two-part workshop will engage participants in discussion about the writing assessment history, theory, and research that inform available assessment practices and provide an opportunity to meet in small-group workshops to apply new knowledge to individual assessment projects.
Reviewing, Revamping, and Creating Undergraduate Majors
Leaders: Susan McLeod, Deborah Balzhiser Morton, Sandra Jamieson, Barbara L’Eplattenier, Keith Miller Members of the CCCC Committee on Writing and Rhetoric Majors will work with participants in small groups to discuss models and strategies for undergraduate majors. If you are considering or developing such majors, please feel free to email Thomas Miller (tpm@Email.arizona.edu )or bring your curricular materials.
Reinventing A Small College Writing Program: Studying Our Scratch
Leaders: Lisa Lebduska and Carol Peterson Haviland Using a small liberal arts college’s experience reinventing a writing program to engage in collaborative program building, participants will work with the documents that have emerged from each department—from biology to classics to economics to religion—and then the draft of the new program as a basis for discussion. The emphasis will be on participants’ using these documents as a model as they engage in studying their own "scratch" and thus revising their programs.
Special WPA Working Sessions:
Writing and Student Engagement/ WPA Collaboration with NSSE
Coordinator: Chuck Paine Meeting with Robert Gonyea to discuss NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement), how it works, how questions are made and tested, and how NSSE might be improved if it more effectively surveyed students' writing experiences. For more information see http://wpacouncil.org/node/852
National Conversation on Writing/ WPA Network for Media Action
Leaders: Linda Adler-Kassner, Dominic Delli Carpini, Darsie Bowden, Pete Vandenberg National Conversation on Writing contributors will gather to view video footage and discuss final plans for completing the NCoW video (for NCTE 2007).
All of these sessions will be held during the concurrent sessions time slots in the conference program on Friday and Saturday.
July 13-16 Chattanooga Choo Choo Convention Center Chattanooga , Tennessee
Register: http://wpacouncil.org/2006register
Online Program Near-final Draft: http://wpacouncil.org/WPA2006ProgramBookletDraft
TRAIN YOURSELF FOR EXCITEMENT as you make plans for participating in the 2006 WPA Conference at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Convention Center next July! Our theme, “Keeping on Track: Looking Back, Looking Forward, and Looking Out for New Opportunities,” acknowledges both the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo and nearby Lookout Mountain, but it also conveys the our thematic focus on the importance of continual reflection, planning, and inquiry to maintaining direction and momentum for the writing programs we lead.
The conference will begin Thursday evening, July 13, and continue through Sunday morning, July 16.
Conference sessions will include:
Plenary Speakers
Jacqueline Jones Royster is Professor of English and Executive Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State University. Former Chair of the CCCC, she has won the MLA Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize for Best Book in the Teaching of English and the Braddock Award for best article in College Composition and Communication in 2001. In her plenary talk focused on “Looking Back,†Royster will reflect on her work as a WPA at Spelman College in the early years of her career.
Chris M. Anson is Professor of English and Director of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program at North Carolina State University. He has served on the NCTE Board of Directors, the CCCC Executive Committee and numerous other committees for the CCCC, and was program co-chair of the NCTE Global Conference on Language and Literacy (2000, Utrecht, Netherlands). As the Immediate Past President of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, Anson will speak on “Looking Forward†as WPAs individually and collectively.
Pamela B. Childers is the Caldwell Chair of Composition at the McCallie School in Chattanooga. An active member of NCTE, MLA, and other professional organizations, she is currently serving on the Executive Board of the International Writing Centers Association. She has written numerous articles and books related to her work with Writing Centers and Writing Across the Curriculum in Secondary Schools, and is a frequent consultant and leader of workshops on related issues. Childers’ talk will focus on “Looking Out for New Opportunities,†particularly opportunities for making connections between secondary and post-secondary writing curricula.
professional development mini-workshops
In addition to plenary speakers and concurrent panel sessions, the program will include professional development mini-workshops on such topics as Documenting a Writing Program, Preparing an Administrative Portfolio/WPA Promotion Case, and Planning for Publishing Program Research. Ask your department chair or dean for funding to attend these mini-workshops.
Conference Chair: Shirley Rose, President, Council of Writing Program Administrators Local Chairs: Lauren Ingraham, Jennifer Beech, and James Inman
CALL FOR PAPERS: http://wpacouncil.org/node/216
Planning Information2006 Summer Workshop and Conference of the Council of Writing Program Administrators
Conference : Official activities begin Thursday evening, July 13, at 5:30 PM with a welcome reception/orientation and conclude Sunday, July 16, at 10:00 AM after the Town Hall Meeting. Plenary Speakers include Jacqueline Jones Royster, Ohio State University, on Thursday evening; Chris Anson, Past President of CWPA, North Carolina State University, on Friday; and Pam Childers, former President of the National Writing Center Association, The McCallie School in Chattanooga, on Saturday.
Workshop : Workshop participants gather Sunday afternoon, July 9, and meet all day every day through Wednesday evening, July 12. Workshop leaders Lauren Fitzgerald (Yeshiva University) and Greg Glau (Arizona State University) will also be available for one-to-one consultations in the evenings and (for workshop participants not attending an institute) on Thursday morning. For more information about the workshop, go to http://wpacouncil.org/node/263
Assessment Institute and Technology Institute : These day-long institutes will be held on Thursday, July 13, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Lunch included. If institutes are cancelled due to insufficient enrollment, registration fees will be refunded.
Assessment Institute: http://wpacouncil.org/node/396 Technology Institute: http://wpacouncil.org/node/395
Costs:
Early bird deadline is May 15; add $30 to registration cost for each event after May 15.
Register: http://wpacouncil.org/node/394
For information about the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn and convention Center, go to http://www.choochoo.com/
Members of underrepresented minorities are invited to apply for grants to support their attendance at the WPA Summer Workshop. To find out more about the WPA Fund for the Support of Minority Writing Program Administrators, go to http://wpacouncil.org/node/224.
2006 Technology Institute
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga July 13, 2006
Sponsored by the Council of Writing Program Administrators in conjunction with its summer conference at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel Chattanooga, Tennessee July 13-16, 2006
Join writing program administrators from around the country in this day-long institute just prior to the 2006 WPA Summer Conference. The focus of this year’s institute is multi-media/mixed-media composing in writing programs. Led by Darsie Bowden and Peter Vandenberg, participants will address such concerns as:
ï‚§ Identifying technical support needs (instructional spaces, IT staff, etc.) ï‚§ Developing mixed-media assignments ï‚§ Assessing student projects ï‚§ Publicizing/explaining the rationale for multi-media composing to the writing program's constituents
Darsie Bowden is Associate Professor of English and Director of Composition at DePaul University in Chicago. Professor Bowden earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cinema and a PhD. in Rhetoric and Linguistics and Literature from the University of Southern California, and has published two books, The Mythology of Voice (Boynton/Cook 1999) and Writing for Film: the Basics of Screenwriting (forthcoming from Erlbaum).
Peter Vandenberg is Professor of English and Director of the MA in New Media Studies at DePaul University, where he teaches courses in composition theory and the rhetoric of design. Professor Vandenberg is co-editor of Relations, Locations, Positions (NCTE, 2006) and Keywords in Composition Studies (Boynton/Cook, 1996). His recent publications include essays in College English, JAC, Reflections, and Writing on the Edge. He has designed multimedia for Rhetoricians for Peace and The Rhetoric and Composition Sound Archives.
Together Bowden and Vandenberg operate SPAN, a production company focused on the composition of multimedia projects of interest to teachers and scholars. SPAN has produced a number of projects, including public service announcements and the film WPA: Past, Present and Future, which will have its premier screening at the 2006 WPA Conference in Chattanooga.
Cost: $125 by May 15 (includes lunch and breaks); $155 after May 15. Institute tuition includes all materials, plus lunch and breaks. Please register early, as enrollment is limited to 20 participants.
Register for the Technology Institute: http://wpacouncil.org/node/394
2006 Assessment Institute
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga July 13, 2006 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Sponsored by the Council of Writing Program Administrators in conjunction with its summer conference at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel Chattanooga, Tennessee July 13-16, 2006
“Electronic Portfolios, Writing Classrooms, and College Programs: Practices, Theories, Issues, and Challenges†Leaders: Elizabeth Clark, Michael Day, and Kathleen Blake Yancey
Website for Institute Materials: http://www.engl.niu.edu/mday/wpa06.html
This day-long institute will address the various questions that arise for WPAs thinking about, planning, or implementing electronic portfolios. What are they? How are they similar to and different from print portfolios? What are the options for software, and how do they compare? How do eportfolios and the need to assess them affect faculty development needs and procedures? How are eports assessed? Once implemented, how can digital portfolios change an institution's understanding and expectations of assessment? What role might they play in a long-term assessment plan? Not least, what are likely to be the questions around electronic portfolios in the next five years?
J. Elizabeth Clark is Associate Professor of English at LaGuardia Community College--CUNY, where she is Co-Director of the Composition Program and Acting ePortfolio Project Director. She teaches basic writing, first year composition, and the cultural studies of medicine. Clark is managing editor of Radical Teacher and has presented and published about ePortfolios and the composition classroom. She is also part of the Carnegie Foundation/AAC & U Integrated Learning Project.
Michael Day is Associate Professor of English at Northern Illinois University, where he directs the first-year composition program and teaches composition pedagogy, technical writing, and writing for electronic media. Day is Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication and former chair of the National Council of Teachers of English Assembly on Computers in English. He leads the Northern Illinois University’s team for the National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research, and has presented and published on topics ranging from technical communication to Internet communication and teaching writing online.
Kathleen Blake Yancey, Kellogg W. Hunt Professor of English at Florida State University, has worked with electronic portfolios in various settings, from working with a small liberal arts college and with a K-12 school district and co-leading the National Coalition of Research on Electronic Portfolios to using them in her own classrooms with undergraduates, graduate students, and practicing teachers. She has written about eports in several venues, including in the AAHE edited collection Electronic Portfolios and the CCC article “Postmodernism, Palimpsest, and Portfolios: Theoretical Issues in the Representation of Student Work.†Her current projects include a volume tentatively titled E-Portfolios in the English Classroom.
Registration: $125 on or before May 15; $155 after May 15; includes lunch, breaks, and materials Register for the Assessment Institute: http://wpacouncil.org/node/394
For more information: visit http://wpacouncil.org/node/393
A draft of the 2006 WPA Conference Program Outline and a draft of the Schedule for Concurrent Sessions as of June 21, 2006 are both available in searchable PDF attachments (see below).
Note to registered site users: If you are interested in additional information about a session, the "node" number provided in the schedule identifies the page where the session proposal may be viewed on the WPA website. You will need to log on to view the information.
Early bird deadline is May 15; add $30 to registration cost for each event after May 15. Full refund until June 15, and 50% refund June 16 and after.
Follow the relevant link(s) below to register online or print and mail this registration form in PDF format (also attached below).
WPA Workshop Summer 2006
Workshop Leaders: Lauren Fitzgerald is Associate Professor of English at Yeshiva University, where she directs the Yeshiva College Composition Program and Writing Center. Her work on writing programs and the teaching of writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Writing Lab Newsletter, The Writing Center Journal, and the edited collections Negotiating Religious Faith in the Composition Classroom, The Writing Center Director’s Resource Book (with Denise Stephenson), Judaic Perspectives on Literacy: Contexts for Rhetoric and Composition, and Sites of Plagiarism, Sites of Pedagogy (with T. Kenny Fountain).
Greg Glau is Director of Writing Programs at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 1994. Greg received his MA in Rhetoric and Composition from Northern Arizona University, and his PhD in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English from the University of Arizona. Before being appointed WPA in 2000, Greg directed ASU’s basic writing Stretch Program. With Linda Adler-Kassner of Eastern Michigan University, Greg is co-editor of the Bedford Bibliography of Basic Writing (2001; second edition 2005). Greg also is coauthor of Scenarios for Writing (Mayfield/McGraw-Hill, 2001) and is currently working on Writing for College, Writing for Life with Duane Roen and Barry Maid (McGraw-Hill, due to be published in 2007). Greg has published in WPA: Writing Program Administration, Rhetoric Review, English Journal, The Writing Instructor, IDEAS Plus, and Arizona English Bulletin. He’s coauthor of a chapter in The Writing Program Administrator as Theorist (Rose and Weiser; Heineman), and author of a chapter in The Writing Program Administrator's Resource: A Guide to Reflective Institutional Practice (Enos and Brown; Erlbaum). Greg regularly presents at CCCC and has presented at WPA, MLA, RMMLA, the Western States Composition Conference, NCTE, and others. He currently (with Duane Roen and Barry Maid) is a managing editor of WPA: Writing Program Administration.
The WPA Summer Workshop attracts participating writing program administrators from a variety of programs, including first-year composition, writing centers, WAC, and comprehensive writing programs. Participants come from a range of institutions--large, medium, and small; public and private; secular and religiously affiliated, both U.S. and international. The workshop is led each year by two experienced writing program administrators who have been nationally recognized for their work. Participants spend three days discussing and writing about WPA roles and responsibilities, program design, curriculum development and trends, assessment, staffing and professional development, and more.
Workshop Schedule: July 9 - 12, 2006 Workshop participants gather Sunday afternoon, July 9, and meet all day every day through Wednesday evening, July 12. Workshop leaders Lauren Fitzgerald (Yeshiva University) and Greg Glau (Arizona State University) will also be available for one-to-one consultations in the evenings and (for workshop participants not attending an institute) on Thursday morning.
Costs: Workshop Registration: early bird $630 (includes workshop materials and 10 meals) Workshop PLUS Institute (Technology Inst. or Assessment Inst.)Package Price: $675 Early bird deadline is May 15; add $30 to registration cost for each event after May 15.
Register for workshop or workshop/institute package: REGISTRATION FOR THE WORKSHOP IS CLOSED http://wpacouncil.org/node/394
By Air
The Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (www.chattairport.com) is served by five major airlines or their subsidiaries: Delta, Northwest, US Air, American, and Continental. Direct flights are available between Chattanooga and the following eight cities:
ï‚§ Atlanta (via Delta) ï‚§ Cincinnati (via Delta) ï‚§ Charlotte, NC (via US Air) ï‚§ Washington DC (via US Air) ï‚§ Chicago (via American Eagle) ï‚§ Dallas/Ft. Worth (via American Eagle) ï‚§ Memphis (via Northwest) ï‚§ Houston (via Continental)
The Choo Choo Hotel and Convention Center operates a complimentary shuttle between the Chattanooga airport and the hotel.
Airports in nearby Atlanta or Nashville offer even more options for getting to the area, particularly if you are looking to fly one of the discount airlines such as Southwest or AirTran. Shuttle service is available between these airports and Chattanooga via Chattanooga Coach (www.chattanoogacoach.com) or Groome Transportation (www.groomechattanooga.com).
By Car
Chattanooga sits at the intersection of Interstates 24 and 75 near the Alabama-Georgia border. Participants arriving by car enjoy free parking at the Choo Choo Hotel and Convention Center.
By Train
Ironically, no passenger train service is available to Chattanooga. But while you’re here check out the Incline Railway—the steepest passenger railway in the world—to the top of Lookout Mountain.
Getting Around Chattanooga
A free electric shuttle travels throughout downtown Chattanooga from 6:00 am until 7:30 pm on weekdays and 9:00 am until 7:30 pm on weekends. The Choo Choo sits at the southern end of the shuttle route, and the Tennessee Riverfront area marks the route’s northernmost point (a 1.2 mile span of shops, restaurants, office buildings, and parks). CARTA buses (Chattanooga’s public transportation system) have routes throughout Chattanooga, including one that passes in front of the Choo Choo and stops at the Incline Railway station at the base of Lookout Mountain (2.5 miles from the Choo Choo). For more ambitious trips or late night outings, taxi service is also available. If you want to explore more of Chattanooga on your own, particularly attractions beyond the city limits, renting a car may be the best option. Your conference information packet will include detailed information about traveling in and around Chattanooga.
A copy of the near-final draft of the 2006 WPA Conference Program booklet is available in PDF, attached below.
July 13-16
Chattanooga Choo Choo Convention Center
Chattanooga , Tennessee
Submit a proposal for an individual presentation, poster session, panel, roundtable, or forum online using our Presenter Proposal Form. You need to be an authenticated site user and logged in order to submit a proposal. Your WPA membership will need to be current by the time of the conference. Register now if you need an account or use the log-in form to the right.
TRAIN YOURSELF FOR EXCITEMENT as you make plans for participating in the 2006 WPA Conference at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Convention Center next July! Our theme, “Keeping on Track: Looking Back, Looking Forward, and Looking Out for New Opportunities,” acknowledges both the famous Chattanooga Choo Choo and nearby Lookout Mountain, but it also conveys the our thematic focus on the importance of continual reflection, planning, and inquiry to maintaining direction and momentum for the writing programs we lead.
We invite proposals for sessions addressing the conference theme in such areas as the following:
We welcome a variety of session formats, including (1) full panels involving several speakers addressing related topics, (2) individual presentations to be grouped together by the program committee, and (3) roundtables and forums on a single topic. Proposals for innovative presentation formats are invited as well. We invite attendees to prepare poster presentations or other exhibits of their programs' special initiatives, research projects, or signature areas .
The conference will begin Thursday evening, July 13, and continue through Sunday morning, July 16. In addition to plenary speakers and concurrent panel sessions, the program will include professional development mini-workshops on such topics as Documenting a Writing Program, Preparing an Administrative Portfolio/WPA Promotion Case, and Planning for Publishing Program Research. Ask your department chair or dean for funding to attend these mini-workshops.
Proposals may be submitted at http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/add/flexinode-1 until February 1, 2006. Proposals submitted after this date will be reviewed only if space remains on the program.
For detailed up-to-date information about the conference, visit the conference website at http://wpacouncil.org
Conference Chair: Shirley Rose, President, Council of Writing Program Administrators
Local Chairs: Lauren Ingraham, Jennifer Beech, and James Inman
2006 Summer Workshop and Conference of the Council of Writing Program Administrators

Conference : Official activities begin Thursday evening, July 13, at 5:30 PM with a welcome reception/orientation and conclude Sunday, July 16, at 10:00 AM after the Town Hall Meeting. Plenary Speakers include Jacqueline Jones Royster, Ohio State University, on Thursday evening; Chris Anson, Past President of CWPA, North Carolina State University, on Friday; and Pam Childers, former President of the National Writing Center Association, The McCallie School in Chattanooga, on Saturday.
Workshop : Workshop participants gather Sunday afternoon, July 9, and meet all day every day through Wednesday evening, July 12. Workshop leaders Lauren Fitzgerald (Yeshiva University) and Greg Glau (Arizona State University) will also be available for one-to-one consultations in the evenings and (for workshop participants not attending an institute) on Thursday morning. For more information about the workshop, go to http://wpacouncil.org/node/263
Assessment Institute and Technology Institute : These day-long institutes will be held on Thursday, July 13, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Lunch included. If institutes are cancelled due to insufficient enrollment, registration fees will be refunded.
Costs (for planning purposes only—not final as of November, 2005):
Early bird deadline is May 15; add $30 to registration cost for each event after May 15.
For information about the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn and convention Center, go to http://www.choochoo.com/ Members of underrepresented minorities are invited to apply for grants to support their attendance at the WPA Summer Workshop. To find out more about the WPA Fund for the Support of Minority Writing Program Administrators, go to http://wpacouncil.org/node/224.Sponsored by the Council of Writing Program Administrators & Hosted by The University of Denver at the Grand Hyatt, Denver, CO, July 6-13, 2008
PROGRAM, Detailed Workshop, Institute, and Conference Information, including Travel and Things to Do, remain available at: http://www.du.edu/writing/WPA2008.htm
Call for Conference Proposals NOTE: Call is now closed.
Conference Proposal Submission Form
Complete information about the Conference, Workshop, and Institutes, including final prices, is available in PDF form at http://www.du.edu/writing/documents/WPA_informational_brochure.pdfRegistration. Registration is now available. Workshop (including 8 meals): $650. Institutes (includes lunch, break, materials): $140. Conference (includes 6 meals and social event): $295 before June 20, 2008; $315 after ($150 for graduate students). Combination pricing includes Workshop and Institute: $760, Workshop and Conference: $900, Workshop, Institute, and Conference: $1000. There are no refunds after June 28, 2008, alas, something that makes WPA feel hard-hearted; however, the no-refund cut-off date is due to unrefundable deposits that WPA must make to hotel by that time.
Detailed Denver Information and Local Website: http://www.du.edu/writing/WPA2008.htmJoin Colleagues in the Mile High City
Attend an intimate professional meeting with friends at the foothills of the Rockies, in one of America's most invigorating summer cities. The annual WPA Workshop (a three-day intensive experience, July 6-9, for new and renewing WPAs, led by Susan Miller-Cochran and Chris Anson), Institutes (one-day (July 10) learning experiences led by national experts), and Conference (a highly interactive chance to present your work and interact with other national leaders, July 10-13) will be the heart of our gathering, of course, but there's more.
Everything will take place in thriving downtown Denver, near the bustle of Larimer Square, Writer's Square, the 16th Street Mall, Coors Field, a massive REI store, the world-famous Tattered Cover Bookstore, countless outdoor cafes, brewpubs, and high-end restaurants, and the trendy Lodo district, its lofts, clubs, boutiques, and places to watch Platte River kayakers. Yes, you can see the mountains. It will inevitably be sunny (as it is 300 days a year) and in the upper 80's by day, 50's and 60's by night, with scant humidity.
We'll plan a festive Saturday evening outing, and we'll surely offer a surfeit of culture, sports, and entertainment.
The gathering presents a fine stage for side-trips and vacations. Rocky Mountain National Park, Boulder (with a summer chautaqua and the Colorado Shakespeare Fest), Red Rocks, Winter Park, Breckenridge, and so on are easy jaunts; Vail and Aspen, not far. Denver is a great place for partners and family, too. In or adjacent to downtown are Elitch Gardens amusement park, the Denver Art Museum, the Aquarium, the Mint, the Children's musem, the Denver Performing Arts Center (second in size only to Lincoln Center), and a gauntlet of stores to test even the most intrepid shoppers.
WPA Conference Institutes are one-day (July 10), interactive seminars that are designed and led by experts, for a group of no more than 20 WPAs. Complete information about the Conference, Workshop, and Institutes, including final prices, is available in PDF form at http://www.du.edu/writing/documents/WPA_informational_brochure.pdf
This year, we’re pleased to offer two Institutes:
1. Research in Writing Program Administration Leaders: Irwin Weiser, Purdue, and Meg Morgan, North Carolina at Charlotte.
2. English Language Learners and Writing Programs Leaders: Vivian Zamel, U Massachusetts, Boston, and Gail Shuck, Boise State
Complete information about the Conference, Workshop, and Institutes, including final prices, is available in PDF form at http://www.du.edu/writing/documents/WPA_informational_brochure.pdf
Institute fees are $140, discounted for people attend both the Workshop and an Institute or an Institute and the Conference. Fee includes all materials, breaks, and lunch.
Denver Grand Hyatt Hotel
Denver, Colorado
July 10-13, 2008
The conference will begin Thursday evening, July 10, and continue through Sunday morning, July 13. We invite proposals for individual presentations, panels, workshops, forums roundtables and other sessions addressing the conference theme, "Writing Program Administration and/as Learning."
We also invite attendees to prepare poster presentations or other exhibits of their programs' special initiatives, research projects, or signature areas.
To allow conference attendees to begin planning as soon as possible, review of proposals for individual presentations, concurrent session panels, roundtables, poster sessions, and multimedia presentations will occur on a rolling basis after February 15, with notifications also sent on that basis. Proposals received after March 15 will be considered on a space-available basis only.
Our goal is to examine WPAs as learners - as teachers – and as learned contributors to students’ lives, to knowledge, and to higher education. We will come together in Denver to work toward a better understanding of WPA work as an intellectual and a pedagogical activity with a rich and complicated history. I invite you to think about some of the following topics and questions. --Joe Janangelo, Program Chair
This list is suggestive. You are welcome to propose any ideas not explicitly tied to the conference theme but important to writing program administration. WPA work occurs in multiple and intersecting spheres and arenas. Hence, these questions are meant to be generative, not exhaustive. We welcome your ideas and approaches!
Once again, this list is suggestive. You are welcome to propose any ideas not explicitly tied to the conference theme but important to writing program administration.
To register for the 2008 WPA Conference in Denver, Colorado, select one of the following options. These options will take you to a page that briefly describes the event and will allow you to add the registration for the event to "your cart." Once you have selected all of the items you would like to register for, you can then checkout. Note: If you must pay by check and therefore need a paper registration form to print and mail, please scroll down through the questions below to see directions and a link to a PDF registration form. ALSO, there are no refunds after June 28, 2008, alas, something that makes WPA feel hard-hearted; however, the no-refund cut-off date is due to unrefundable deposits that WPA must make to hotel by that time.
How is my payment processed?
Payment is processed through PayPal. You do not have to have an account with PayPal to register and complete your payment, but you do need to have a user account at the WPA website, so be sure to sign in or create a new account if you need to. At the first PayPal checkout screen, you'll have a choice to pay with your PayPal account or use another credit card.
How will I know what I registered for?
On the WPA Council website, you can select My Account from the left menu, View Order History, and then Operations, View. It will tell you what you have signed up for. You can also print your receipt from there.
What happens if I want to change the events I registered for. Can I still get the combination discount? What happens if I have to cancel my registration?
Unfortunately, we cannot process a change in your registration via this website. However, if you contact David Blakesley, he may be able to help you.
Is there any way I can register by mail?
You can print out and complete the PDF of the registration form with a check made out to Council of Writing Program Administrators. Mail both to:
WPA Conference Registration
ATTN: Amy Kho, Writing Program
2150 E. Evans Ave., Penrose Library #202
Denver, CO 80208.
If I have more questions, who should I contact?
For questions regarding this website and your registration through this website, contact David Blakesley.
For questions about local conference arrangements and Denver, contact Douglas Hesse or Richard Colby.
For questions about submissions, the conference program, or WPA in general, contact Joseph Janangelo
for more information about the 2008 WPA Conference, visit http://www.du.edu/writing/documents/WPA_informational_brochure.pdf
WPA is pleased to announce its co-sponsorship of 'Literacies of Hope: Making Meaning across Boundaries' to be held in Beijing, China, July 24-27, 2007.
The conference, co-hosted by Beijing Normal University and Global Interactions, Inc., will inquire into the many forms of literacy that are vital to an increasingly globalized world, where partnership is essential. Proposals for presentations are invited for five strands:
Print Literacy / Media Literacy / Oral Literacy Technology & Literacy Creative & Critical Thinking Social & Cultural Literacy TESOL / ELL
For detailed information about the conference and to download forms for submitting proposals go to http://www.globalinteractions.org and select "2007 China - U.S. Conference on Literacy." Submission deadline is December 12, 2006. Invitations to present will be emailed by December 20.
NOTE!! EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: JANUARY 22, 2007
U.S. presenters will deliver their papers in English with consecutive Mandarin interpretation, and Chinese presenters will deliver their papers in Mandarin with consecutive English interpretation. The U.S. Steering Committee will referee U.S. proposals and collaborate with their Chinese counterparts in building the program.
Presenters must register for the conference by January 12, 2007, with a deposit of $600 ($200 of which is refundable if presenter cancels). Participants who are not presenting must register by February 28, with a deposit of $600 ($200 of which is refundable if participant cancels).
The 9-day program includes Chinese visa, lodging and orientation in Los Angeles, roundtrip coach airfare from Los Angeles to Beijing, double occupancy lodging, all meals in Beijing, airport/hotel transfers, the four-day conference registration fee, professional site visits, and three days of historical and cultural sight visits in Beijing. Total cost $3300.
A shorter 5-day program is available for $2950. Options are also available for family members who are not attending the conference. Itineraries for all options are available at the website listed above. Questions should be addressed to Global Interactions, Inc., or 602-906-8886.
This sample just shows you what type of information to collect before submitting a proposal . . .
Type of Session: Individual Presentation Name of Submitter: Jane Doe Email Address of Submitter: janedoe@anywhere.edu Abstract for an Individual Presentation, Panel, Forum, or Roundtable:
Ma quande lingues coalesce, li grammatica del resultant lingue es plu simplic e regulari quam ti del coalescent lingues. Li nov lingua franca va esser plu simplic e regulari quam li existent Europan lingues. It va esser tam simplic quam Occidental: in fact, it va esser Occidental. Proposal for an Individual Presentation or Poster Session:
Ma quande lingues coalesce, li grammatica del resultant lingue es plu simplic e regulari quam ti del coalescent lingues. Li nov lingua franca va esser plu simplic e regulari quam li existent Europan lingues. It va esser tam simplic quam Occidental: in fact, it va esser Occidental. A un Angleso it va semblar un simplificat Angles, quam un skeptic Cambridge amico dit me que Occidental es. Ma quande lingues coalesce, li grammatica del resultant lingue es plu simplic e regulari quam ti del coalescent lingues. Li nov lingua franca va esser plu simplic e regulari quam li existent Europan lingues. It va esser tam simplic quam Occidental: in fact, it va esser Occidental. A un Angleso it va semblar un simplificat Angles, quam un skeptic Cambridge amico dit me que Occidental es. Ma quande lingues coalesce, li grammatica del resultant lingue es plu simplic e regulari quam ti del coalescent lingues. Li nov lingua franca va esser plu simplic e regulari quam li existent Europan lingues. It va esser tam simplic quam Occidental: in fact, it va esser Occidental. A un Angleso it va semblar un simplificat Angles, quam un skeptic Cambridge amico dit me que Occidental es. Ma quande lingues coalesce, li grammatica del resultant lingue es plu simplic e regulari quam ti del coalescent lingues.
Li nov lingua franca va esser plu simplic e regulari quam li existent Europan lingues. It va esser tam simplic quam Occidental: in fact, it va esser Occidental. A un Angleso it va semblar un simplificat Angles, quam un skeptic Cambridge amico dit me que Occidental es. Ma quande lingues coalesce, li grammatica del resultant lingue es plu simplic e regulari quam ti del coalescent lingues. Li nov lingua franca va esser plu Name, Affiliation, and Email Address of All Presenters:
Jane Doe Somewhere University janedoe@somewhere.edu regular Equipment Need: Flip Chart: Yes Equipment Need: Internet Connection: Yes Equipment Need: Overhead Projector for Transparencies: Yes Equipment Need: Video Projector: Yes
This sample proposal for a panel presentation just shows you what type of information to gather before you submit your proposal. . . .
Type of Session: Panel Name of Submitter: John Doe Email Address of Submitter: johndoe@somewhere.edu Abstract for an Individual Presentation, Panel, Forum, or Roundtable:
Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc., li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá. Proposal for a Panel, Roundtable, or Forum:
Overview Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc., li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun paroles. Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc.,
Presenter 1 li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun paroles. Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc.,
Presenter2 li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun paroles. Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc., li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun paroles. Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc.,
Presenter 3 li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun paroles. Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc., li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun paroles.
Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc., li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun Name, Affiliation, and Email Address of All Presenters:
Presenter 1 John Doe Somewhere College johndoe@somewhere.edu
Presenter 2 Jane Doe Anywhere University janedoe@anywhere.edu
Presenter 3 Kelly Anywho Wherever Institute kelly@wherever.com Equipment Need: Flip Chart: Yes Equipment Need: Internet Connection: Yes Equipment Need: Overhead Projector for Transparencies: Yes Equipment Need: Video Projector: Yes
Writing as Writing Program Administrators
Anchorage, Alaska
Council of Writing Program Administrators
Summer Workshop, Institute, and Conference
July 3-10
Conference Website: http://moose.uaa.alaska.edu/wpa2005/
Conference Theme and Program
Several months ago, a fellow WPA remarked that she was looking forward to an upcoming leave from administrative work because she would have “time for writing.” Though we understand what she was saying, it’s an oddly ironic or paradoxical, if not nonsensical, statement. If a writing program administrator doesn't have time for writing, who does? As writing program administrators, we spend, it may seem, nearly every waking moment at our keyboards or with pen in hand. We can understand what our fellow WPA was saying because we find ourselves in an academic culture that has a sometimes very limited notion of what “counts” as writing. Despite what we know about multiple genres of writing in diverse rhetorical situations, when it comes to our own writing, we may fail to appreciate just how much of it we do, how intellectually demanding it is, or what’s at stake in our choices of when, what, and to whom to write as writing program administrators.
At the University of Alaska Anchorage in July 2005, plenary speakers, mini-workshops leaders and participants, and concurrent session speakers will be focusing on developing our understanding of the genres and purposes of writing we do as writing program administrators, addressing topics such as
Special Program Features
In addition to plenary speakers and concurrent sessions addressing the conference theme, the program will offer two special features. Back by popular demand, small-group breakout discussion sessions will follow plenary talks, giving us a chance to keep the conversation going. New this year, a series of professional development mini-workshops on writing as a writing program administrator will be presented by experienced WPAs. These mini-workshops will offered on Thursday and Friday in the same time slots as concurrent sessions. Planned workshop topics include
Be sure to point out these professional development opportunities to your department chair or dean when you request funding! Though there will be no additional charge for attending these mini-workshops, participants will be asked to sign-up several months in advance to enable planning for space and materials. Additional details, including names of mini-workshop leaders and outlines of content will be provided when complete information about conference registration is available at http://moose.uaa.alaska.edu/wpa2005/
Call for Proposals
Proposals addressing the conference theme or other issues of interest to WPAs are invited for concurrent sessions, including (1) full panels involving several speakers addressing related topics, (2) individual presentations to be grouped together by the program committee, and (3) roundtables on a single topic. Proposals for multimedia presentations, poster presentations, or other presentation formats are encouraged.
Review of proposals will begin October 15, 2004 and will continue until the program is complete. Successful proposals will be acknowledged at the earliest possible date. Proposals may be submitted at http://moose.uaa.alaska.edu/wpa2005/
Planning Information

Conference: Official activities begin Thursday evening, July 7, at 5:30 PM with a welcome reception/orientation and conclude Sunday, July 10, at 10:00 AM after the Town Hall Meeting. Local organizers of the conference, Trish Jenkins and Jeff White (University of Alaska – Anchorage) will coordinate Workshop: Workshop participants gather Sunday afternoon, July 3, and meet all day every day through Thursday morning, July 7. Workshop leaders Irwin (Bud) Weiser (Purdue University) and Lauren Fitzgerald (Yeshiva University) will also be available for one-to-one consultations in the evenings. Assessment
Institute: The day-long institute will be held on Thursday, July 7, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Lunch included.
Costs (for planning purposes only):
For detailed up-to-date information about the conference, visit the conference website at http://moose.uaa.alaska.edu/wpa2005/
Conference Program Co-Chairs: Chris Anson, CWPA President, and Shirley Rose, Vice-President; Local Chairs: Trish Jenkins and Jeff White
13-16 July
Charlotte, North Carolina
Host: University of North Carolina-Charlotte
Local Arrangements: Meg Morgan, University of North Carolina-Charlotte
Program Chair: Doug Hesse, Illinois State U
Program Committee: Carol Rutz, Carleton College; Shirley Rose, Purdue University, Meg Morgan, Doug Hesse
Thursday, July 13
2:00-4:30 Meeting of the WPA Executive Board
2:00-3:30 Open House, Department of English, UNCC
5:00 Opening Keynote Session, Omni Ballroom
Welcome: Meg Morgan, Cy Knoblauch, Doug Hesse
Richard Lloyd-Jones, University of Iowa, "The
More Things Change. . . "
The first 25 years of CCCC, the first 25 years of WPA.
Introduced by: Doug Hesse, Illinois State
Reception to follow the opening session.
Friday, July 14
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Plenary Session.
Jeanne Gunner, Santa Clara University, "Heroic
Bodies"
Introduced by Meg Morgan, University of North Carolina-Charlotte
9:15 Discussion Groups
Leaders: Martha A. Townsend, University of Missouri; Dennis Lynch,
Michigan Tech University; Alice Gillam, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee;
Bill Condon, Washington State University; Kathleen Yancey, Clemson
University; Irvin Peckham, University of Nebraska-Omaha; Jennie
Dautermann, Miami University; Chet Pryor, Montgomery College-Germantown
9:45 Plenary Discussion. Moderator: Chris Anson, North Carolina State University
10:15 Break
10:45: In Memory of Bob Connors
"How Each of Us Got Here: 'Little Narratives' in the spirit of Bob Connors' Life and Work"
Bob Connors died in a motorcycle accident on June 22, 2000. He was 48 and at the height of his life as a teacher and scholar, yes, but also as friend and husband and father. Professionally, we knew him as perhaps the most astute current historian of composition studies, his award-winning book Composition-Rhetoric: Backgrounds, Theory, and Pedagogy being but one of his contributions to our grasping where we and the field have been. We knew him, too, from his generous, wise, and witty comments to the WPA listserv, where his postings often took the form of small essays themselves and where he was never to busy to furnish a citation when someone asked, often even giving an annotation. In the brief time since his death, I've been struck by the number of stories I've heard and read of Bob helping scholars, veteran and new, with various projects, in ways that should be examples to us all.
Bob long directed a writing center at the University of New Hampshire, and he was so visibly involved in WPA issues that it might surprise some to know that he had never been able to attend a regular WPA summer conference. The Charlotte meeting was to have been his first, and in an email to me last September, he wrote
"Though going to North Carolina from coastal Maine in the middle of July sounds like some sort of masochism, I have always wanted to go to WPA. How many days is it? I don't have anything specific in mind right now, though I'm reading a new book on the possibilities of various advanced writing curricula that's about to come out from B/C, and perhaps I could bounce off that--"On Beyond Abolitionism" or something like that. At CCCC this year I'm on a panel discussing the potentially problematic relations between FYC programs and WAC programs, so perhaps I could thumb in a pinch of that. . .resurrect a little abolition history. . .three tablespoons of tech writing history, cook over slow fire until glaze forms on eyeballs. . .Anyhow, as you can see, I'm thinking about it hard. Put me down as a yes. . . . Best, Bob"
Bob, of course, spoke at WPA's Composition in the Twenty-First Century conference. And he almost never missed a WPA breakfast at 4C's. Last April in Minneapolis he joined several of us at a table in a glassy corner atop the IDS building. As the sun came up over the paved prairie fifty stories below, on out to the horizon, he mentioned it would be a good day to ride, if a little cold. I suspect for Bob it was a rare day when it was not good to ride. We might all aspire to chase our passions, for learning and for life, with the fervor he did.
--Doug Hesse
Conference participants will record, on tape or in writing, brief accounts of how they got involved, eventually, in writing program administration.
11:30 Lunch (on your own)
1:00 A Sessions
UNC Charlotte Uptown Center
Panel
A.1 In the Rich Middle: WPA Work at Small Colleges
Chair: Anita Guynn, Beloit College
Presenters: Dominic Delli Carpini, York College of Pennsylvania,
"(Ad)Ministering Composition to the Small College: Spreading
the Word Through Faculty Enhancement"
Tom Amorose, Seattle Pacific University, "The Powerful, Invisible
Middle: The Small School WPA's Position on Campus and in the Profession"
Jeff Cain, Sacred Heart University, "Ex Corde Eccleasiae
and Writing Program Administration"
Panel
A.2 Assessment Wars, or "Why Can't We Use the ACT to Place
Writers?"
Presenters: Maurice Scharton, Illinois State
University, "History Lessons: How to Design and Redesign
a Test"
Janice Witherspoon Neuleib, Illinois State University, "Tactics
and Strategies, Plans for Attack"
Claire Lamonica, Illinois State University, "Practical Results,
Instructor Training"
Panel
A.3 Forces Affecting Courses and Programs
Chair: Chet Pryor, Montgomery College-Germantown
Presenters: Alice Horning, Oakland University, and Margaret
Willard-Traub, Oakland University, "The WPA Consultant-Evaluator
Visit and the "Wars" Over Writing"
Nicole Amare and Charlotte Brammer, University of Alabama, "English
for Engineers or Engineering English? Applying WAC Principles
to a Traditional Freshman Writing Program"
Mary G. Jackson, St. Mary's University, "Composition as a
Service Course: Service to Whom?"
Panel
A.4 Responding to Diminished Institutional Support
Chair: Marvin Diogenes, University of Arizona
Bille J. Jones, Penn State-Capital College, "Adjunts and
Their WPA's: Stuck in the Middle of an Increasingly Tenured World"
Greg Bowe, Florida International University, "The Upside-down
English Department"
Irwin Weiser, Purdue University, "How Being a WPA Has Made
Me a New Abolitionist"
Panel
A.5 Professional Concerns of the WPA
Chair: Rita Malenczyk, Eastern Connecticut State
University
Presenters: Shirley Rose, Purdue University, "Making
Memory: Documentation Strategies for the Intellectual Work of
Writing Program Administration"
Irene Ward, Kansas State University, Practicing Leadership: Thriving
at the Writing Program Administrator's "Inside Game"
Roundtable
A.6 Is There Hope for These Inconvenient Marriages? WPAs, Trustees,
and Legislators
Presenters Carol P. Haviland, California State
University-San Bernardino
David Schwalm, Arizona State University-East
Workshop
A.7 Writing with Computers: Issues and Implications for WPA
and IT Staff
Presenters: Gene Baer, Mt. Mary College, and Martin Moldenhauer, Wisconsin Lutheran College
2:15 Break and Book Display
2:30 B Sessions
Panel
B.1 Using the WPA Outcomes Statement
Chair: Gordon Thomas, University of Idaho
Presenters: Shawn Hellman, University of Arizona, "Using
the WPA Outcomes Statement to Assess Computer Use in First Year
Composition"
Duane Roen, Arizona State University, Gregory Glau, Arizona State
University, and Alice Gillam, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
"Using the WPA Outcomes Statement to Guide Students' Portfolio
Construction"
Workshop
B.2 FYC, WAC, and Program Assessment: How Faculty Outside English
Re/View First-Year Comp
Presenters: Meg Morgan, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and Kathleen Yancey, Clemson
Panel
B.3 Reading Teachers, Reading Students
Chair: Marcy Trianosky, Hollins University
Presenters: Carol Rutz, Carleton College, "The Messiness
of Response: What Teachers Say about What They Do and What Students
Make of It""
Ellen Quandahl, San Diego State University, "Between Students'
Writing and Teachers' Reading: Grading Practices as Observable
Objects"
Joe Marshall Hardin, Northwestern State U, "Dangerous Curves:
What You Can('t) Tell from Grade Distributions"
Panel
B.4 A New Blueprint for Graduate Studies: Real Training for
the Real WPA World
Presenters: Susan Romano, University of Texas
at San Antonio, "Prepartion and Performance: An Inquiry into
the Intersections of Doctoral Training, Programmatic Visions,
and Work Worlds of Junior Level WPAs"
Virginia Anderson, Indiana University Southwest, "And What
More Can we Do? A Hit-the-Ground-Running Doctoral Curriculum for
Junior Level WPAs"
Thomas P. Miller, University of Arizona, "Preparing WPAs
and Other Expert Learners to Be Institutional Leaders"
Panel
B.5 From Portfolios to Computers: Assessing the Intellectual
Work of Evolving Domains in Writing Program Administration
Presenters: Shane Borrowman, University of Arizona,
"Portfolios for Placement and Outreach"
Daphne Desser, University of South Carolina, "The WPA, the
'Fourth Wave,' and New Technologies"
Darin Payne, University of South Carolina, "Assessing Cyberspace:
Developing a Critical Methodology for Incorporating New Technologies
into Writing Programs"
Panel
B.6 Teachers, TAs, and WPAs in the Middle
Chair: Lauren Fitzgerald, Yeshiva University
Presenters: Diane Boehm, Saginaw Valley State University,
"Teachers in the Center: A Research Study"
Dana Kinnison, University of Missouri, and Reinhold Hill, University
of Missouri, "Neither This Nor That: New Contributors to
Writing Program Administration"
Richard Bullock, Wright State University, "In the Middle
of TA Conflict: WPA as Counselor, Referee, House Mother, Target,
and Other Roles We Weren't Trained For"
4:15 Issue Groups
All participants elected to join one of the following discussion groups, arranged by Doug Hesse
A. What issues and innovations confront WAC
and WID programs?
convened by Bill Condon and Deb Bosley
WAC and WID programs have arguably entered a period of maturity,
even late maturity. What makes them viable--or threatens their
viability? Topics might include program requirements and resources,
faculty development, support for the WPA, successes, challenges,
changes, and so on.
B. What are working conditions for WPAs?
convened by Jennie Dautermann and Chris Anson
What kinds of support are WPAs receiving--or do they need
to receive? What are current pressures on the position? Have these
changed over the years? How about tenure and promotion? How about
burnout? How about success stories and strategies for improving
working conditions? These are but some suggested lines of discussion.
C. What are working conditions for writing
teachers?
convened by Shirley Rose and Joseph Harris
The status of nontenure-line faculty and teaching assistants
continues to be a hot topic on WPA-L and elsewhere. Are things
improving? Are there strategies WPAs can pursue? Is there any
substance to anecdotes that the "labor pool" of such
"contingent faculty" members is contracting, making
it more difficult to staff programs? What about alternative hiring
practices? And what about conditions for tenure-line writing teachers?
Has professional life for them changed over the past several years?
D. Can--or should--the required freshman writing
course persist?
convened by Alice Gillam and Dennis Lynch
Arguments to abolish the freshman writing requirement have
existed for a decade at least, driven both by theoretical arguments
and political concerns (about, for example, how the course is
staffed). What is the state, in 2000, of freshman writing courses?
Are they subtly waxing or subtly waning on individual campuses?
What are characteristics of currently strong programs? What alternatives
are being pursued?
E. How do--or should--histories of writing
and writing programs inform WPA work?
convened by Tom Miller
People who would like to discuss Robert Connors' contributions
to the profession are especially invited to this discussion.
F. What is the climate for writing programs?
convened by Duan Roen and Chuck Schuster
Any number of developments affect writing programs across
the country: general education reform, distance learning, articulation
agreements, assessment and accreditation, funding, testing in
the schools, legislative agendas, student agendas, and so on.
What environmental forces are affecting your writing program?
What opportunities do these create or limit?
G. What should the Council of Writing Program
Administrators be doing?
convened by Chet Pryor and Jeanne Gunner
How should WPA marshal its resources? What initiatives should
the organization take up--or shun? How should the organization
use whatever bully pulpit it has? How might we better involve
more members directly in activities of the organization?
H. How does the world today appear beyond traditional
freshman composition?
convened by Irv Peckham and Rebecca Moore Howard
What issues confront WPAs in writing centers? In distance
learning initatives? In campus tutoring arrangements, including
those outside the writing program (even athletic departments)?
In writing majors? In elective writing courses?
I. A meeting of North Carolina WPAs.
6:00 Banquet: Omni Ballroom
Presiding: Doug Hesse
7:30 Open Meeting of WPA Executive Board
9:00 Closed Meeting of WPA Board
Saturday, July 15
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Plenary Session, Omni Ballroom
Patricia Bizzell, College of the Holy Cross, "The
WPA Without a Program, or, Memoirs of a Local 'Writing Expert'"
Introduction: Kathleen Yancey, Clemson University
9:15 Group Discussions, UNC Charlotte Uptown Center
Leaders: Eli Goldblatt, Temple University; Chris Anson, North Carolina State University; Shirley Rose, Purdue University; John Heyda, Miami University-Middletown; Carol Rutz, Carleton College; Irwin Weiser, Purdue University; Irene Ward, Kansas State University; Rita Malenczyk, Eastern Connecticut State University
9:45 Plenary Discussion
Moderated by Duane Roen, Arizona State University
10:30 Break and Book Display
11:00 C Sessions
Panel
C.1 Stuck in the Middle with You: The Perils and Pleasures
of a Collaborative Model of Writing Program Administration
Chair: Kay Halasek, The Ohio State University
Presenters: Brenda Boyle, The Ohio State University
Jennie Clark, The Ohio State University
Kay Halasek, The Ohio State University
Mike Sasso, The Ohio State University
Eddie Singleton, The Ohio State University
Panel
C.2 Complications in Assessment
Chair: Sarah Dangelantonio, Franklin Pierce College
Presenters: Tim Peeples, Elon College, "Managing the
Messy Middle of an Electronic Portfolio Initiative: A Critical
Management Analysis"
Charlotte Brammer, University of Alabama, and Nicole Amare, University
of Alabama, "Writing Assessments: Evaluating Engineering
Students' Writing from Multiple Perspectives"
Lynn A. Rhodes, U South Carolina Aiken, "Between a Rock and
a Hard Place: Resistant Students, Resistant Colleagues, and Other
Opportunities with Institutional Writing Portfolios"
Panel
C.3 "Culture" and Critical Pedagogy: Exploring the
Role of the WPA in a Religious Culture
Presenters: Bonnie Lenore Kyburz, Utah Valley
State College, "Orthoparadoxa: Critical Pedagogy in a Religious
Culture"
Barry Maid, Arizona State U-East, "Keeping the Faith"
Elizabeth Vander Lei, Calvin College, "Students of Faith
in a Critical Pedagogy"
Nancy L. Christiansen, Brigham Young University, "The Culture
of Cultures: Rhetoric as an Art of Civilization"
Roundtable
C.4 When Everything is New, What Does "Change" Mean
and How Does it Happen?
Chair: Glenn Blalock
Presenters: Glenn Blalock, Texas A&M University-Corpus
Christi
Paul Hain, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Robb Jackson, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Avis Rupert, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Panel
C.5 Technology in Writing Programs: Responsible Development,
Responsible Implementation, Responsible Assessment
Presenters: Rebecca Rickly, Texas Tech University,
"Responsible Development of Writing Technology"
Susan Lang, Texas Tech University, "Responsible Implementation
of Writing Technology"
Fred Kemp, Texas Tech Univesity, "Responsible Assessment
of/using Writing Technology"
Workshop
C.6 Listening, Learning, and Leading: How Things Get Done (Sometimes)
Presenter: Charles I. Schuster, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
12:15 Lunch
2:00 D Sessions
Roundtable
D.1 WAC and the WC: What to Do When You Find Your Writing Center
in the Thick of General Education Reform
Chair: Robert A. Hogue, Youngstown State U
Presenters: Clyde Moneyhun, University of Delaware, and
Gilda Kelsey, University of Delaware, "WAC, WIC, WID, and
WIP in the WC: Revising Our Mission"
Denise Stephenson, Grand Valley State University, "New Reforms
Forget What Former Reforms Have Wrought"
Sarah Dangelantonio, Franklin Pierce College
Marcy Trianosky, Hollins University
Eli Goldblatt, Temple University
Marvin Diogenes, University of Arizona
Panel
D.2 The Philosopher WPA: Placement, Personnel, Programs and
Pragmatism
Presenters:, Dan Royer, Grand Valley State University,
"A Placement Problem Pragmatically Considered"
Don Bushman, U North Carolina-Wilmington, "Experience, Reflection,
and Intelligent Action: Pragmatism and Personnel 'Problems'"
Keith Rhodes, Missouri Western State College, "Provisional
Optimism in the Uses of Theory: Pragmatic Program Direction"
Panel
D.3 Class, Service, and Scholarship
Chair: Jeff Cain, Sacred Heart University
Presenters: Irvin Peckham, U Nebraska at Omaha, "Social
Class and the WPA"
Amy Rupiper Taggart, Texas Christian University, "One or
Many? Reconciling Academic Authorship and Service Learning"
Jena Burges, Longwood College, "Writing Assessment as Service
Learning"
Roundtable
D.4 WPA and the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific
Communication--A New Relationship
Presenters: Barry M. Maid, Arizona State U--East
Deborah Bosley, U North Carolina-Charlotte
Michael Keene, University of Tennessee
Panel
D.5 Issues Beyond Freshman Composition
Chair: Lynn Rhodes, University of South Carolina-Aiken
Presenters: Michael B. Strickland, Elon College, "Holding
the Line while Changing the Field: Professional Writing Programs
at Liberal Arts Colleges"
Paula K. Garrett, Millsaps College, "Building Consensus Through
a Common Language: Analytical Writing on a Small College Campus"
Julie Neff-Lippman, University of Puget Sound, "When the
Accreditors Call: Assessing Writing in a Liberal Arts College"
Panel
D.6 Theorizing Teaching and Program Administration
Chair: David Harvey, University of Central Arkansas
Presenters: Stephen Wilhoit, University of Dayton, "Responding
to TA Classroom Performance: An Application of Booth's 'Rhetorical
Stance'"
Sandra Jamieson, Drew University, and Rebecca Moore Howard, Syracuse
University, "The Effects of Theory on Assumptions about Pedagogy"
Christine Norris, Purdue University, "The Existent, the Good,
and the Possible: Adjunct WPA Narratives"
3:15 Break and Book Display
3:45 E Sessions
Panel
E.1 Assessing Writing and Writing Programs
Chair: Jená Burges, Longwood College
Presenters: Deborah Bosley, U North Carolina-Charlotte,
"Assessing Writing Intensive Courses in the Disciplines"
Iris T. Chapman, Elon College, "Assessing the Assessed: Discoveries,
Practices, and Designs"
Paula K. Garrett, Millsaps College, and Kimberly G. Burke, Millsaps
College, "The Distance Between Intention and Perception:
A Model of Assessment for Writing Centers"
Presentation/Workshop
E.2 Issues in Writing Across the Curriculum
Chair: Irene Ward, Kansas State University
Presenters: Yvonne Merrill, University of Arizona, "Will
WPA's Become WAC Leaders in the New Millennium?"
Gail F. Wood. College of Staten Island/CUNY, "Something for
Everyone: Staff Development Strategies in Writing Across the Curriculum"
Panel
E.3 Institutional Contexts and Implications for Writing Programs
Chair: Clyde A. Moneyhun. University of Delaware
Presenters: Katy Gottschalk, Cornell University, "Cornell's
Writing Program: In the Thick of Things"
Lynee Lewis Gaillet, Georgia State U, "Bridging Two Worlds:
Writing Program Administration in the Metropolitan University"
Presenters: Brooke Hessler, Texas Christian University, "Task Force
Report: Distance Education and the Writing Program"
Panel
E.4 Thick Issues in Writing Center Administration
Chair: Dean Hinnen, University of North Carolina
at Pembroke
Presenters: Becky Nugent, Governors State University, "Mapping
the Messy Middle: Writing Center Coordinating Work and Writing
Policy"
Stephen R. Newton, William Paterson University, "The Secrets
We Cannot Tell: Defending Ambiguity in Writing Center Administration"
Irene L. Clark, University of Southern California, "Perspectives
on the Directive/nonDirective Continuum: Implications for Writing
Center and Classroom Pedagogy"
Workshop/Discussion
E.5 Outcomes and Identity for Writing Courses: Locating the
Field in the Thicket
Presenters: Barbara Gordon, Elon College, Rita Pollard, Elon College, and Denise David, Niagara Community College
Panel
E.6 Takes on the Politics of Location: A Cultural Analysis
of Teaching in the South
Presenters: Chris Anson, North Carolina State University, and Kathleen Yancey, Clemson University
5:00 Dinner on your own
7:00 to 9:30 Discovery Center Social
including the Composition Blues Band
Sunday, July 16
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Executive Board report
9:30-11:30 Town Hall Meeting: Issues Confronting WPA's --and WPA.
Issue group summaries
Organization into task forces and ad hoc committees
Local Arrangements Committee
Meg Morgan, Chair
Lil Brannon
Monica Ferguson
Shane Peagler
Erin Pushman
Lynn Raymond
Kim Stallings
Council of Writing Program Administrators Executive Committee
Doug Hesse, Illinois State, President
Kathleen Blake Yancey, Clemson, Vice
President
Jennie Dautermann, Miami, Secretary
John Heyda, Miami-Middletown, Treasurer
Theresa Enos, Arizona, Immediate Past
President
Chris M. Anson, North Carolina State
Bill Condon, Washington State
Beth Daniell, Clemson
Alice Gillam, Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Jeanne Gunner, Santa Clara
Irvin Peckham, Nebraska-Omaha
Chet Pryor, Montgomery College
Duane Roen, Arizona State
Shirley Rose, Purdue
Marguerite Helmers, Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Editor, WPA
Dennis Lynch, Michigan Tech, Editor, WPA
Deborah Holdstein, Governors State
Edward White, Arizona
Updated June 3, 1999
by Doug Hesse
Thursday, July 15
5:00 Plenary Speaker: Caryn McTighe Musil
6:00 Reception
Friday, July 16
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Plenary Speaker: Chuck Schuster
~9:30 Discussion Groups
10:15 Break
10:45 Plenary Discussion
11:45 Lunch
1:00 A Sessions
Panel
A.1 State Interventions and the Job of the Writing Program Administrator
Chair: Donna Dunbar-Odom
Presenters:
"Getting the State Out of the Process of Placement"
Donna Dunbar-Odom, Texas A&M University/Commerce
"Education on the Cheap: Outsourcing and the Writing Instruction Business"
Richard E. Miller, Rutgers University
"Negotiating Micromanaged Minefields"
Barry Maid, University of Arkansas/Little Rock
"From Mandate to Implementation: Intervening on State Interventions"
Barbara McCarthy, Massachusetts Bay Community College
"Communicating with the 'Other Side'"
Martha Townsend, University of Missouri
Panel
A.2 Training, Testing, and Transforming: The Politics of Transition
Chair: Claire Lamonica
Presenters:
"What's Above the Foundation?"
Claire Lamonica, Illinois State University
"Assessing Writing (Instruction)"
Maurice Scharton, Illinois State University
"From Autonomy to Articulation"
Janice Neuleib, Illinois State University
Panel
A.3 If It Isn't Broken, Why Fix It? Three Perspectives on Overhauling a Successful Writing Program
Chair: Richard Bullock, Wright State University
"When A Good Program Goes Bad: A WPA Returns from Sabbatical"
Richard Bullock, Wright State University
"Choosing Between Death by Asphyxiation and Renegade Experimentation: A Teacher's Journey of Re-discovery"
Cathy Sayer, Wright State University
"The New Kid on the Block Jumps In: Being a Participant-Observer in
Writing Program Reform"
David Seitz, Wright State University
Panel
A.4 Graduate Student WPA Positions and Positioning: In Search of Professionalism
Chair: Jeff White
"Into the 'Profession': Looking for Voices"
Jeff White, Ball State University
"Promises Made, Promises Broken?: Problematizing the Motivations For and Implications of Graduate Teacher Training"
Lee Nickoson, Illinois State University
"Professionalized & Professionalizing GSWPAs"
Carole Chabries, University of Wisconsin
"An Unsteady Ground: Authority Issues in Our Dual Roles"
Viktorija Todorovska, Arizona State University
Roundtable
A.5 Initiating and Supporting a Cross-Curricular Learning Community at Purdue
Jeff Jablonski, Purdue University
Susan Schechter, Purdue University
Irwin Weiser, Purdue University
Stephanie Turner, Purdue University
Brent Blackwell, Purdue University
Kevin Scott, Purdue University
Panel
A.6 Administrative Issues in WAC and WID
Chair: Stephanie Pelkowski, University of Kansas
Presenters:
"Teaching Assistants Involved in Administering WAC/WID: Issues of Institutional Power"
Jennifer Morrison, Purdue University
"Writing in Large Classes"
William J. Carpenter, University of Kansas
"Practical Benefits of Researching in Large Classes"
Pat McQueeney, University of Kansas
2:30 Break
2:45 Issue Groups
Attendees will divide into discussion groups to consider issues of common concern. Doug will survey WPA members and propose topics for discussion.
4:00 Break
4:15 B Sessions
Panel
B.1 Technology and Writing Programs: Prospects and Pauses
Chair: Sally Barr Ebest, University of Missour-St. Louis
Presenters:
"Supporting TA Training through an Electronic Discussion List"
Carrie Leverenz, Florida State University
"Distance Learning in Context: The Idea of the University as a Virtual Community"
H. Brooke Hessler, Texas Christian University
What Good Is a Computer-Assisted Writing Lab to a Writing Program?
Scott Herstad, Illinois State University
Panel
B.2 The Composition Program as Cultural Studies: What We've Learned as Teachers, Scholars, and Administrators
Chair: Christine Farris
Presenters:
"Too Cool for School? When Graduate Students Teach Cultural Critique"
Christine Farris, Indiana University
"How Being a WPA Has Made Me a Marxist"
Patricia Harkin, Purdue University
"It's the (Brad) Pitts: Writing About Non-Print Culture"
John Schilb, Indiana University
Panel
B.3 Engaging With Texts Within the Impromptu Exam: Assessing Our Students and Ourselves
Chair: Kathleen Dixon, University of North Dakota
Presenters:
"Engaging with Texts Within the Impromptu Exam: Assessing Our Students and Ourselves"
Kathleen Dixon, University of North Dakota
William Archibald, University of North Dakota
"The End is Only the Beginning: Assessing the Assessment"
Çigdem Üsekes, University of North Dakota
Panel
B.4 Perspectives on Training Graduate Teaching Assistants
Chair: Mara Holt
Presenters:
"Where Graduate Education and Teacher Training Diverge: An Historical
View of Teaching Training Methods within Writing Programs, 1975-1998"
Kirsti Sandy, Illinois State University
"An Impossible Flexibility: TA Training and Professional Development in MA Programs"
Stephen Wilhoit, University of Dayton
"Negotiating Institutional Constraints: Reflections on Graduate Student Co-Mentoring"
Amy C. Kimme Hea, Purdue University, and Melinda Turnley, Purdue University
Roundtable
B.5 The Outcomes Statement: Its Past and Its Future
Rita Malenczyk, Eastern Connecticut State University
Linda Bergmann, University of Missouri-Rolla
Keith Rhodes, Missouri Western State College
Susanmarie Harrington, Texas Tech University
Glenn Blalock , Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Karen Vaught-Alexander, University of Portland
Chet Pryor, Montgomery College, Germantown Campus
Panel
B.6 A Painful, Gainful Divorce: The Story of A Free-Standing Department of Writing
Presenters:
Eleanor Agnew, Georgia Southern University
Phyllis Dallas, Georgia Southern University
Larry W. Burton, Georgia Southern University
6:00 Banquet
7:30 Open Meeting of Executive Board
8:30 Closed Meeting of Executive Board
Saturday, July 17
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 C Sessions
Panel
C.1 Rethinking the Identities and Interests of the WPA in Transition
Chair: Joseph Janangelo, University Chicago
"Administering WAC as We Minister to People: Junior Administrators
Building Relationships"
Timothy Barnett, Northeastern Illinois University
"From Mr. Chips to Caligula: Giving and Taking Care as a New WPA"
Joseph Janangelo, Loyola University Chicago
"'What Are They Teaching Them in the High Schools These Days?'
Turning a Rhetorical Question into a Research Interest"
Kristine Hansen, Brigham Young University
"Composition Teacher to WAC Director: How Do We Learn What We
Need to Know to Do What We Need to Do?"
Beth Hedengren, Brigham Young University
Workshop
C.2 The WPA and Writing Assessment
Presenters:
Gail Stygall, University of Washington
"Ensuring an Ongoing Dialogue"
Donna Qualley, Western Washington University
Panel
C.3 Writing Programs and Small Colleges, Part I
Chair: Joyce Simutis, The University of Scranton
Presenters:
"Teaching Writing in the Absence of First-Year Comp"
Carol Rutz, Carleton College
"Who Will Help Me Eat the Bread? The WPA as Henny Penny"
Anita R. Guynn, Beloit College
"Between Ideology and Reality: The Contradictions of a Public Liberal Arts College's Writing Program"
Carol Smith, Fort Lewis College
Roundtable
C.4 The Outcomes Statement: Theory and Technology
Rita Malencyk, Eastern Connecticut State University
Ruth Overman Fischer, George Mason University
Barry Maid, University of Arkansas/Little Rock
Irvin Peckham, University of Nebraska/Omaha
Bill Condon, Washington State University
Panel
C.5 Bridging Not Brokering: Making Dual Credit Composition Work
Chair: Sharon Lynn Sperry, Indiana University
Presenters:
Sharon Lynn Sperry, Indiana University
Christine Farris, Indiana University
Ted Leahey, Union City High School and Indiana University
Panel
C.6 When Worlds Collide: Situating Basic Writing Within the Landscapes of Institutions, Writing Programs and Basic Writers
Chair: Susanmarie Harrington, Texas Tech University
Presenters:
"The Subjects Speak in Dearborn: Basic Writers' Perceptions of Themselves as Writers and Students"
Linda Adler-Kassner, University of Michigan--Dearborn
"Program Landscapes: Institutional Territories"
Susanmarie Harrington, Texas Tech University
"The Subjects Speak in Indianapolis: Basic Writers' Perceptions of Themselves as Writers and Students"
Steve Fox, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis
Multimedia Presentation
C.7 George Wycoff at 100: Celebrating the Professional Work of a WPA
Shirley Rose, Purdue University
Irwin Weiser, Purdue University
Patty Harkin, Purdue University
10:00 Break
10:30 D Sessions
Panel
D.1 Perspectives on Assessment
Chair: Lauren Sewell, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Presenters:
"The Problems and Perils of Collaborative Assessment"
Joyce Simutis, The University of Scranton
"Values and Limitations: A look at three assessment studies"
Virginia G. Polanski, Stonehill College
"Legislating Literacy: The Impact of Proficiency Testing on Higher Education"
Connie Kendall, Miami University
Panel
D.2 Writing Programs in Small Colleges, Part II
Chair: Anita Guynn
Presenters:
"The Interests of Small-College WPA's: Relations to Our Institutions and Our Profession"
Thomas Amorose, Seattle Pacific University
"Help Wanted: Defining the WPA's Interests through the Small College Job Search"
Dominic Delli Carpini, York College of Pennsylvania
"Investigating Literacy Development in Liberal Arts Students: A Case Study Design"
Karin Evans. Elmhurst College
Panel
D.3 Building Bridges Between Two-Year and Four-Year Writing Programs
Chair and Respondent: Janice Neuleib
Presenters
"Visions of Collaboration: Refiguring the Relationship Between Two and Four Year Writing Programs"
Beatrice Quarshie-Smith, Heartland Community College
"Developing Conversations about Assessment and Evaluation Between Two-Year and Four-Year Writing Programs"
Thomas Clemens, Heartland Community College
"Imagining Strategies for Productive Networking Among Two-Year and Four-Year WPAs"
Matt Smith, Chattanooga State Technical Community College
Panel
D.4 Collaboration Within Institutions
Chair: Mike Zerbe
Presenters:
"Collaboration: Developing a Programmatic Model"
Rebecca Reed, University of Washington, Bothell
"From Collaborative Planning to Integrated Teaching"
Leslie Olsen, University of Washington, Bothell
"Benefits of a Class Book Project"
A. Patricia Burnes, University of Maine
Panel and discussion
D.5 Emotional Work in Writing Program Administration: A Neglected Intellectual Dimension?
Presenters
Mara Holt, Ohio University
Leon Anderson, Ohio University
Panel
D.6 Writing Programs and Institutional Contexts
Chair:
Presenters:
"Writing and Other Program Administrators: New Friends and Allies" or "We've got friends in low places"
David Schwalm, Arizona State University East
"Plate Tectonics and the Academic Landscape: Movement, Slippage, and Interaction Beyond Writing Programs"
Mary Pinard, Babson College
"Program Administrators as/and Postmodern Planners: Strategies for
Making Tomorrow's (Writing) Space"
Tim Peeples, Elon College
Workshop
D.7 The WPA as Middle Manager: A Workshop in Applying Theoretical Perspectives from Business
Leader:
Karen Vaught-Alexander, University of Portland
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Plenary Speaker: Wendy Bishop
1:45 Group Discussions
2:30 Break
3:00 Plenary discussion
3:45 Break
4:00 E Sessions
Panel
E.1 Doctoral Programs and WPA Preparation: Are They Doing Any Good?
Chair:
Presenters:
"Doctoral Exams and the Shape of the Discipline: A Report on Research-in-Progress"
Ellen Schendel, University of Louisville
Betty Shiffman, University of Louisville
"Hidden Successes: A Report on Graduate Education in Comp/Rhet"
Sally Barr Ebest, University of Missouri-St. Louis
"Answering Sledd"
Beth Daniell, Clemson University
Workshop
E.2 Transformative Practices: Using Program Assessment as (Part-Time) Faculty Development
Presenters:
Meg Morgan, University of North Carolina--Charlotte
Kathleen Blake Yancey, University of North Carolina--Charlotte
Roundtable
E.3 Power, Professional Development, and the Apprentice WPA
Karen Bishop, Purdue University
Laurie Cubbison, Purdue University
Teresa Fishman, Purdue University
Amy Kimme Hea, Purdue University
Michele Simmons, Purdue University
Melinda Turnley, Purdue University
Panel
E.4 Collaboration and the Conflicting Interests of WPAs
Chair: Ilene Crawford, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Presenters
"Turning a Feminist Lens on Collaborative Administration"
Ilene Crawford, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Donna Strickland,
University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee
"The Conflicting Roles of Graduate Student Mentors"
Jami Carlacio, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Christie Launius,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
"Ethical Conflicts and the Emotional Labor of WPAs"
Laura Miccicche, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Alice Gillam,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Panel
E.5 Perspectives Old and New on Writing Programs
Chair: Connie Kendall
Presenters:
"Women as Writing Program Administrators during the Progressive Era"
Barbara E. L'Eplattenier. University of Arkansas-Little Rock
"From a Home to a Neighborhood: Separate First-Year Writing and Professional Writing Departments of James Madison University"
Mike Zerbe, James Madison University
Organizing a Regional WPA: A Report from the Philadelphia Area
Eli Goldblatt , Temple University
Panel
E.6 Tenure and WPAs
Chair: Carol Rutz
"Educational Action Research: An Option for Negotiating a WPA's Multiple Interests"
Lisa Davidson McGrady, Purdue University
"Untenured Administrators: A Closer Examination of "Best Interests" and Institutional Dynamics"
Eric Martin, Governor's State University, and Scott Payne, University of Findlay
Sunday, July 18
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Executive Board report
9:30-11:30 Town Hall Meeting: Issues Confronting WPA's --and WPA.
Organization into task forces and ad hoc committees