Council of Writing Program Administrators

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.

Leaders:
Jeanne Gunner
David Schwalm
Libby Rankin
Marguerite Helmers
Beth Daniell
Irv Peckham
Kathleen Yancey
Doug Hesse

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

Leaders:
Shirley Rose
Chet Pryor
Deborah Holdstein
Beth Daniell
Jeanne Gunner
Irv Peckham

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

‹ WPA 2000 Conference ProgramupElections, Resolutions, and Other Votes by CWPA Members ›