News

Call for Proposals

AWAC-Sponsored Panel, European Writing Centers Association Conference
Graz, Austria
July 8-11, 2020

The International Collaborations Committee of the Association for Writing
Across the Curriculum (/) is issuing a call for
proposals for an AWAC-sponsored panel at the European Writing Centers
Association conference to take place in Graz, Austria, from July 8-11, 2020.
Please see the EWCA conference website for more details and information about
the overall conference theme, “Writing Centers as Spaces of Empowerment”:
https://europeanwritingcenters-2020.uni-graz.at/en/

Writing Centers and WAC: Relationships Between Students and Faculty/Academic
Staff

The mission of writing centers typically supports both the improvement of
students’ writing projects and the more general enhancement of their writing
abilities through face-to-face and online tutorial consultations, workshops
and seminars, and visits to classes for brief presentations on tailored
topics. Indirectly, faculty/academic staff learn about students’ writing
challenges from these consultations and visits, and may adjust their own
assignment design or other aspects of their pedagogy from this knowledge. But
it is not usually in the main purview of writing centers to work
systematically and transformationally with faculty/academic staff across the
curriculum on deeper areas of writing support, such as the creation of
learning-based writing activities; support for the development of larger
projects such as the inclusion of student peer review or the scaffolding of
writing stages; or the development of clear, principled evaluation criteria.
Such faculty-development work is normally in the province of writing-across-
the-curriculum (WAC) or writing-in-the-disciplines (WID) programs, which are
designed to enhance writing pedagogy through the support and intervention of
the instructors themselves.

This panel will bring together scholar-educators to discuss current and
potential interconnections between student-facing writing centers and WAC/WID
programs, or potential expansions of writing centers to include significant
work with faculty/academic staff for their increased and enhanced involvement
in the development of their students’ discipline- or course/module-specific
writing abilities. In particular, we seek presentations that might address the
following questions, but these are by no means exhaustive:

· What role do writing centers play in the enhancement of discipline-based
faculty/academic staff to intervene in and support their own students’ writing
processes, activities, and development?

· How might or do existing WAC/WID programs partner effectively with writing
centers to help an institution develop a “culture” of writing rather than
locating writing support in specific units?

· How can writing centers create a more equitable balance between their own
student support and the support needed from instructors within specific
courses/modules?

· What theoretical and practical challenges do leaders of writing centers and
those who work in them face when they identify shortcomings in the way that
faculty/academic staff assign, support, or evaluate their students’ writing?
What programmatic efforts might work effectively between the writing center
and the instructors to help reduce these challenges?

Proposals can be theoretically or empirically driven and should:

·      Be approximately 300 words
·      Include a title for the presentation
·      Clearly address the focus of the session
·      Be grounded in existing literature relevant to the topic
·      State potential or demonstrated significance for the field
·      Be inquiry- and evidence-based
·      Identify the speaker(s) and their affiliations
·      Include contact information (email, phone, address) for the lead or solo proposer
·      Include 3-5 keywords

Please note that the preferred language of the conference is English but that
in the interest of inclusivity, the EWCA welcomes those who would feel more
comfortable presenting in another language, in which case, please provide an
English translation of your proposal. Proposals will be evaluated by the co-
chairs of the International Collaborations Committee and a member of the EWCA
Board.

Please submit proposals as attached Word files via email, with the subject
line “AWAC-Sponsored Panel EWCA 2020,” NO LATER THAN JAN. 25, 2020, to:

Chris Anson: ude.uscn@nosna_sirhc
Federico Navarro: lc.hou@orravan

Upon acceptance, panelists must be AWAC members in good standing.

AWAC will be holding an election for the position of Incoming Chair at the end of January. This is a three-year commitment, as this person would cycle into the Chair and Past Chair positions. To read more about the responsibilities of this position, see our bylaws, article 5.02. The term will start July 1, 2020.

You may nominate an AWAC member for this position by providing the nominee’s name and contact information. You may nominate yourself for this position by providing the following information:

• Your contact information and institutional affiliation
• A short bio (100 words)
• A short statement (100 words) on why you wish to serve as Incoming Chair (brainstorming prompts: What do you hope to accomplish as an AWAC board member? What is your vision for AWAC? What perspective and/or experience would you bring to the board?)

Nominations and self-nominations are due by January 17, 2020. Nominees must be in good standing with AWAC. Nominations may be sent to AWAC Chair Michelle Cox at gro.noitaicossacaw@nimda.

REGISTER HERE

We are pleased to announce that the 2020 WAC Summer Institute will take place May 31 – June 3, 2020 (prior to the IWAC Conference), at Colorado State University. 

Details about the 2020 WACSI can be found in this Save-the-Date and on our website. 

The Institute’s primary goal will be to assist new and prospective leaders of WAC/WID or similar initiatives in the US and internationally in planning and developing their programs. The Institute will also support experienced directors who face new challenges or wish to expand, update, or revitalize their programs.  

Registration will open on Monday, December 16, at 1:00 PM EST. The registration site link will go live on the WACSI website at that time.

Additionally, all WACSI alumni from the 2019 and 2020 institutes are invited to attend a special IWAC workshop on Thursday morning, June 4, covering WAC assessment and research. More details to come! 

Email moc.liamg@etutitsnIremmuSCAWA with any questions you may have, and we hope to see you in Fort Collins!

The CCCC Writing Across the Curriculum Standing Group, established in April 2017, organizes a business meeting and a panel or workshop for the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) annually.

The purpose of the WAC SG is to:

• Discuss possible areas of need in writing across the curriculum, writing in the disciplines and writing across communities research within CCCC and in secondary schools, colleges, and universities in the US and abroad
• Provide a space for writing across the curriculum, writing in the disciplines, and writing across communities researchers to network with others in the community with complementary research projects
• Advocate for writing across the curriculum, writing in the disciplines, and writing across communities within CCCC and in K-12 education in the US and internationally
• Foster mentorship for graduate students, faculty, and administrators interested in WAC
• Organize special-topic CCCC panels and/or workshops on writing across the curriculum, writing in the disciplines, and writing across communities

Read the WAC SG bylaws here. 

 Become a member. By becoming a member of the WAC Standing Group, you become eligible to vote for the WAC Standing Group incoming chair as well as stand for election. Standing Group members must be current CCCC members. To become a CCCC WAC SG member, complete this brief form. 

Nominate yourself or someone else to be the Incoming Chair. The Incoming Chair assists the Chair and Outgoing Chair in selecting a Sponsored Panel or Sponsored Workshop, planning the business meeting, and planning other WAC SG activities. This is a three-year commitment, as the Incoming Chair rotates to Chair and Outgoing Chair. To nominate yourself, send a brief statement (100 word limit) to current chair Jeff Galin (ude.uaf@nilagj) by Oct 20^th. To nominate another, send their name, contact information, and the reason for your nomination to Jeff by Oct 17^th. 

The AWAC Mentoring Committee is forming an AWAC Board of Consultants. The goal of an AWAC Board of Consultants is to provide a support system and external feedback for WAC directors, for institutions seeking to form WAC programs, and for faculty across disciplines seeking help with faculty development for teaching with writing. To submit an application to become a member of the Board of Consultants, complete the online form at tinyurl.com/AWAC-Consultants by October 1^st. Consultants must be AWAC members.