Virtual WAC Discussion Groups

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Given the cancellation of CCCC, the WAC Standing Group and the AWAC Mentoring Committee will hold a remote discussion about WAC on Friday, March 27th from 4:30-5:30 Eastern Time via Zoom. You can access the meeting using this link:https://auburn.zoom.us/j/336120768

We’re excited to have leaders prepared to facilitate discussion on the following topics:

  1. WAC in Times of Disruption (Laurie Ann Britt-Smith and Joan Mullin) 
  2. WAC Theory and Research (Dan Melzer)
  3. WAC Programs Just Getting Started (Jeff Galin) 
  4. Established WAC Programs (Michelle Cox and Joanna Johnson)
  5. WAC at two-year colleges (Mary McMullen Light)
  6. WAC Faculty Development (Jennifer Juszkiewicz and Lee Nickoson)

Chris Basgier be managing the main room for people who aren’t sure where they want to go first. That said, to aid in sorting participants into relevant breakout rooms via Zoom, we’re asking you to please register in advance using this link and indicate which breakout room you would like to attend first. (You can always switch breakouts later on.) Please register by 12:00 p.m. eastern on Friday! 

If you have any questions, please let Chris know (ude.nrubua@reigsab.sirhc). Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you at the end of the week.

Call for Proposals for an AWAC-sponsored panel at ALES

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The International Collaborations Committee is organizing an AWAC-sponsored panel for the Latin American Association for the Study of Writing in Higher Education and Professional Contexts (ALES), which will take place in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, November 9-11, 2020. They are seeking proposals from AWAC members who wish to be panelists. Read the full call here. Proposals are due by February 29, 2020.

2020 AWAC Election Results

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The AWAC Executive Board is excited to announce the results of the 2020 AWAC Election.

Ann Blakeslee, Eastern Michigan University, has been elected to the position of Incoming Chair of AWAC, effective July 1, 2020. She will serve for three years, rotating to the positions of Chair and Past Chair.

Pamela Flash of the University of Minnesota and Michael Pemberton of Georgia Southern University will serve as Co-chairs of the IWAC Committee. Until their terms start (July 1, 2020), they will serve as Interim Co-chairs, in place of Margaret Marshall, who has stepped down. We thank Margaret for her leadership as the inaugural chair of this committee.

Kristi Girdharry of Babson College will serve as Co-Chair of the Communications Committee. Until her term starts (July 1, 2020), she will serve as Interim Co-chair, alongside Lisa Tremain, as nominated by the Communications Committee and approved by the Executive Committee.

Also on the 2020 AWAC ballot was a change to the articles of incorporation to expand the Executive board from 19 to 25 members, to allow for co-chairs and the formation of new committees. This change passed, with 95.49% of voters in favor of the change.

We thank all AWAC members who took part in this election. The next election will be in January 2021, when the positions of Incoming Chair and Committee Chairs for all but the IWAC Committee will be open.

IWAC Graduate Student Travel Awards

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The Association for Writing Across the Curriculum and WAC-GO is excited to announce four graduate student registration scholarshipsfor the upcoming International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference to be held June 3-6, 2020 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.

Only graduate students who are members of AWAC are eligible for these awards. Graduate students who are interested in AWAC membership should contact the Board (gro.noitaicossacaw@nimda) to inquire about the availability of sponsored graduate student memberships.

Applications are due April 1, 2020. More details about the scholarship are available here.

Call for IWAC 2022 Hosting Proposals Released

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The IWAC Conference Committee invites proposals for hosting the 2022 International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference. The call can be found at https://iwac.colostate.edu/host/. 

Proposals should contain relevant information that will help the committee decide why the IWAC conference should be hosted by your institution or a consortium of institutions that you have organized; whether the proposed location is convenient and affordable for international travelers; and whether the hosts have sufficient space, institutional support, and the resources to help run the conference.

Proposals are due April 1, 2020 and should be sent via email to moc.liamg@0202cawi. Proposers should be members of the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum. 

For additional information, contact Mike Palmquist, IWAC 2020 conference director, at moc.liamg@0202cawi. 

The 2020 WAC Summer Institute still has spaces available!

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Attention AWAC members!

The 2020 WAC Summer Institute still has spaces available!

The 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 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.

Email moc.liamg@etutitsnIremmuSCAWA with any questions you may have, and we hope to see you in Fort Collins!
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2020 AWAC Annual Open Business Meeting via Zoom

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All are welcome to attend the 2020 AWAC Annual Open Business Meeting, which will take place via Zoom on Tuesday, June 9, 3:30-5:00 pm EDT. At this meeting, the Executive Board will present the annual report and committees will lead small group discussions to share activities, ask for feedback, and gather ideas. AWAC members will be emailed a Zoom link; non-AWAC members are welcome and may register here to receive the Zoom link.

Call for AWAC-Sponsored Panel at EWCA (deadline: Jan 25, 2020)

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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.

Announcing the AWAC Board of Consultants

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We are
happy to announce the AWAC Board of Consultants!

The AWAC Board of Consultants are AWAC members who have expertise in WAC program administration and pedagogy, and have been vetted by the AWAC Mentoring Committee and AWAC Executive Committee. These consultants may be contacted with invitations to lead WAC workshops, review WAC programs, and promote WAC program development.

We thank the AWAC Members who applied to serve on the Consultant Board. We also thank the AWAC Mentoring Committee Chair Dan Melzer and members Lindsay Clark, Ming Fang, Jacqueline Kauza, Justin Nicholes, Mary McMullin-Light, Greer Murphy, Pam Childers, Tom Polk, and Amy Ciccino for their work in assembling this board.

Information
about the AWAC Board of Consultants may be found under “Resources” on the AWAC website.

Seeking Nominations for Incoming Chair

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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.