Friends,
Once again in the fall semester, I’m teaching a graduate seminar at NC State on WPA work, titled "Writing Program Administration: Theory, Research, and Practice.” Each student will study a writing program at another college or university. As the course proceeds, they’ll be responsible for learning about the program they’ve chosen (e.g., placement, teacher development, administrative location and oversight, curricular emphasis and goals, etc.) in sync with the weekly topics. By the end of the course, they’ll write up a profile of the program, the pieces of which will be related to many of the course topics.
To this end, I’m looking for interested WPAs who are willing to serve as contacts on behalf of their programs.
Although I can’t offer a reward if you volunteer and are chosen, I’m hoping that the profile might be of some use to you, in the sense that it will be not just a description but a gently heuristic analysis based on our studies–something that could spark an idea or shed light on a particular a practice. And you’d be welcome to use the report in any way you wish, such as material for a staff meeting or a curriculum committee. The students’ reports (and any information provided to them) will not be made public beyond the course.
If you’re interested, please first accept my heartfelt thanks for volunteering. If a student chooses your program, they will contact you for some basic information during the fall semester, starting in mid-August and ending in late November. This could take the form of email questions, phone calls, or Zoom meetings. I’ll also be ensuring that students don’t barrage you with questions or send those frustrating queries that can’t be answered without a lengthy narrative and too much of your limited time. Because the work will be spread out over the semester, it shouldn’t take you too much time at any given point, and you could also suggest that the student talk to or email someone else (an associate or assistant director, an administrative assistant, a TA, a writing center director, etc.) to help them get what they need–or just point them to a specific location online or forward them a relevant document. But just to be clear, the students will be counting on you to give them information at regular intervals.
If you’re interested in participating, please send me an email (at canson) with your name, role, email address, institution, and the URL to your program’s Web site. I’ll create a list of all respondents, and the students will choose an institution that best suits their interests and career aspirations. (If more people volunteer than there are students, not all the institutions will be chosen.) If you’ve helped in the past, please feel welcome to volunteer again.
Many thanks in advance to those of you who volunteer. My students and I will be really grateful.
Best,
Chris Anson
Dr. Chris M. Anson
Distinguished University Professor
Director, Campus Writing & Speaking Program
Box 8105, North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8105
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