Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to submit a proposal for the Independent Writing Departments and Programs Affiliate (IWDPA) Standing Group Roundtable at the 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), taking place March 4-7, 2026, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Note that Standing Group panels are an exception to the CCCC “No Multiple Speaking Roles Policy.” You can present at both a Standing Group panel and in another panel at CCCC.
CFP for IWDPA Standing Group Roundtable:
Why Independent Programs? Why an Affiliate Organization for Them?
This roundtable will focus on the institutional, intellectual, and practical stakes of independent writing programs/centers in higher education. We especially encourage proposals that engage the conference theme, Conference and Our Conversations, and speak to the distinctive affordances, vulnerabilities, and futures of independent programs—those housed outside of traditional English departments or disciplinary units.
We welcome proposals that engage one or more of the following generative questions, though you are also welcome to address other ideas related to independent writing programs:
- What institutional, historical, or political conditions have given rise to independent writing programs/centers?
- What kinds of affiliations—like IWDPA—allow independent programs to “show up” more fully, visibly, and powerfully in field conversations?
- What forms of independence matter most—curricular, administrative, ideological—and why?
- What vulnerabilities and/or securities do independent writing programs/centers foster or amplify?
- What types of mentoring, professional development, and faculty identities are possible—or precarious—in independent program contexts?
- In what ways do independent programs reshape who is visible at national conferences and how “community” is felt, made, or fractured in our field?
- How do independent writing programs/centers negotiate reporting structures, resource allocation, and faculty governance?
- What kinds of affiliations—like IWDPA—allow independent programs to “show up” more fully, visibly, and powerfully in field conversations and/or support independent programs.
- How do independent writing programs/centers compare across institutional types (e.g., liberal-arts colleges, R1s, community colleges)?
- What do independent writing programs/centers allow that more traditional departmental structures might constrain?
We also welcome examples of program design, case studies of organizational change, reflections on cross-disciplinary collaboration, and explorations of the tensions and possibilities inherent in programmatic autonomy.
Faculty, staff, and graduate students affiliated with, interested in, or supporting independent programs—whether in writing, rhetoric, media studies, writing-center pedagogy/theory, or beyond—are especially encouraged to apply.
Please submit 150-200-word proposals by 11:59 PM ET on Monday, May 26, 2025. Proposals should be emailed to Denise Comer, IWDPA President, at iwdpapresident.
All proposals will be reviewed by members of the IWDPA Executive Committee.
Please contact Denise Comer (iwdpapresident) with questions. We look forward to your submissions and to advancing this conversation together at CCCC 2026.
Best,
Denise Comer, on behalf of the IWDPA Executive Board
IWDPA President, 2024-26
The Independent Writing Departments and Programs Affiliate (IWDPA) is a CCCC Standing Group.