Hello,
I hope you had a great summer! My name is Alexis Pitchford, and I am a full-time professional writing specialist at the Purdue OWL. I am reaching out to you on behalf of the Purdue OWL. I know it’s a busy time of year as we prepare for the Fall 2025 semester, but I hope you can help by reflecting on last academic year and completing the 2024-2025 Writing Centers Research Project (WCRP) Survey. The instrument is the only one that IWCA sponsors, and its data extends back to 2000 when Carol Mattingly at the University of Louisville administered it. The historical perspective of the WCRP is valuable to new researchers like me—teaching us to think about writing centers in a variety of contexts.
I know a long survey with lots of questions might require you to think or dig up information. If helpful, you can download or print a copy of the current survey, in order to prepare to do the survey and gauge the kind of survey questions you will be answering. To complete the survey, here’s the link https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3JYLyUfMH31Ulam
If you filled out the survey in previous years, I can retrieve your response so you can autofill and update your answers for this year’s survey, making the process even quicker and easier. Your participation will help us show historical shifts at writing centers like yours. Just send me an email, and I will provide the link to your previous survey.
If you want to check out the survey results from previous years or download a PDF of this year’s survey, head to https://owl.purdue.edu/research/writing_centers_research_project_survey.html
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me back at writing.lab
Thank you,
Alexis Pitchford
Professional Writing Specialist, Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab
Principal Investigator: Dr. Harry Denny; IRB Protocol Number: 1508016373