CAROLINAS WRITING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS, SESSION I
The Challenges of WPA Work in the 21st Century
This session seeks to bring to the fore the most pressing issues of WPA work. Possible questions to be addressed by participants in this roundtable include, what are the current and most important challenges of doing WPA work? How should we respond to those challenges? How have facets of WPA work changed, declined, or improved within the past five years? What factors have contributed to changes in WPA work? Abstracts that address these questions or issues of ESL, technology, professional development, adjunct labor, graduate student development, etc. will be considered. We seek proposals that identify and address current issues affecting writing program administrators in the south Atlantic region of the country. Proposals from current WPAs are encouraged, but instructors of all ranks and all levels of experience are welcome to submit.
By July 1, 2012, please direct brief abstracts of approximately 250 words to Anthony Atkins, University of North Carolina Wilmington, at atkinsa@uncw.edu.
CAROLINAS WRITING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS, SESSION II
Making the Most of the QEP: Building Stronger Programs through the Accreditation Process
The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), a requirement of SACS accreditation, involves a five-year set of assessable initiatives aimed at improving some area of student learning. Because writing is so frequently identified as an area of student learning that needs improvement, and because writing often serves as a medium through which to measure and assess student learning, many WPAs and writing instructors have become heavily involved with the QEP on their campuses. This session seeks to bring together writing program personnel who have worked on a QEP to share insights about the various stages of the QEP process. Questions participants might address include the following: What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of a writing-focused QEP? What can a WPA do to raise administrative and campus-wide support for a writing-focused QEP? What are some common hurdles encountered in implementing a writing-focused QEP? What methods of assessment can be used to determine and document the impact of QEP initiatives that focus on improving student writing? In what ways can a composition and/or WAC program contribute to and benefit from a QEP that focuses on a topic other than, but closely related to, writing (i.e., critical thinking, global awareness, civic participation, etc.)?
By July 1, 2012, please direct brief abstracts of approximately 250 words to Wendy Sharer, East Carolina University, at sharerw@ecu.edu.
CAROLINAS WRITING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS, SESSION III
Alignments and Transitions: Preparing High School Students for Freshman Composition
Applebee and Langer’s snapshot of secondary writing instruction (2011) notes comparatively slight use of “evidence-based practices” in actual high school classroom writing instruction. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and similar nationally normed assessments also indicate that in high school settings, even with the availability of new technologies for writing and research, writing instruction typically consists largely of English teachers presenting a “typical assignment” to be completed in class, consisting of a few sentences setting out a pre-digested topic with expectations of a page or less to be graded. Thus many students, especially first-generation college attenders, are not prepared for the rigor of postsecondary education. When high school writing is more carefully aligned with college-level expectations, entering freshmen are more prepared and more likely to succeed in the college writing classroom. This panel will focus on local and state initiatives designed to increase articulation between the high school and college setting, such as the South Carolina Course Alignment Project. This call for proposal asks for panelists who have collaborated formally with articulation projects to examine how writing administrators and FYC instructors have collaborated intentionally with high school teachers to foster writing instruction that moves beyond formulaic testing. How can administrators reach out to secondary teachers? How can we better coordinate and align expectations for college-bound students during their secondary years? How can we better communicate expectations for regional campus writing programs?
By July 1, 2012, please direct brief abstracts of approximately 250 words to Lynne Rhodes, University of South Carolina Aiken, at lynner@usca.edu.