Council of Writing Program Administrators

Administrative Challenges and Opportunities
July 10, 2008

Institute Leaders
Gail Shuck is Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of English Language Support Programs at Boise State
Vivian Zamel is Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Boston where she is Director of the English as a Second Language Program and Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching

Description
This 2008 WPA Institute will help participants explore a wide range of administrative options for integrating multilingual writers into writing programs, including providing faculty development workshops or exchanges, offering tutoring or adjunct workshops in conjunction with writing courses, and having integrated cross-cultural sections of first-year writing, among other strategies. Participants will critically examine various options for their administrative, pedagogical, and ethical implications, brainstorm additional options, and design an action plan for one or more changes they will implement in their own programs.
Participants should be prepared to answer the following questions in relation to their own institutions. These will serve as a starting point for our discussions:

• Do ESL writing courses exist, and if so, where are they housed, and how are students placed? (A map, flow chart, or other visual representation may be useful.)What qualifications do instructors in ESL writing courses or in “regular” composition courses have for working with second-language writers?
• What forms of support are there for instructors who might be uncertain about how to work with second-language writers?
• What administrative opportunities does your institution currently provide for bridging ESL and writing programs and for providing L2-writing-related professional development for instructors?

for more information about the 2008 WPA Conference, visit http://www.du.edu/writing/documents/WPA_informational_brochure.pdf

To register for this institute only: