The goal of The National Council of Writing Program Administrators is to provide opportunities to focus on matters attendant to the administration of college and university writing programs. Its membership includes directors of writing programs, directors of writing centers, teachers of writing, researchers in rhetoric and composition, editors, and other parties interested in teaching, service, and scholarship in the field of rhetoric and composition. To provide opportunities for members to participate in advancing WPA's goals, the National Council encourages the formation of regional affiliates. The following guidelines govern the formation of operation of affiliates of WPA.

1. Groups wishing to become affiliates of WPA should send a letter to the WPA Executive Board requesting affiliation and providing basic information such as the group's name, a roster of officers, an estimate of membership, and a list of schools represented by members. The Executive Board will consider the application and communicate a decision to the group.
2. Proposed affiliates must demonstrate a commitment to the formation and sustenance of the affiliate. In other words, proposed affiliates should have membership that represents various schools and types of schools in several parts of the region or state; core founding groups should have at least 5 members, each of whom has agreed to take on a specific role within the new organization (e.g., secretary, treasurer, convener or chair, membership coordinator).
3. All affiliate officers will hold dues-paid membership in the national Council of Writing Program Administrators. Affiliates must demonstrate commitment to the national organization.
4. Affiliates must present a clear plan for the organization which must not conflict with the WPA Constitution. The plan should include a schedule of meetings, dates of mailings and solicitations, and a clear statement of the organization's rationale and goals. It should address the benefits the affiliate can offer to the region's WPAs that are not presently being offered, and the needs the affiliate can meet.
5. Affiliates may not begin their own consultation services under the auspices of WPA.
6. International affiliates should meet most, if not all, of the following criteria:
   • International affiliates should develop dialogically with people in the region.
   • International affiliates should include one or more individuals from the home culture who are intimately familiar with the literacy traditions of the culture.
   • International affiliates should include one or more individuals intimately familiar with current Western assumptions about literacy, composition, and rhetoric.
   • The motivation to affiliate should be independent of any private US interests such as expanding the international presence of a particular US-based campus.
   • International affiliates should include faculty from more than one campus, and, ideally, from at least two campuses whose home base is in that country.
7. Affiliates requesting funds from WPA must present budgets covering anticipated income and expenses for the funding period.
8. New affiliates may request start-up grants from the national organization. Startup grants will be limited to a maximum of $500 and may be used for membership solicitation (mailing lists, brochures, trips to conferences and meetings within the state or region, etc.); communication (printing of letterhead and newsletters, postage, telephone charges); costs associated with a regional meeting or conference (to subsidize costs over and above those covered by the conference fee); and other costs associated with starting up the affiliate.
9. Established affiliates may also apply for grants. These grants are unrestricted in scope. Normally, though, proposals most likely to be funded will involve activities resulting in:
   • expansion of the membership base of the affiliate;
   • improvement of communication among affiliate members;
   • improvement of writing instruction across the region served by the affiliate;
   • greater understanding of writing and program administration through research activities conducted throughout the affiliate's region.
   Proposals asking for less than $2000 are more likely to be funded than larger ones; proposals demonstrating matching funds or institutional commitments are welcomed. Grants to individuals or groups from single institutions and proposals for the purchase of equipment are unlikely to be funded. Normally, grants will be funded for 1 calendar year.
10. The WPA Research Grant Committee will review all grant proposals and recommend approval, denial, or approval with modifications. The Executive Board will approve or deny all grants. Grant awards will be announced at the annual business meeting.
11. Affiliates receiving grants must submit a report to the Executive Board at the conclusion of the grant period which outlines how the money was spent and which assesses the perceived results.
12. All affiliates must submit to the national Council's Executive Board a report by March 1 of each year that includes the following information:
    • number of members, with analysis of membership patterns by type of institution, regional distribution, etc.
    • activities carried out during the previous year, including meetings, mailings, reports, research, actions, elections, etc.
    • plans for the coming year
    • a descriptive report on the overall health and vigor of the affiliate.
    • a budget including anticipated revenue from dues, grants from participating schools, regional conference fees, other sources; anticipated expenses from mailings, solicitations, travel expenses, guest speakers, etc.
13. Affiliates may be removed from the national organization by majority vote of the Executive Board if any of the above rules are not followed.

Approved by the Executive Committee of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, 1993, revised March 2001, revised January 2005.