Dear colleagues,
Hello! We hope you are well in the midst of these difficult days. We are writing to share what’s going on at CWPA, including many opportunities for professional development, service, and recognition! This email will cover:
The Fall 2024 issue of WPA is on the website and can be accessed at the link below: https://wpacouncil.org/aws/CWPA/pt/sp/journal-archives
Friday 2/21: Talisha Haltiwanger Morrison, Hadi Banat, and Allegra Smith will offer a workshop titled “Balancing Administrative Values and Priorities in WPA Roles.” This session will offer three stories of WPAs in diverse administrative roles. The speakers will explain how their identities and experiences shape their work as WPAs, including their administrative values, priorities, and visions. Attendees will leave with ideas for how to navigate competing values and constraints and turn values into administrative action. We hope to see you there! Registration is free for graduate student members and $15 for members.
Friday 3/14: we will have our next Cultural Assessment conversation! This conversation will discuss theme 4 from the cultural assessment report, “Equity Implementation” in CWPA. You can register here and check out reports from our previous two conversations here and here.
Friday 3/14: Mary Lourdes Silva and Jeanne Law will offer a workshop titled "Questioning the Blank Page: Generative AI as Part of the Writing and Reading Process." As generative AI continues to reshape education, understanding its impact and potential in writing instruction has never been more critical. Dr. Jeanne Beatrix Law of Kennesaw State University will open with data on student attitudes toward generative AI, gathered from over 1,500 first-year students. Building on these insights, Dr. Mary Lourdes Silva of Ithaca College will present curricular examples from a research writing course, demonstrating how GAI can be integrated into the reading process. Join us to explore data-driven insights and innovative teaching strategies that harness the potential and acknowledge the limitations of generative AI in the writing classroom. Registration is free for members!
Our Summer Online Conference “Chairs, Coordinators, Directors, Leads, WPAs: The Shifting Nature of WPA Work,” will highlight the varied voices that are doing WPA work and have important insights to share. Please share the CFP widely and join us! Proposals are due March 31 and can be submitted through the conference website. If you’re interested in assisting with the proposal-reviewing process, please submit your interest here https://forms.gle/aoprvfCtYw1h3C9T9
The Summer Workshop for WPAs will take place at the University of Houston-Clear Lake from 6/23-6/25. Our co-facilitators are David Green and Michelle Bachelor Robinson. The cost of registration will be $675. Registration will include two breakfasts, two lunches, one dinner, and all workshop activities, but it will not include housing or travel costs. For more information and to register, please click here.
The Council of Writing Program Administrators Mentoring Committee invites you to participate in our online mentoring program. This year, we are launching "CWPA Connections," a collaborative peer mentoring model in which pairs or small groups with common interests or dilemmas meet regularly.
Writing program administrators at any stage of their career can participate. We especially welcome mid- and late-career writing program administrators.
Please sign up here by February 10, 2025. The initial commitment for the program is March 1-June 1, with the option to extend the program into the summer.
Thanks,
The 2024-2025 CWPA Mentoring Committee
James Cochran (Hartwick College)
Scott Gage (Texas A&M University-San Antonio)
Kelly Moreland (Minnesota State University)
Amanda Presswood (Southern New Hampshire University)
Call for the Next Editor/Editorial Team for WPA: Writing Program Administration (applications due February 15)
The Council of Writing Program Administrators is seeking the next editor or editorial team for its journal, WPA: Writing Program Administration. The term is for three years, with possibility for two-year renewal Our current editorial team of Tracy Ann Morse, Patti Poblete, and Wendy Sharer will conclude their term with the spring 2026 (49.2) issue.
The new editor or editorial team will work with the current team to publish content already in development and process submissions in fall 2025 and spring 2026, and assume full responsibility for content and production beginning with the fall 2026 (50.1) issue.
Interested applicants should have the following qualifications: publications and expertise in the field of writing program administration and related areas; knowledge of the issues that have preoccupied the field, both historically and in the recent past; familiarity with the journal, an understanding of the role the journal plays in the field and a vision for the journal’s future; a commitment to diversity and inclusive editorial practices; current membership in and a history of involvement with CWPA; strong editorial and organizational skills; and prior editorial and reviewing experience.
We especially encourage applications from marginalized and underrepresented scholars and prospective editorial teams.
To apply, please submit an application letter explaining why you are qualified for this position and describing any resources or support your institution(s) will be able to provide (released time, clerical support, startup funds, etc.), as well as resources you will request from CWPA. Applicants should also submit a current c.v. for each member of the prospective editorial team. If you are proposing an editorial team, please explain how you will work together on editing and production of the journal. Upon request, additional information about editorial responsibilities and workflow, journal finances, and production timelines will be made available to prospective editors. Address queries to Jacob Babb, Chair of the Publications Committee, at babbjs@appstate.edu. Send the application electronically as a single file to Jacob Babb at babbjs@appstate.edu.
Application Deadline: February 15, 2025. Members of the Publications Committee will review materials and select applicants to invite for virtual interviews to be held in March 2025. We hope to finalize an agreement with the new editor or editorial team no later than May 15, 2025.
Call for Submissions: 2025 CWPA Graduate Research Award (due 3/2/2025)
Please apply or share it with anyone you know who might be interested in applying! The CWPA Graduate Research Award Committee is now inviting applications for the 2025 award. This award recognizes outstanding scholarship by graduate students writing on issues in writing program administration.
Submissions are due Sunday, March 2, 2025. A certificate and a total cash prize of $300 will be awarded to the winning submission; also, the winner(s) will be invited to present their outstanding project at the 2025 CWPA Summer Conference (July 10–11, 2025) with a conference registration fee waiver. Of particular note, each submission will be returned with detailed qualitative feedback from our committee members. Details about the award and submission guidelines can be read here or through this direct link: https://tinyurl.com/2025GradResearchAward.
Questions or inquiries should be directed to the committee Chair, Andy Jiahao Liu, at liu.jiahao@connect.um.edu.mo and/or ajliu@arizona.edu. We look forward to receiving and reading your submissions.
Call for Submissions: 2025 CWPA Outstanding Scholarship Committee (due 2/21/2025)
The CWPA Outstanding Scholarship Committee to invite nominations for this year's awards. The CWPA Outstanding Scholarship Award recognizes an outstanding article-length work published in a peer-reviewed edited collection or any refereed journal other than WPA: Writing Program Administration. Authors are encouraged to self-nominate.
This year, the committee will recognize one article-length work with a copyright date in 2023.
I have linked to a PDF copy of the call for nominations. The call includes information about award criteria and the nomination process. Nominations are due to Jacob Babb (babbjs@appstate.edu) by February 21, 2025, and please feel free to write to Jacob if you have any questions.
CWPA Outstanding Scholarship Committee
Jacob Babb (Chair), Appalachian State University, babbjs@appstate.edu
Holly Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, ande2898@uwm.edu
Ginny Crisco, California State University, Fresno, vcrisco@csufresno.edu
Fangzhi He, Davidson College, fahe@davidson.edu
Wendy Hinshaw, Florida Atlantic University, whinshaw@fau.edu
Adam Phillips, University of South Florida, aphillips0919@yahoo.com
Rachel Robinson-Zetzer, Fairfield University, rrobinson-zetzer@fairfield.edu
Ashley Yuckenberg, George Mason University, amcclel2@gmu.edu
Thanks to the many committees and individuals who make CWPA happen! Please reach out to us if you’d like to discuss any aspect of CWPA–our emails are below.
Until next time, stay well!
Kelly Blewett, CWPA President, councilofwpa@gmail.com
Erin Lehman, CWPA Vice President, elehman4@ivytech.edu
Amanda Presswood, CWPA Secretary, cwpasecretary@gmail.com
Christal Seahorn, CWPA Treasurer, cwpatreasurer@gmail.com