Dear Members: Hello again, and happy October! We hope that you are doing well as we head toward fall break this semester.
Here are the updates we’ll be covering in this monthly message:
Over the past couple of years, the Outcomes Statement Taskforce has been working to draft an updated WPA Outcomes Statement. Participants at this summer's virtual CWPA Conference were able to see an early version of the statement and recommended that CWPA connect with other organizations to review the draft. Over the next few months, CWPA leadership will be sharing the latest draft with professional organizations in the field and offering opportunities for feedback and reflection on the document.
This has been a challenging task. As you know, this is the second attempt of this project. For more information, see the 2021-2025 CWPA Timeline document published on our website. We appreciate of the labor of the WPA OS 4.0 Revision Task Force. We are particularly grateful for the leadership of the Co-Chairs: Al Harahap, Antonio Byrd, and Michelle Robinson.
The Nominating Committee will hold a special fall election to fill three seats on the Executive Board. The current Executive Board is understaffed, but this special election will bring the Executive Board to its full roster of nine members, as called for in CWPA’s bylaws.
Watch for elections next month!
We have several CWPA virtual events scheduled for fall. View the events and register here: https://www.wpacouncil.org/aws/CWPA/pt/sp/events
October 30: “Disruptive Stories: Amplifying Voices from the Writing Center Margins"
At this event, we will discuss CWPA's Best Book Award Winner for 2025, Disruptive Stories: Amplifying Voices from the Writing Center Margins, edited by Elizabeth Kleinfeld, Sohui Lee, and Julie Prebel.
CWPA's Best Book Award Committee selected Disruptive Stories for its transparent structure, responsive writing, and the intentional inclusion of diverse voices. Reviewers consistently praised the book’s approach to storytelling as both a methodological and rhetorical strategy. By centering the lived experiences of writing center administrators (WCAs), the book sheds new light on the often-overlapping and underexamined dimensions of WPA labor. While the book’s primary focus is on writing centers, reviewers noted that the insights readily translate to broader WPA contexts, especially as WCAs frequently engage in curricular design, assessment, labor negotiations, and equity work—all core concerns of WPA scholarship.
November 14: "Accessibility and Inclusive Communities and Conference Spaces"
Do you teach and work in virtual spaces with off-site colleagues and students? Do you use platforms like Zoom or Teams to connect virtually with others? How do you ensure that this work is inclusive and accessible for participants?
During this session, we will discuss the ways that CWPA promotes inclusive community building. Facilitators will discuss their experience with accessibility issue and share how they advocated for increased accessibility efforts at CWPA's recent 2025 National Conference. Though, there is no one single path or checklist for accessibility, we will share the efforts we have made within CWPA to promote inclusion and accessibility for members.
December 1: "Coffee Corner"
Join us for this Coffee Corner event, an informal conversation where participants share their favorite articles, lectures, webinars, or books that they read, watched, or listened to during the semester. We look forward to connecting!
Committee Sign-ups will be coming shortly! Serving on one of the committees is a great way to get to learn more about CWPA’s mission and goals. Any person in the field–member or non-member of CWPA–is invited to serve. In the past, we’ve had over 80 volunteers for committee service, and we’d love to see this trend continue.
Our CFP for the CWPA Conference 2026 will be posted shortly! We hope you will join us in beautiful Laramie, Wyoming, to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the historic 1986 Wyoming Conference Resolution next year! Please save the date for our on-site conference: July 19-25, 2026.
Thanking you for being a part of CWPA. Hope your fall semester is going well.
Cheers,
Erin Lehman, CWPA President
David Green, CWPA Vice President
Amanda Presswood, CWPA Secretary
Christal Seahorn, CWPA Treasurer