03/17/2026

Call for Best Book Nominations and Upcoming Virtual Sessions

Hi all: Sending a mid-month message with a few updates. 

Call for Nominations for Best Book Award

The Council of Writing Program Administrators seeks nominations for its Best Book Award. This award recognizes books whose authors or editors have made an outstanding contribution to the field of writing program administration (WPA) work over the past calendar year (2025).

Award Requirements

The book:

• Has a copyright date of 2025.
• Addresses an issue that is related to the scholarship of WPA work (broadly defined!; including but not limited to writing center administration, writing across the curriculum administration, assessment, professional development, curricular design, labor issues, etc.).
• Attends to diversity, equity, and inclusion as embedded within WPA work, as represented in Renewing Our Vows: Reflecting on a Year of Cultural Assessment Conventions.
• Does one or more of the following: 
  • Builds on or extends previous scholarship relevant to WPA work;
  • Addresses a notable gap in the scholarship of WPA work;
  • Re-conceives WPA work through divergent thinking and/or diverse experiences.
• Makes a significant, meaningful, and/or innovative contribution to WPA scholarship.
• Makes the contribution accessible to appropriate audiences.
• Is appropriate for the broad range of contexts in which WPA work takes place.

Nominating Procedure

Send a brief letter of nomination to the committee chairs, Beth Boswell (brb0035@uah.edu) and Dev Bose (bose@ucsc.edu), by March 31, 2026. Arrange to have a digital copy of the book sent to brb0035@uah.edu or a print copy to the following address:

Beth Boswell

Department of English

The University of Alabama in Huntsville

301 Sparkman Drive

Morton Hall, 278 

Huntsville, AL, 35899

(Note: Due to the ease of circulating the book within the committee, digital copies are strongly preferred. The committee promises not to circulate the book beyond committee members if it is copyrighted and submitted digitally.)

In the letter, nominators should explain how the book meets the award requirements stated above, particularly focusing on the WPA-related issue they believe that the book addresses; how the book attends to diversity, equity, and inclusion; the gap in the scholarship of WPA work that the book takes up; and the significance of the book’s contribution to writing program administrators broadly speaking. Nominations not accompanied by letters that address these questions may be disqualified from consideration. 

We are glad to accept nominations from authors, editors, or contributors themselves as well as faculty, staff, graduate students, and publishers. We especially welcome submissions that expand diverse points of view on WPA work and that speak from diverse perspectives.

Winners will be notified, via email, by July 15, 2026.

Upcoming Virtual Sessions

There were some issues with being registrations for some of our upcoming Spring webinars, so we're resending information about these upcoming events.

You can view upcoming events and register here: https://www.wpacouncil.org/aws/CWPA/pt/sp/events 

March 27: Tell Your Story: Join the Mapping Program Labor Project

What work do you do as a Chair, Lead, Coordinator, or WPA, and how does this work "count" toward your career as a whole? What does your programmatic labor include? Join this hands-up workshop to start mapping your program labor and to join a group of professionals who are interested in helping to share your story.

• Facilitators: Joanne Baird Giordano, Stephanie Dowdle Maenhardt, Cassandra Phillips, and Erin Lehman
• Date and time: 3/27, 90 minutes, 2:00-3:30pm ET
• Meeting platform: Zoom
• Cost to members: Free for members

April 22: Balancing Administrative Roles and Responsibilities

The administrative labor of WPAs continues to increase, with more responsibilities, and sometimes multiple programs being heaped upon a single individual. This workshop offers guidance on taking stock of your labor, setting priorities, and developing strategic plans for long-term needs and goals.

• Facilitators: Talisha Haltiwanger Morrison and Jeff Dean
• Date and time: 4/22, 90 minutes, 3:00-4:30pm ET
• Meeting platform: Zoom
• Cost to members: Free for members, and $25 for nonmembers