WPA 1999 Conference Program

Updated June 3, 1999

by Doug Hesse

ddhesse@ilstu.edu

309 438-3641

 

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Thursday, July 15

 

5:00 Plenary Speaker: Caryn McTighe Musil
 
6:00 Reception
 

Friday, July 16

 

7:30 Breakfast
 
8:30 Plenary Speaker: Chuck Schuster
 
~9:30 Discussion Groups
Leaders:
Kathleen Yancey
Irwin Weiser
Eric Martin
Marguerite Helmers
Gesa Kirsch
Christine Farris
Marty Townsend
 
10:15 Break
 
10:45 Plenary Discussion
 
11:45 Lunch
 
 
1:00 A Sessions
 
Panel
A.1 State Interventions and the Job of the Writing Program Administrator
Chair: Donna Dunbar-Odom
Presenters:
"Getting the State Out of the Process of Placement"
Donna Dunbar-Odom, Texas A&M University/Commerce
 
"Education on the Cheap: Outsourcing and the Writing Instruction Business"
Richard E. Miller, Rutgers University
 
"Negotiating Micromanaged Minefields"
Barry Maid, University of Arkansas/Little Rock
 
"From Mandate to Implementation: Intervening on State Interventions"
Barbara McCarthy, Massachusetts Bay Community College
 
"Communicating with the 'Other Side'"
Martha Townsend, University of Missouri
 
Panel
A.2 Training, Testing, and Transforming: The Politics of Transition
Chair: Claire Lamonica
Presenters:
"What's Above the Foundation?"
Claire Lamonica, Illinois State University
 
"Assessing Writing (Instruction)"
Maurice Scharton, Illinois State University
 
"From Autonomy to Articulation"
Janice Neuleib, Illinois State University
 
 
Panel
A.3 If It Isn't Broken, Why Fix It? Three Perspectives on Overhauling a Successful Writing Program
Chair: Richard Bullock, Wright State University
"When A Good Program Goes Bad: A WPA Returns from Sabbatical"
Richard Bullock, Wright State University
 
"Choosing Between Death by Asphyxiation and Renegade Experimentation: A Teacher's Journey of Re-discovery"
Cathy Sayer, Wright State University
 
"The New Kid on the Block Jumps In: Being a Participant-Observer in
Writing Program Reform"
David Seitz, Wright State University
 
 
Panel
A.4 Graduate Student WPA Positions and Positioning: In Search of Professionalism
Chair: Jeff White
"Into the 'Profession': Looking for Voices"
Jeff White, Ball State University
 
"Promises Made, Promises Broken?: Problematizing the Motivations For and Implications of Graduate Teacher Training"
Lee Nickoson, Illinois State University
 
"Professionalized & Professionalizing GSWPAs"
Carole Chabries, University of Wisconsin
 
"An Unsteady Ground: Authority Issues in Our Dual Roles"
Viktorija Todorovska, Arizona State University
 
 
Roundtable
A.5 Initiating and Supporting a Cross-Curricular Learning Community at Purdue
 
Jeff Jablonski, Purdue University
Susan Schechter, Purdue University
Irwin Weiser, Purdue University
Stephanie Turner, Purdue University
Brent Blackwell, Purdue University
Kevin Scott, Purdue University
 
Panel
A.6 Administrative Issues in WAC and WID
Chair: Stephanie Pelkowski, University of Kansas
Presenters:
"Teaching Assistants Involved in Administering WAC/WID: Issues of Institutional Power"
Jennifer Morrison, Purdue University
 
"Writing in Large Classes"
William J. Carpenter, University of Kansas
 
"Practical Benefits of Researching in Large Classes"
Pat McQueeney, University of Kansas
 
2:30 Break
 
2:45 Issue Groups
Attendees will divide into discussion groups to consider issues of common concern. Doug will survey WPA members and propose topics for discussion.
Leaders:
Jeanne Gunner
David Schwalm
Libby Rankin
Marguerite Helmers
Beth Daniell
Irv Peckham
Kathleen Yancey
Doug Hesse
 
4:00 Break
 
4:15 B Sessions
 
Panel
B.1 Technology and Writing Programs: Prospects and Pauses
Chair: Sally Barr Ebest, University of Missour-St. Louis
Presenters:
"Supporting TA Training through an Electronic Discussion List"
Carrie Leverenz, Florida State University
 
"Distance Learning in Context: The Idea of the University as a Virtual Community"
H. Brooke Hessler, Texas Christian University
 
What Good Is a Computer-Assisted Writing Lab to a Writing Program?
Scott Herstad, Illinois State University
 
 
Panel
B.2 The Composition Program as Cultural Studies: What We've Learned as Teachers, Scholars, and Administrators
Chair: Christine Farris
Presenters:
"Too Cool for School? When Graduate Students Teach Cultural Critique"
Christine Farris, Indiana University
 
"How Being a WPA Has Made Me a Marxist"
Patricia Harkin, Purdue University
 
"It's the (Brad) Pitts: Writing About Non-Print Culture"
John Schilb, Indiana University
 
 
Panel
B.3 Engaging With Texts Within the Impromptu Exam: Assessing Our Students and Ourselves
Chair: Kathleen Dixon, University of North Dakota
Presenters:
"Engaging with Texts Within the Impromptu Exam: Assessing Our Students and Ourselves"
Kathleen Dixon, University of North Dakota
 
William Archibald, University of North Dakota
 
"The End is Only the Beginning: Assessing the Assessment"
Çigdem Üsekes, University of North Dakota
 
 
Panel
B.4 Perspectives on Training Graduate Teaching Assistants
Chair: Mara Holt
Presenters:
"Where Graduate Education and Teacher Training Diverge: An Historical
View of Teaching Training Methods within Writing Programs, 1975-1998"
Kirsti Sandy, Illinois State University
 
"An Impossible Flexibility: TA Training and Professional Development in MA Programs"
Stephen Wilhoit, University of Dayton
 
"Negotiating Institutional Constraints: Reflections on Graduate Student Co-Mentoring"
Amy C. Kimme Hea, Purdue University, and Melinda Turnley, Purdue University
 
 
Roundtable
B.5 The Outcomes Statement: Its Past and Its Future
 
Rita Malenczyk, Eastern Connecticut State University
Linda Bergmann, University of Missouri-Rolla
Keith Rhodes, Missouri Western State College
Susanmarie Harrington, Texas Tech University
Glenn Blalock , Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Karen Vaught-Alexander, University of Portland
Chet Pryor, Montgomery College, Germantown Campus
 
 
Panel
B.6 A Painful, Gainful Divorce: The Story of A Free-Standing Department of Writing
 
Presenters:
Eleanor Agnew, Georgia Southern University
Phyllis Dallas, Georgia Southern University
Larry W. Burton, Georgia Southern University
 
6:00 Banquet
 
7:30 Open Meeting of Executive Board
 
8:30 Closed Meeting of Executive Board
 
 

Saturday, July 17

 

7:30 Breakfast
 
 
8:30 C Sessions
 
Panel
C.1 Rethinking the Identities and Interests of the WPA in Transition
Chair: Joseph Janangelo, University Chicago
"Administering WAC as We Minister to People: Junior Administrators
Building Relationships"
Timothy Barnett, Northeastern Illinois University
 
"From Mr. Chips to Caligula: Giving and Taking Care as a New WPA"
Joseph Janangelo, Loyola University Chicago
 
"'What Are They Teaching Them in the High Schools These Days?'
Turning a Rhetorical Question into a Research Interest"
Kristine Hansen, Brigham Young University
 
"Composition Teacher to WAC Director: How Do We Learn What We
Need to Know to Do What We Need to Do?"
Beth Hedengren, Brigham Young University
 
 
Workshop
C.2 The WPA and Writing Assessment
Presenters:
Gail Stygall, University of Washington
 
"Ensuring an Ongoing Dialogue"
Donna Qualley, Western Washington University
 
 
Panel
C.3 Writing Programs and Small Colleges, Part I
Chair: Joyce Simutis, The University of Scranton
Presenters:
"Teaching Writing in the Absence of First-Year Comp"
Carol Rutz, Carleton College
 
"Who Will Help Me Eat the Bread? The WPA as Henny Penny"
Anita R. Guynn, Beloit College
 
"Between Ideology and Reality: The Contradictions of a Public Liberal Arts College's Writing Program"
Carol Smith, Fort Lewis College
 
 
Roundtable
C.4 The Outcomes Statement: Theory and Technology
 
Rita Malencyk, Eastern Connecticut State University
Ruth Overman Fischer, George Mason University
Barry Maid, University of Arkansas/Little Rock
Irvin Peckham, University of Nebraska/Omaha
Bill Condon, Washington State University
 
 
Panel
C.5 Bridging Not Brokering: Making Dual Credit Composition Work
Chair: Sharon Lynn Sperry, Indiana University
Presenters:
Sharon Lynn Sperry, Indiana University
Christine Farris, Indiana University
Ted Leahey, Union City High School and Indiana University
 
 
Panel
C.6 When Worlds Collide: Situating Basic Writing Within the Landscapes of Institutions, Writing Programs and Basic Writers
Chair: Susanmarie Harrington, Texas Tech University
 
Presenters:
"The Subjects Speak in Dearborn: Basic Writers' Perceptions of Themselves as Writers and Students"
Linda Adler-Kassner, University of Michigan--Dearborn
 
"Program Landscapes: Institutional Territories"
Susanmarie Harrington, Texas Tech University
 
"The Subjects Speak in Indianapolis: Basic Writers' Perceptions of Themselves as Writers and Students"
Steve Fox, Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis
 
 
Multimedia Presentation
C.7 George Wycoff at 100: Celebrating the Professional Work of a WPA
 
Shirley Rose, Purdue University
Irwin Weiser, Purdue University
Patty Harkin, Purdue University
 
 
10:00 Break
 
 
10:30 D Sessions
 
Panel
D.1 Perspectives on Assessment
Chair: Lauren Sewell, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Presenters:
"The Problems and Perils of Collaborative Assessment"
Joyce Simutis, The University of Scranton
 
"Values and Limitations: A look at three assessment studies"
Virginia G. Polanski, Stonehill College
 
"Legislating Literacy: The Impact of Proficiency Testing on Higher Education"
Connie Kendall, Miami University
 
 
Panel
D.2 Writing Programs in Small Colleges, Part II
Chair: Anita Guynn
Presenters:
"The Interests of Small-College WPA's: Relations to Our Institutions and Our Profession"
Thomas Amorose, Seattle Pacific University
 
"Help Wanted: Defining the WPA's Interests through the Small College Job Search"
Dominic Delli Carpini, York College of Pennsylvania
 
"Investigating Literacy Development in Liberal Arts Students: A Case Study Design"
Karin Evans. Elmhurst College
 
 
Panel
D.3 Building Bridges Between Two-Year and Four-Year Writing Programs
Chair and Respondent: Janice Neuleib
 
Presenters
"Visions of Collaboration: Refiguring the Relationship Between Two and Four Year Writing Programs"
Beatrice Quarshie-Smith, Heartland Community College
 
"Developing Conversations about Assessment and Evaluation Between Two-Year and Four-Year Writing Programs"
Thomas Clemens, Heartland Community College
 
"Imagining Strategies for Productive Networking Among Two-Year and Four-Year WPAs"
Matt Smith, Chattanooga State Technical Community College
 
 
Panel
D.4 Collaboration Within Institutions
Chair: Mike Zerbe
 
Presenters:
"Collaboration: Developing a Programmatic Model"
Rebecca Reed, University of Washington, Bothell
 
"From Collaborative Planning to Integrated Teaching"
Leslie Olsen, University of Washington, Bothell
 
"Benefits of a Class Book Project"
A. Patricia Burnes, University of Maine
 
 
Panel and discussion
D.5 Emotional Work in Writing Program Administration: A Neglected Intellectual Dimension?
 
Presenters
Mara Holt, Ohio University
Leon Anderson, Ohio University
 
 
Panel
D.6 Writing Programs and Institutional Contexts
Chair:
 
Presenters:
"Writing and Other Program Administrators: New Friends and
Allies" or "We've got friends in low places"
David Schwalm, Arizona State University East
 
"Plate Tectonics and the Academic Landscape: Movement, Slippage, and Interaction Beyond Writing Programs"
Mary Pinard, Babson College
 
"Program Administrators as/and Postmodern Planners: Strategies for
Making Tomorrow's (Writing) Space"
Tim Peeples, Elon College
 
 
Workshop
D.7 The WPA as Middle Manager: A Workshop in Applying Theoretical Perspectives from Business
Leader:
Karen Vaught-Alexander, University of Portland
 
12:00 Lunch
 
1:00 Plenary Speaker: Wendy Bishop
 
1:45 Group Discussions
Leaders:
Shirley Rose
Chet Pryor
Deborah Holdstein
Beth Daniell
Jeanne Gunner
Irv Peckham
2:30 Break
 
3:00 Plenary discussion
 
3:45 Break
 
 
4:00 E Sessions
 
Panel
E.1 Doctoral Programs and WPA Preparation: Are They Doing Any Good?
Chair:
 
Presenters:
"Doctoral Exams and the Shape of the Discipline: A Report on Research-in-Progress"
Ellen Schendel, University of Louisville
Betty Shiffman, University of Louisville
 
"Hidden Successes: A Report on Graduate Education in Comp/Rhet"
Sally Barr Ebest, University of Missouri-St. Louis
 
"Answering Sledd"
Beth Daniell, Clemson University
 
 
Workshop
E.2 Transformative Practices: Using Program Assessment as (Part-Time) Faculty Development
Presenters:
Meg Morgan, University of North Carolina--Charlotte
Kathleen Blake Yancey, University of North Carolina--Charlotte
 
 
Roundtable
E.3 Power, Professional Development, and the Apprentice WPA
 
Karen Bishop, Purdue University
Laurie Cubbison, Purdue University
Teresa Fishman, Purdue University
Amy Kimme Hea, Purdue University
Michele Simmons, Purdue University
Melinda Turnley, Purdue University
 
 
Panel
E.4 Collaboration and the Conflicting Interests of WPAs
Chair: Ilene Crawford, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
 
Presenters
"Turning a Feminist Lens on Collaborative Administration"
Ilene Crawford, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Donna Strickland,
University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee
 
"The Conflicting Roles of Graduate Student Mentors"
Jami Carlacio, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Christie Launius,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
 
"Ethical Conflicts and the Emotional Labor of WPAs"
Laura Miccicche, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Alice Gillam,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
 
 
Panel
E.5 Perspectives Old and New on Writing Programs
Chair: Connie Kendall
 
Presenters:
"Women as Writing Program Administrators during the Progressive Era"
Barbara E. L'Eplattenier. University of Arkansas-Little Rock
 
"From a Home to a Neighborhood: Separate First-Year Writing and Professional Writing Departments of James Madison University"
Mike Zerbe, James Madison University
 
Organizing a Regional WPA: A Report from the Philadelphia Area
Eli Goldblatt , Temple University
 
 
Panel
E.6 Tenure and WPAs
Chair: Carol Rutz
 
"Educational Action Research: An Option for Negotiating a WPA's Multiple Interests"
Lisa Davidson McGrady, Purdue University
 
"Untenured Administrators: A Closer Examination of "Best Interests" and Institutional Dynamics"
Eric Martin, Governor's State University, and Scott Payne, University of Findlay
 
 

Sunday, July 18

 

8:00 Breakfast
 
9:00 Executive Board report
 
9:30-11:30 Town Hall Meeting: Issues Confronting WPA's --and WPA.
Organization into task forces and ad hoc committees
 
 

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