THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
English
696e-003: Writing Program Administration Spring 2007
Prof.
Edward M. White SS 136: W 3:00-5:30 p.m.
Email: emwhite@u.arizona.edu Tel: 520.626.0768 at office ML 373
Brown, Stuart C. and Theresa
Enos, The Writing Program Administrator’s Resource: A Guide to Reflective
Institutional Practice. Mahwah, NJ:
Erlbaum, 2002.
Ward, Irene and William
Carpenter, The Allyn and Bacon Sourcebook for Writing Program Administrators.
NY: Longman, 2002.
L’Eplattenier, Barbara and
Lisa Mastrangelo, Historical Studies of Writing Program Administration:
Individuals, Communities, and the Formation of a Discipline. West
Lafayette, IN: Parlor Press, 2004.
(Download)
White, Edward M. Developing Successful College Writing
Programs. Calendar Islands, 1998. (Gift)
McGee, Sharon James and
Carolyn Handa, eds. Discord and Direction: The Postmodern
Writing Program Administrator. Logan, UT: Utah State U. Press, 2005
Anson, Chris M., et al. Scenarios for Teaching Writing: Contexts
for Discussion and Reflective Practice. NCTE, 1993.
Bullock, Richard and John
Trimbur. The Politics of Writing Instruction: Postsecondary. Boynton/Cook/Heinemann,
1991.
Connolly, Paul and T.
Vilardi. New Methods in College
Writing Programs: Theories in Practice.
NY: MLA, 1986.
George, Diane. Kitchen
Cooks, Plate Twirlers, Troubadors: WPAs Tell Their Stories. Boynton/Cook/Heineman, 1999.
Herrington, Susanmarie et
al. The
Outcomes Book: Debate and Consensus after the WPA Outcomes
Statement. Logan, UT: Utah State UP,
2005. [See also the review of this book
by White in WPA: Writing Program
Administration 29.3 (Spring 2006): 111-13.]
Hartzog, Carol P. Composition and the Academy: A Study of
Writing Program Administration. NY: MLA, 1986.
Hult, Christine, ed.
Evaluating Teachers of Writing. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1994.
Janangelo, Joseph and
Kristine Hansen. Resituating Writing: Constructing and Administrating
Writing Programs. Boynton/Cook/Heineman,
1995.
Kitzhaber, Albert A. Themes,
Theories, and Therapy: The Teaching of
Writing in College. NY: McGraw-Hill,
1963.
Myers-Breslin, Linda. Administrative
Problem-Solving for Writing Programs and Writing Centers: Scenarios in
Effective Program Management. NCTE,
1999.
Rose, Shirley K., and Irwin
Weiser (eds). The Writing Program Administrator as
Researcher: Inquiry in Action & Reflection. Boynton/Cook/Heinemann, 1999.
Rose, Shirley K. and Irwin
Weiser (eds.). The Writing Program
Administrator as Theorist: Making Knowledge Work. Boynton/Cook/Heinemann, 2002.
Straub, Richard and Ronald
F. Lunsford, 12 Readers Reading:
Responding to Student Writing. Cresskill,
NH: Hampton, 1995.
WPA:
Writing Program Administration, (The WPA journal)
WPA-L (the
listserv). [WPA-L@asu.edu]
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Bulletin of the Association of Departments of
English
Every
Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English (RCTE) graduate who plans to
teach at an American college or university should expect to serve a term or
more as a campus Writing Program Administrator (WPA) at some point—probably sooner
than later and probably sooner than is really appropriate. Only recently has the position of WPA become
commonly accepted and the demand for WPAs with training for the job is likely
to exceed supply for some time to come. The definition and functions of the WPA
vary widely from one campus to another but we can usually assume that the WPA
on any campus has the following expressed or implied tasks:
1. To speak
for rhetoric and writing to the English department and to the campus at large:
serve on departmental and university committees, make public presentations
about writing and writing requirements, and seek to protect and enhance writing
programs on campus.
2. To be
responsible for staffing, scheduling, budgets, curriculum, and standards for
the first-year writing course (fyc) and perhaps other writing courses.
3. To
engage, sometimes heavily, in assessment activities such as entering student
placement, fyc exit criteria, mid-career or graduation writing requirements,
and program assessment. The assessment
responsibilities may also include assessment of teaching of TAs and other
faculty, as a central aspect of hiring and retention decisions.
4. To
oversee or be heavily involved in writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs,
writing tutorial centers, teaching assistant and adjunct faculty training
programs, and other faculty development programs.
5. To
originate, administer and/or teach in undergraduate writing major or minor
programs and graduate programs in rhetoric and composition.
6. To take
responsibility for a range of activities from assisting the English department
chair in general to overseeing certain student publications, as defined by
campus policies, traditions, or practices.
7. To maintain scholarly activity by leading
workshops and delivering papers at local and national conferences; publishing
reviews, articles, and books in the field; and gaining recognition by holding
office in such organizations as CCCC, WPA, and MLA. (Retention, promotion, and tenure on many
campuses still depend on publication of research and off-campus reputation, as
more significant than teaching quality or administrative accomplishment.)
This course
is designed to help prepare RCTE students for these immense challenges. In addition, the course will seek to connect
the theories behind rhetoric/composition, administration, and pedagogy to the
practices common in American universities.
1. Class
attendance, participation, and presentations, demonstrating timely reading as
assigned and recommended. There will be
regular oral reports on the question at the center of each class as well as
class listserv discussion. In addition to the listed readings for each class,
read two or more other articles or chapters from the required or recommended
reading and be prepared to bring them into class discussion. Stay current with issues on the WPA-L so that
we can also discuss them. When papers are due, post outlines and summaries of
them in advance to the class listserv (WPA@listserv.arizona.edu).
2. Two
reports on the work of a particular WPA in relation to his or her program: one
local and one via email.
3. A seminar paper exploring current issues in
writing program administration.
4. A take-home final exam for presentation in
class May 2.
January 10: What is a Composition Program and What is a WPA?
READ: White (6), Stygall (4), and Royer and Gilles
(17) in Brown/Enos
Plan for the course; background of WPA; definition
issues.
January 17 and 24: What Do/Should We Teach When We Teach Composition?
READ: White,
Chaps.1, 4, 7
Gottschalk
in Ward/Carpenter, Part I
Merrill
and Miller (13) in Brown/Enos
READ: White,
Chaps. 5, 6
Burnham
(20) in Brown/Enos
Royer
and Gilles (17) in Brown/Enos
DUE: Seminar paper problem statement
February 7: Writing Assessment II:
Is Equivalency Credit Appropriate for fyc?
READ: White, Chap. 10; Appendix A, Appendix B
Huot/Schendel
and Mahala/Vivion in Part IV of Ward/Carpenter
The Outcomes Book [or Appendix C in Brown/Enos]
February 14:
Writing Assessment III: How Can We Deal with Assessment Issues Beyond fyc?
Mid-career Assessment, Writing
Intensive Courses, Program Assessment
READ: White, Chaps. 2 and 10
Glau
(19) in Brown/Enos
What Is College-Level Writing? (NCTE 2006)
DUE:
Seminar paper bibliography
February 21: What Political and Social Issues Will Shape
Composition?
READ: White, “Use It or Lose It: Power and the
WPA,” in Ward/Carpenter, Part II
Miller, “Postmasculinist Directions in WPA,”
in Ward/Carpenter, Part II
Schuster, “The Politics of Writing Promotion,”
in Ward/Carpenter, Part V
Crowley, “How
the Professional Lives of WPAs Would Change if FYC Were
Elective” (14) in Brown/Enos,
Part I
Hesse, “Understanding Larger Discourses in
Higher Education,” in
Ward/Carpenter, Part V
DUE: Determine long
distance WPA for second report.
READ: McAllister and Selfe in (23) Brown/Enos
The GTA Experience (25 and 26) in Brown/Enos
VISITOR: Roxanne Mountford: A New
Comp Teacher Becomes a WPA at a Technical University
DUE: Seminar paper outline or
developed proposal
Reports on self-directed reading
March 7: The
Scholarship of Administration and the WPA
Rose and Weiser (18) in Brown/Enos
Chris
Anson, “Figuring It Out: Writing Programs in the Context of University
Budgets,” (15) in
Brown/Enos
VISITOR: Anne-Marie Hall, UA WPA
March 14:
Spring Break
March 21: CCCC in New York. WPA
Breakfast 7 a.m. Thursday, March 22
March 28:
Politics and Practices: Budgets, Grievances, Time Management, etc.
READ: John Schilb, “The WPA and the Politics of
LitComp,” (11) in Brown/Enos
Greg
Glau, “Hard Work and Hard Data: Using Statistics to Help Your Program,” (19) in
Brown/Enos
VISITOR: Tom Miller,
former UA WPA
DUE: Reports (15 minute oral presentation) on shadowing
local WPAs
April 4: How Can We Handle WAC, the Writing Center, and Committee Work?
READ:
Walvoord, “The Future of WAC,” in Ward/Carpenter,
Part IV
Townsend, “Writing Across the Curriculum,”
(28) in Brown/Enos
Roen, et al. “Legal Considerations for WPAs,”
(9) in Brown/Enos
VISITOR:
Duane Roen, Chair ASU Academic Senate
April 11:
Revision Workshop on Seminar Paper
April 18: A Personal History of
Writing Program Administration
READ:
Duane Roen, et al. Living Rhetoric and Composition: Stories of the
Discipline
VISITOR: John Warnock
April 25: Topic to be determined
READ:
DUE: Seminar Paper
(Presentation/Publication Level)
Reports
on self-directed reading
Distribute
and Discuss the Final Examination
May 2: The Final Examination and Celebration