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Midwest Writing Centers Association

Seasons of Change: Renewal, Regrowth, Remembrance

March 3-5, 2016

Doubletree Conference CenterCedar Rapids, Iowa

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MWCA mission statement: As a regional nonprofit organization and an affiliate of the International Writing Centers Association, the Midwest Writing Centers Association (MWCA) encourages communication and collaboration among writing centers in the Midwestern region of the United States, which include Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Upper Michigan, and Wisconsin. Our mission is to assist writing centers in promoting clear and effective writing, offer support to those who are involved in writing center work, and encourage scholarly activities, such as primary/secondary research and presentations/publications of research results.

Visit us online:Midwestwritingcenters.orgKeep an eye on #MWCA2016 on Twitter for cross-conference conversation.

Wi-Fi is available in the lobby and gathering areas.

Cover photos: Jacob Luplow (Bridge, Tree in Winter) & Brian Larson (Tree in Fall)MWCA 2016 conference logo: Pam HybergerBooklet design: Brooke Bergantzel

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MCWA Interactive Table of Contents

MWCA President’s Welcome: Alan Benson2016 MWCA Conference Chair Welcom: Laura Famer2016 MWCA Conference Planning CommitteeMWCA Executive Board MembersKeynote Speaker: Brad Hughes2016 MWCA Conference ScheduleDoubleTree Cedar Rapids Convention ComplexLocal RestaurantsMap of Downtown Cedar Rapids

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On behalf of the Midwest Writing Centers Association board, I welcome you to Cedar Rapids and the 2016 MWCA conference! Conference organizers Laura Farmer and Bob Marrs have set the groundwork for three exciting days of sharing knowledge, making connections, and imagining new paths for writing center work.

Like our host city of Cedar Rapids, writing centers must embrace our history (including the bad parts) and draw upon our heritage as we face new challenges. Our

conference theme, “Seasons of Change: Renewal, Regrowth, Remembrance,” encourages us to take stock of where we have been and to acknowledge both our heritage and the challenges we have faced. At the same time, it reminds us that change is active and that the struggles of the past can blossom into exciting new fruit.

As you explore the more than 100 individual, panel, workshop, poster, and roundtable sessions featured as part of this year’s conference, I encourage you to both think about new ideas for your centers and rethink established “truths.” I also encourage you to make connections, both between sessions and between people. If you’re on social media, keep an eye on the hashtag #MWCA2016 for cross-conference conversation.

Again, welcome to Cedar Rapids and MWCA 2016. Your MWCA board is excited to learn alongside you. Thanks for coming, and for your continued support of writing center work in the MWCA region!

MWCA president’s welcome:Alan Benson

Alan Benson

MWCA Chair

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2016 MWCA Conference Chair welcome:Laura Farmer

One of the best things about attending a conference is having an opportunity to step outside your comfort zone. Where else do you get to talk Writing Center theory while learning the art of improvisation and eating gumbo? There are so many new topics to explore at a conference, so many new people to meet. At this year’s 2016 MWCA conference, I’d encourage to you “renew” your approach to attending a conference, and seek out the unfamiliar, the new, the strange. Whether it’s attending a session on an unfamiliar topic, eating a new food, or choosing to sit with new

connections instead of old friends, take advantage of these new opportunities.

I would also encourage you to take advantage of our conference location. We are situated in the heart of downtown Cedar Rapids: a thriving, artistic city filled with fantastic restaurants, charming shops, and great river views. Our theme “Seasons of Change: Renewal, Remembrance, and Regrowth” was selected because it reflects both the changes within our organization and the changes in the city of Cedar Rapids, as it emerges stronger and more vibrant than ever after a devastating flood in 2008. So try and get to know the city while you get to know your colleagues.

This weekend let’s think about where we come from as Writing Center professionals, and also where we could go. Let’s start exploring. We can do so much more when we open ourselves up to change – and when we move forward together.

I’m so glad you’re here.

Laura Farmer

2016 MWCA Conference Chair

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2016 MWCA Conference Planning Committee

Chair: Laura Farmer, Cornell College

Co-Chair: Bob Marrs, Coe College

Rachel Holtz, University of Illinois at Chicago

Alan Benson, University of Wiscons–Eau Claire

Kelly Meyer, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Jenny Staben, College of Lake County

Josh Worsham, Elgin Community College

Zach Beare, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Tatiana Uhoch, City Colleges of Chicago

Mike Haen, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Katrina Bell, Colorado College

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MWCA Executive Board MembersAlan Benson, ChairUniversity of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Kelly Meyer, Vice Chair, K-12 RepresentativeUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln

Rachel Holtz, TreasurerUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

Jenny Staben, Secretary, Community College RepresentativeCollege of Lake County

Laura Farmer, 2016 Conference Chair and Conference LiaisonCornell College

Josh Worsham, SIG CoordinatorElgin Community College

Zach Beare, Research CoordinatorUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln

Tatiana Uhoch, Newsletter CoordinatorCity Colleges of Chicago

Mike Haen, Web CoordinatorUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison

Katrina Bell, IWCA LiaisonColorado College

Andrew Karr, At-LargeWausau Homes Writing Center

April Gibson, At-LargeSt. Catherine University

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At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bradley Hughes has been the director of the writing center since 1984 and of writing across the curriculum (WAC) since 1990. Passionate about the power of writing centers, Brad loves collaborating with tutors (undergraduate and graduate), faculty, and staff to imagine and build new programs and to enhance diversity. He feels lucky to be part of a team of 110 wonderful colleagues, who work each year with 7000 writers in consultations, workshops, outreach instruction, and the community.

The UW-Madison Online Writing Center, one of the most comprehensive in the country, draws 6.8 million hits from over 548,000 visitors monthly. Committed to strengthening the writing center profession, Brad takes joy in the accomplishments of the many UW-Madison alumni who direct writing centers and WAC programs at institutions across the US. Brad has led WAC workshops for over 2000 faculty and teaching assistants at UW-Madison and other universities. He initiated the Madison Area Writing Center Colloquium, and he is the editor of Another Word, a writing center blog. With Paula Gillespie, Brad co-chaired the first IWCA summer institute in 2003. He has given over 80 conference papers, invited lectures, and keynote addresses and has received numerous awards for his research and service. His current research projects and recent publications include the following:

• A new study, with Elisabeth Miller, of what faculty learn from WAC seminars (2016)

• An article about key questions for evaluating writing centers• A chapter, co-authored with Katrin Girgensohn, on international writing

centers, for The Reference Guide to Writing Centers (2016)• A review essay, co-authored with Julie Nelson Christoph and Rebecca

Nowacek, about Deborah Brandt’s The Rise of Writing and writing centers (2016)

• “Mentoring Research Writers in the Sciences” in Entering Mentoring (2015)

Keynote speaker:Brad Hughes

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• A chapter on writing centers, co-authored with Rebecca Nowacek, in Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts in Writing Studies (2015)

• “Introducing Case-Scenario/Critical-Reader Builder: Creating Computer Simulations for Use in Tutor Education,” co-authored with Melissa Tedrowe (2013)

• “Preparing Faculty, Professionalizing Fellows: Keys to Success with Undergraduate Writing Fellows in WAC,” co-authored with Emily Hall (2011)

• “What They Take with Them: Findings from the Peer Writing Tutor Alumni Research Project,” co-authored with Paula Gillespie and Harvey Kail; received the IWCA Scholarship Award for Best Writing Center Article of 2010 and was recently translated and published in German (2014).

Brad has been a consultant and evaluator for many writing centers and WAC programs around the US and in South Korea, Kazakhstan, and Germany. Having a long history with the MWCA, dating back to 1985, he is deeply honored to have this chance to learn together with all of you during this conference.

Keynote speaker:Brad Hughes

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2016 MWCA Conference Schedule

Thursday, March 3rd

11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Registration First floor Atrium

1:00 p.m. – 4: 00 p.m. Pre-conference workshop sessions Taft A, Taft B, Exhibit Hall C

4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Opening reception Parlor Ballroom, 16th floor

Friday, March 4th

7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Registration 1st floor Atrium

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Coffee and light breakfast 1st floor Atrium

8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Introduction and Welcome Grand Ballroom B and C

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Keynote speaker Brad Hughes: “Writing Center Moonshots” Grand Ballroom B and C

10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Breakout Session #1 3rd and 5th floors

11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Snack and Beverage Break 3rd floor lounge

11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Breakout Session #2 3rd and 5th floors

12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Lunch Exhibit Hall B and C

1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Poster Session Exhibit Hall Atrium

2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Breakout Session #3 3rd and 5th floors

3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Snack and Beverage Break 3rd floor lounge

4:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Breakout Session #4 3rd and 5th floors

Dinner on your own. For restaurant recommendations, please click here.

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2016 MWCA Conference Schedule

Saturday, March 5th7:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Registration 1st floor Atrium

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Coffee and light breakfast 1st floor Atrium

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Breakout session #5 3rd and 5th floors

10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Snack and Beverage Break 3rd floor lounge

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Breakout session #6 3rd and 5th floors

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Closing lunch and panel of past MWCA leaders Exhibit Hall C

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DoubleTree Cedar Rapids Convention Complex Floors 1 and 2

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DoubleTree Cedar Rapids Convention Complex Floors 3 and 5

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Thursday, March 3rd 1:00—4:00 p.m.Pre-conference workshop sessions

Enacting and Celebrating “Remembrance” in the Writing Center

Taft A

Katrina Bell, Colorado College; Carol Mohrbacher, St. Cloud State University; Kristin A. Risley, University of Wisconsin–Stout; Michaella A. Thornton and Fran Hooker, St. Louis Community College

We took our places at the table 10, 15, 20, 50 years ago. Now we celebrate by inviting others to discuss how we commemorate major anniversaries, recognize what we have learned, and remember and reinvigorate our work. We will explore how we celebrate the past while moving towards the future.

Winds of Change: Navigating Renewal and Remembrance in the Writing Center

Exhibit Room C

Rachel Azima and Zach Beare, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

This pre-conference workshop explores the struggles and exciting possibilities of creating and enacting change in writing centers. Following a large-group discussion of relevant scholarship on institutional change, participants will break into groups to discuss change already under way in their centers or changes they hope to implement, whether staff education and training, center culture, hiring and recruiting consultants, new research projects, or other rejuvenating possibilities. We will use our collective experiences to help brainstorm solutions and strategies, and participants will leave with an action plan for undertaking change in the writing center.

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Who’s got the power, and where does it come from? Renewing our approach to conference dynamics

Taft B

Sylvia Donahoo, Jessie Freeman, Emily Andrulis, Kayla Morton, Hannah Robertson, Peter Catchings, and Elena Khalimonova, Cornell College

Workshop participants will explore how their personal histories as writers, teachers, students, and administrators influence their predisposition to directive and nondirective conferencing styles, as well as how previous relationships to a student (or lackthereof) can affect the power dynamic of the conference. After examining our personal writing histories, participants will rotate through a series of conferencing scenarios and explore how our histories may, in small and large ways, impact the power dynamic of the conference. We will then collectively discuss techniques to renew our approach to shifting power dynamics in conferences.

Thursday, March 3rd 4:30—6:00 p.m.Opening Reception Parlor Ballroom, 16th floor

Hors d’oeuvres and cash bar available.

Thursday, March 3rd 1:00—4:00 p.m.Pre-conference workshop sessions

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Friday, March 4th 10:00—11:15 a.m.Breakout Session 11A: Workshop Room 304

“Conversation to Confidence: Cultivating High School and University Writing Center Collaborations to Renew and Sustain Our Work”

Kirsten Jamsen, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities; Kristen Nichols-Besel, Bethel University (formerly at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities); Marie Hansen, Burnsville High School; and Maggie Shea, Minnetonka High School

This interactive workshop will engage participants in exploring and planning high school and college-level writing center collaborations, using our current program of shared Friday afternoon professional development activities between high school student writing coaches and university student writing consultants as a model.

1B: Panel Presentation Room 316

“Three Case Studies of Second Language Writers: Explorations of Writing Development, Affect, and Institutional Representations”

Carrie Aldrich, Carol Severino, Shih-Ni Prim, and Amanda Gallogly, University of Iowa

Our panel features three case studies of second language writers, each case study adopting different methods and focusing on different issues. The first uses textual analyses to examine second language writing development. The second uses ethnographic methods to investigate the role of affect. The third uses Critical Discourse Analysis to examine how institutions construct graduate student writers.

1C: Individual Presentations Room 319

“The Professional Tutor Model: Operationalizing the Faculty-Driven Writing Center”

Joshua Thusat, Harry S. Truman College

What do writing centers mean when they claim to be faculty-driven? Four years ago, Harry S. Truman College built its center on this idea. To honor and renew our understanding of faculty-driven centers versus more traditional peer-

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tutoring centers, this presentation will showcase Truman’s model as defined by faculty and staff.

“Graduate Peer Review Groups: Renewing Graduate Student Support”

Kelly J Cunningham, Iowa State University

Graduate peer review groups were one of the first steps in renewing graduate student communication support and resources on campus. These disciplinary groups meet weekly for presentation and review of work. Come learn how the groups evolved and how they have helped students re-envision their work without exchanging papers.

“Transitioning to Exclusively Synchronous Online Sessions”

Katherine J. Kirkpatrick, Clarkson College

As a writing center director, I will relate my experiences, both good and bad, after switching our center to exclusively synchronous online consultations approximately three years ago. This presentation will challenge the current best practices, which call for offering both synchronous and asynchronous online consultations.

1D: Panel Presentation Room 517

“If You Build It, Will They Come? The First Year of the UIndy Writing Lab’s Conversation Circles Program”

Dawn Hershberger, Davis Christy, Sarah Hamilton, Hannah Nieman, and Derek Zhao, University of Indianapolis

To help our large international student population beyond their written work, this fall the UIndy Writing Lab implemented a Conversation Circles program which pairs a small group of international students with an English-speaking facilitator for weekly casual conversation. Our panel will discuss the challenges and rewards of this nascent project.

1E: Panel Presentation Room 519

“Consulting Mr. Darcy: Regrowth and Intersectionality in the Writing Center”

Amanda Hovseth, Rachel Azima, and Wyn Andrews Richards, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

As midwestern educational institutions become increasingly diverse, writing

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centers must find new ways to embrace intersecting identities. In this presentation, we discuss first impressions and preconceived notions surrounding identity, the relationship between director identity and renewal, and the importance of recognizing invisible, intersecting identities, particularly low socioeconomic status.

1F: Individual Presentations Room 310

“A Duty to Value Errors in the Writing Tutorial Session”

Aja Gorham, Triton College

Skill development and skill attainment are different levels of students’ growth to be equally respected in writing tutorials. In examining revised and edited student samples, I will argue errors are crucial elements of students’ voice. While this voice may not yet display attainment, tutorials must allow students to practice, regardless of mastery.

“Grammar as Empowerment: Conventions Meeting Core Beliefs”

Jennifer Finstrom, DePaul University

This presentation will introduce new connections between addressing grammar in writing center appointments and empowering writers through a center’s core beliefs. The presenter’s goals are to provide new possibilities for approaching grammar in the tutorial that focus on it primarily as a means of giving agency to a writer’s voice.

“Utilizing Multi-Modal-Methods to Assist with First-Year Writing”

Katie Dietsche-Gerhart, Coe College

The primary goal of this session is to share Coe College’s experience using multi-modal-methods (MMM) in writing conferences to address both higher-order issues and sentence-level errors. The MMM framework combines draft-based conference strategies and instructional videos to assist with first-year writing.

1G: Panel presentation Room 315

“A Writing Center of One’s Own: Balancing Tradition While Forging New Ground”

Bobbi Olson and Brittany Cottrill, Grand View University

This panel presentation offers perspectives from two writing center professionals

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who consider what it means to balance both the history of an individual Writing Center with one’s own goals for the future—to balance both remembrance of institutional context with a renewed vision for the future, while taking into account the needs and interests of tutors, writers, and the campus community more broadly.

Friday, March 4th 11:30 a.m.—12:45 p.m.Breakout Session 22A: Workshop Room 304

“Reimagining the Writing Center: Considering Space, Rhetoric, and Marketing”

Jacob Herrmann and Aron Muci, University of Kansas

Writing centers across the nation vary in their physical space, rhetoric, and marketing decisions. This workshop will explore how our ideological structure shapes (or should shape) the physical spaces and rhetorical decisions of the writing center, which influences how we market ourselves to students and the university.


“Renewing our Commitment to Multilingual Writers in the Writing Center: An Approach from the Margins”

Marino Fernandes, Yu Tian, Jia Xian Siew, Jia Mo, and Yaning Cao, University of New Hampshire

In this panel presentation, H.E.L.P. (Hi, English Learning Partner) members and advisor introduce the audience to an unofficial writing center at a large university in the Northeast. HELPers are non-native English speakers who offer writing conferences for other multilingual writers who are ineligible for conferences at the University Writing Center.

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“Mind(fulness) over Matter: How Forging a Writing about Writing (WAW) Approach in the Writing Lab Means Taking a Step Back”

Elizabeth Busekrus, Missouri Baptist University

This presentation will discuss how the writing lab can integrate a writing about writing approach into tutoring sessions, moving from an improvement methodology to a mindful one. Tools for how to encourage mindfulness in this setting will be explained.

“A Tutor by Any Other Name: The State of Tutoring, Coaching, and Consulting in Contemporary Writing Centers”

Abraham Romney, Michigan Technical University

In light of debates about the terminology used for peer tutoring, I examine our center’s term “coach,” used for presumably less authoritative connotations. Its historical use reveals an interesting relationship to tutoring. The discussion is accompanied by data I have gathered about which terms are most popularly used in writing centers today.

“Using Found Money and Resources to (Re)build a Writing Center”

Jill Jenson and Emily Woster, University of Minnesota–Duluth

This presentation recounts one writing center’s approach to reopening a quality service on a budget less than one-third of what was originally estimated. Formalizing and leveraging cross-campus partnerships–using “found money and resources” –is a strategy potentially useful for any center facing shrinking budgets and diminished resources.

2D: Roundtable Panel Room 517

“The Risks and Rewards of Looking Off Campus: College and High School Writing Center Collaboration”

Alan Benson, Tim Allison, Kelsey Gierach, and Emilee Grunow, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

This roundtable builds upon an ongoing outreach project exploring how the development, staffing, and growth of a writing center can foster collaborative relationships between universities and high schools. Following a brief presentation about the project, attendees and panelists explore strategies for

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supporting and promoting collaboration between institutions in different contexts.


“Renewing the Peer Writing Center: Undergraduate Peer Tutoring in the Writing Studio”

Naomi Crummey, Karen Dillon, Sara Lewis, Gabrielle Maguire, Alexis Mayes, and Shelby Rainford, Blackburn College

Two first year writing faculty discuss how peer-facilitated writing studios renewed the writing center, improved student outcomes in first-year writing, and positioned peer writing assistants as co-teachers. Four peer writing assistants discuss both their experiences as students in writing studios and their methodologies as peer facilitators of them.

2F: Panel Presentation Room 315

“Hospitality in the Writing Center”

Katherine Pierson, Natalie Wiebelhaus, and Lucy Koch, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The Midwestern college and university writing center is a hospitable space within a system that can be brutal. In this presentation we discuss what hospitality means, considering social reformer Dorothy Day, the concept of the writing center couch, and methods for creating a welcoming and nurturing atmosphere for writers.

2G: Individual Presentations Room 310

“More Than Meets the Eye: Peer to Peer Tutoring Observations in an Undergraduate Writing Center”

Laura Beitler and Jenn Darby, Augustana College

Peer tutors from the Augustana College (Illinois) Reading/Writing Center will describe experiences, as observers and observed, with our Center’s new collaborative approach to evaluating peer tutoring sessions. They will explain our observation rubric and findings we have collected in early rounds of observation and reflection, demonstrating that humane assessment requires an intersection of heart, head, and eye.

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“Tutor, Teacher, Scholar, Administrator: A National Reflection on the Perceived Effects of Graduate Work in Writing Centers”

Katrina Bell, Colorado College

Through this project, I explore the perceived benefits of graduate work in writing centers on collaboration, occupation, scholarship, and administrative work. I will review my methods and preliminary findings of a national survey of current and former graduate student tutors and administrators, encouraging participants to reflect on their own experiences.

“Renewing Writing Center Practice through Assessment Research”

Jane Cogie, Southern Illinois University–Carbondale

In this presentation, I will discuss findings from a study analyzing session transcripts of novice tutors and the tutors’ reflective responses, and explore ways such research can renew writing center research, practice, and training and add to a writing center’s assessment portfolio within the wider university.

Friday, March 3rd 1:30—2:15 p.m.Poster Session Exhibit Hall Atrium

“Influence of Previous Experience on Discursive Practices of Online Writing Consultants”

Mariya Gyendina, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

The increase in online consultations creates the need to explore consultants’ training and the influence of consultants’ previous experience on their practices. This research shows the connections between consultants’ background and their practices of working with multilingual students based on interviews with consultants and discourse analysis of the session transcripts.

“Coffee Sloths at the Learning Commons Cafe”

Writing Center Consultants, Coe College

How can coffee help facilitate the writing/talking about writing process? We will tell the story of how coffee has come to be a part of our writing center culture, and encourage viewers of our poster to engage in discussion about the role of coffee in writing centers.

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“Using the “Old” to Find the New: Peer Tutor Collaboration in a Quest for a Synchronous Online Delivery System”

Benjamin Thiel, Mount Mercy University

Writing tutors at Mount Mercy University collaborated to explore Skype, Google Hangout, and other synchronous online delivery systems, with an eye toward offering online writing conferences. This poster will illustrate not only their findings and recommendations, but also the ways in which collaborative principles and socially constructed knowledge strengthened their process.

“Tutors as Equal Opportunity Participants: Embracing Curiosity and Active Learning”

Nate Thesing, Grand View University

This poster presentation emphasizes the importance of equal communication between tutors and writers through curiosity and active involvement with one another, encouraging for everyone the possibility for play and active learning , especially in regards to language use.

“How Not to Procrastinate: A Writing Center Assists with Long Night Against Procrastination”

Writing Center Consultants, Coe College

This poster session will document our writing center’s involvement in our college’s first “Long Night Against Procrastination.” Attendees will learn about how to set up and host a “Long Night” event, and how such an event might impact their writing center.

“Let’s Eat Grandma: Grammar’s Effect on Writing Centers”

Sean Donaldson, Coe College

How do we approach proofreading requests? Do we pair writers with copy-editors? Do we explain our shortcomings and proceed? Or do we suggest that our purpose is higher-order concerns including meaning and fluency? This presentation will attempt to foster a discussion about the solutions to the writing center grammar dilemma.

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Friday, March 4th 2:30—3:45 p.m.Breakout Session 3

3A: Workshop Room 304

“Reviewing the Tapes: Tutors’ Perceptions of Tutoring Talk and the Possibility of a Conversation-Analytic (CA) Training Approach”

Mike Haen, University of Wisconsin–Madison

I examine a training approach, in which centers require tutors to videotape sessions, view them, and reflect. I divide this workshop into three parts: (1) description of the training, (2) an interactive audience activity that works with data from my study, and (3) a discussion of CA as a training tool.


“The Things They Carry–The Importance of Tutor Alumni for a Community College Writing Center”

Jennifer Staben, Rosario Colon, Amanda Collins, Lucien Charland, Keane Mayer, and Mike Hulyk, College of Lake County

In this panel presentation, a community college writing center coordinator and five former tutors will explore the importance of “remembrance” by discussing how using the framework of the Peer Writing Tutor Alumni Project can benefit both individual tutors and the community college writing center as an institution.


“Getting Technical: Starting an Online Center at Michigan Technological University”

William De Herder, Rachel Hetherington, and Amanda Girard, Michigan Technical University

The MTU Multiliteracies Center will begin an asynchronous online service in January 2016. This presentation will discuss the design, training, and implementation of the new online service. The online center’s use of technology will be explored, including the use of Accudemia, Gmail, and “The E-consulting UBERdoc.”

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“Online Consultation with Native and Non-Native Speaking Students: Differences and Challenges”

Mariya Gyendina, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

The increase in online consulting creates the need for further research into consulting practices. This project explores the differences between consultants’ interactions with native and non-native speaking students, analyzing interviews with consultants, their comments on papers, and chat transcripts, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The presentation includes recommendations of best practices.

“Community Engagement with Asynchronous Online Tutoring at the Michigan Tech Multiliteracies Center”

William De Herder, Rachel Hetherington, and Amanda Girard: Michigan Technical University

The MTU Multiliteracies Center will begin an asynchronous online service in January 2016. This presentation will discuss the training and preparation of the Multiliteracies center’s undergraduate and interdisciplinary coaching community leading up to this change in medium.


“Making the Writing Center Meme-worthy: Space, Place, and Expanding the Base”

Meghan Roe, Nikki Howard, Emily Janda, and Natasha Kellogg, Briar Cliff University

Peer consultants and the writing center director at a small liberal arts college share their strategies to promote and build awareness across campus, such as using the writing center’s physical space and expanding the client base through social media and multimodal composing.

3E: Individual Presentations Room 519

“The Regrowth of Academic Literacy through Writing Center Conferences”

Christina Marty, University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley

Many college students are underprepared for college reading, which directly affects their writing proficiency. This presentation will discuss the ways in which

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a writing center can assist students in developing reading-to-write academic literacy skills and strategies that can be used to incorporate intentional academic literacy elements into writing center tutorials.

“The Effect of Specialization Transparency on Students and Consultants”

Fallon N. Allison and Billi Casey, Illinois Central College

We will share the results from our “transparency in specialization” pilot program to assess whether or not making students aware of consultants’ specializations will increase students’ awareness of the skill sets they are using and strengthening when writing in particular genres.

“Remembering the Body: Incorporating Kinesthetic Learning into Peer Consulting in Writing Centers”

Kate Nesbit, University of Iowa

I encourage writing centers to revitalize methods of instruction by incorporating practices of kinesthetic learning, learning by “doing.” Writing center scholarship, guides, and manuals often neglect gesture and movement in tutoring practice. This presentation provides writing center studies with strategies for remembering the body as a tool in peer consulting.


“Consultants in the Classroom: Reshaping Workshops on Writing”

Emily Gasper and Steve Singleton, Coe College

Each fall, Coe Writing Center consultants go into first-year seminar classes to present workshops on writing-related topics such as brainstorming, argument, revision, editing, and citation practices. In this presentation, we will explain the challenges we have faced in negotiating the needs and interests of many groups–including consultants, faculty, and first-year students–as we revised these presentations.

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Breakout Session 4Friday, March 4th 4:00—5:15 p.m.


“Kairos, not Comedy: Using Improv Training for Tutor Training”

Virginia Crank, University of Wisconsin–Lacrosse, and Josh Razavi, The Second City

This workshop will offer participants active practice in the use of improv acting exercises in the training of writing center tutors. Attendees will learn basic principles of improv and take part in exercises designed to illustrate how improv can create an environment in which tutors become more comfortable engaging a wide range of clients.

4B: Roundtable Panel Room 316

“First Year Writing Center Directors: facing opportunities for renewal, revolution, and remembrance”

Jane Nesmith, Coe College; Steve Price, Kirkwood Community College; Christa Tiernan, Iowa State University; Cydney Alexis, Kansas State University; and Naomi Clark, Loras College

This roundtable discussion brings together five new writing center directors to discuss their first year, a time when there is both opportunity for and resistance to renewal and regrowth. At the end of the session, we will consider with the audience what our experiences might say about the challenges all writing centers face today.


“Tutor’s Block: Rethinking Creative Writing and the Writing Center”

Rebecca Anderson and Joshua Bauer, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Writing centers often claim to help “all writers” with “all writing,” but when creative/artistic pieces come into the writing center, they tend to cause anxiety for both tutors and their creators. This presentation describes an ongoing research and retraining project aimed at better tutor training strategies to support creative writing.

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“Decisions, Decisions: How ‘Rules Talk’ in the Center Affects Power and Choice”

Caitie Leibman, Doane College

Writers navigate a sea of possibilities, weigh options, and make decisions. This project considers how undergraduate writers and peer consultants discuss choices, specifically during “rules talk”: moments that address external standards such as guidelines, conventions, or instructions. Using transcript analysis, this project explores how writer agency functions within “rules talk.”


“Evolving Pop Language in the Writing Center #popculturerevolution”

Rickie-Ann Legleitner, Caitlin Hill, McLain Wunschel, Michael Hurst, and Denim Lind, Black Hills State University

BHSU consultants have renewed their use of technology and social media, expanding the reach of the WC beyond the office walls while remaining cost effective. By shifting our rhetoric to include popular culture, we can better appeal to a wider audience and promote new modes of understanding the writing process.

4E: Individual Presentations Room 519

“The Spiral Reasoning Style: Voices of Latin American ESL Students in Academic Writing”

Kristina Kroger, Northeastern Illinois University

The spiral reasoning style in Latin American academic writing often appears in ESL students’ papers. We will examine a sample paper written in this style, and discuss how to help students maintain their unique voice while crafting papers that adhere to United States academic standards.

“Overwhelmed Sponsorship in Regional Writing Centers”

Erin Kunz, Mayville State University

Deborah Brandt’s theory of sponsorship suggests that learners typically have various support networks–or sponsors–to help them attain literacy. What happens when the writing center becomes the only sponsor available to a multitude of students, staff, and faculty? This presentation will discuss the challenges of sustaining an overwhelming sponsorship role. I advocate for a

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campus climate in which all sponsorship opportunities within the university are utilized.


“’You need help on a research article?’ Providing Graduate Students with Discipline-Relevant Consultations”

Abhijit Rao, Iowa State University

Tutoring graduate writers on their scholarship is one of the most complex and challenging tasks of a writing center consultant. We present the process of developing an interactive corpus of research articles to help novice graduate writers develop discipline-specific academic writing. The presenters demonstrate how the corpus functions during tutoring.

Breakout Session 5Saturday, March 5th 9:00—10:30 a.m.


“From Saudi Arabia to the Midwest Writing Center: Strategies for Assisting ELL Students”

Matt Muilenburg and Jessica Schreyer, University of Dubuque

UD has recently seen an influx of Saudi students. Writing Center staff members have been at the forefront of the push to introduce these students to the American educational system. We will ask participants to consider how their populations are changing and to discuss ways to best serve ELL students.


“When Tutoring is About More Than Just The Writing”

LuAnn Dvorak, Deirdre Egan, Kathryn Lawson, and Stephanie Tsank, University of Iowa

The University of Iowa’s Writing Center has a number of programs for students who need more than immediate help with a particular paper. The panel will describe the various ways in which these programs and their students challenge our tutors to renew and rethink their approaches.

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“Tutor Guided Reading (TGR) as a Writing Center Tutorial Strategy for Multilingual Student Writers”

Ambar Meneses-Hall, University of Wisconsin–Madison

To address the needs of increasing numbers of multilingual student writers using writing centers, I describe Tutor Guided Reading (TGR) as a tutorial strategy for teaching greater “linguistic awareness” of genre and discipline-specific conventions, organizational structures, formal versus informal language, and other stylistic matters.

“Renewing Our Tutors: Promoting Personal & Professional Development Within Tutor Training”

Bridget Draxler, Maddie Dohleman, and Neriangela Velez, Monmouth College

Writing Centers serve students across campus–but most importantly, they serve peer tutors themselves. This presentation explores how we can renew our tutors by including personal and professional skill development within ongoing tutor training programs, on topics such as vocational discernment, tutors as writers, mindfulness, and tutoring in the liberal arts.

“Embodying Egalitarian and Collaborative Principles in Consultant Training, Ongoing Education, and Professional Development”

Aron Muci, The University of Kansas

I argue that a traditional, hierarchical tutor training model, in which administrators deliver practical knowledge and procedural information to employees in a one-way energy flow, is incompatible with egalitarian and collaborative philosophies. Therefore, I seek to answer the question: how can we embody fundamental qualities of contemporary writing center philosophy in consultant training, education, and professional development? I advocate for a hybridized model in order to locate and sustain agency, energy, creativity and talent among student employees.

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5D: Individual Presentations Room 517

“The Learning Commons Model: Collaboration, Continuity, and Challenges”

Gabriella Torres and Jessica Johanningmeier, Cornell College

A learning commons model affords opportunities for writing, quantitative, library, and technology consultants to collaborate for instruction and student conferences. This collaboration creates several benefits for faculty, students, and consultants. We will present examples of courses in which we collaborate to create a learning atmosphere that encourages excellence in students.

“From Clubhouse to Learning Commons: How a Change of Location Affected a Writing Center’s Culture and Work”

Christiana Carroll, Karl Rieckman, and Melissa Wendel, Coe College

We will examine the impact of our writing center’s move from a spacious clubhouse-like location in the student union to a much smaller space in the library’s learning commons. A group of undergraduate peer tutors will share their analysis of the ways our writing center’s culture and work was affected by moving to a very different physical space.

“The Writing Center and the Inclusive Rhetoric of Change”

Cassandra Bausman, Trine University

My presentation considers how we can best communicate our ethical values and best practices with an uninitiated university community. My presentation will argue for an inclusive vocabulary, developing a rhetoric that acknowledges the past while insisting upon evolution and change, seeking an intermediate step between removing the old system and enshrining the new.


“The Dreaded Required Visit: Renewed and Improved”

Caryn Kiel, Richard Marshall, Brad Neal, Han Shih, and Chelsea Wieland, University of Indianapolis

A new embedded tutor program will be outlined by the tutors and the faculty involved. Discussion will include how, with direct feedback from tutors, an assignment has grown from a perfunctory required writing center visit to a process-oriented system that has furthered a chemistry course’s learning goals.

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“Managing Logistics, Keeping with Tradition: Growing a Writing Center at the Community College”

Sheryl Bundy, Mike McGuire, Alicea Toso, and Susan Tuxford, Moraine Valley Community College

Administrators, faculty, support staff, and consultants of Moraine Valley Community College’s Speaking and Writing Center share the logistics of managing a rapidly-growing facility in an environment that requires teamwork and creative problem solving outside the boundaries of the traditional English department.

Breakout Session 6Saturday, March 5th 10:30—11:45 a.m.


“From Task to Text: Peer Tutors and the Development of Writing Prompts”

Jeanine Bruening, Daniel Reardon, and Jossalyn Larson, Missouri University of Science and Technology

This workshop introduces a collaborate effort to involve undergraduate writing tutors in developing and refining writing prompts. Participants will take part in a demonstration of the project’s potential and consider the advantages and challenges of initiating a similar project in their own programs.


“Don’t You Forget About Me: Writing Centers as Breakfast Clubs”

Ella Sherman, Hannah Gill, Miray Demian, Xavier Royer, and Natalie Schneider-Brooks, University of Nebraska–Omaha

The writing center is made up of many unique groups; however, groups such as undergraduate tutors, graduate assistant tutors, non-native tutors, supporting staff, and clients from underrepresented demographics are often ignored or underutilized. This panel will examine the challenges and benefits of “The Breakfast Club” within the writing center.

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6C: Panel/Workshop Room 319

“’Writing Is an Act of Courage’: The Role of Praise & Encouragement in Peer Tutoring”

Megan Knight and three members of the University of Iowa’s Honors Writing Fellows Program, University of Iowa

In this panel/workshop, presenters will describe the role praise played in their own literacy development, and explain the function and purpose of praise and encouragement in their peer-tutoring practices. Audience members will be invited to ask questions and share strategies about the concept of praise as a pedagogical tool.


“Establishing Perennials: Roots, Cultivation, and Proliferation in Science through Writing”

Carol Martin and Linda Vick, North Park University

Vick and Martin report developments over seven years in an experimental WAC project in Biology. Vick details developments in Zoology reconceived as a writing/research course; Martin explains benefits of the Biology program to a WAC-style peer faculty development campus-wide. They invite a discussion of science programs and faculty development strategies.


“Never the Same River Twice: A Case Study of an Evolving Center”

Caitie Leibman and Philip Weitl, Doane College

A new location, director, and resources prompted the Doane College Writing Center to reflect on its origins and respond to an evolving campus. This panel, including the previous and current directors as well as undergraduate consultants, will explore the implications of systemic change for a writing center.

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2016 MWCA Conference: Local Restaurants

Cedar Rapids boasts a number of quality, local restaurants and bars offering big city options at small-town prices. The Downtown Cedar Rapids restaurants and New Bohemia restaurants are within walking distance of the Doubletree convention center. Below is a selection of local options.

Downtown Cedar Rapids:Cobble Hill: Local, high-end American 219 2nd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

The Lost Cuban: Homemade Cuban food 209 3rd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

Zins: Tapas 227 2nd Ave SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

White Star Ale House: American/Wine Bar 305 2nd Ave SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

The Quarter Barrel Arcade and Brewery: Bar food; vintage arcade games616 2nd Ave SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

Brick’s Sports Bar: Pub food320 2nd Ave SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

Phong Lan: Vietnamese 216 8th St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

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La Cantina: Mexican 102 2nd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

Austin Blues: BBQ210 3rd Ave SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

Culata: Dominican 210 3rd Ave SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

New Bo:NewBo City Market: 12+ restaurant options under one roof 1100 3rd Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401

Bata’s: Upscale American 1006 3rd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

Parlor City Pub and Eatery: Pub food; many local beers on tap1125 3rd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

Brewhemia: Upscale coffee shop serving local liquor and food1101 3rd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401


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Breakfast:The Early Bird316 2nd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401

The Blue Strawberry118 Second Street SECedar Rapids, Iowa 52401

Riley’s Café 836 1st Ave NECedar Rapids, IA 52402

Brewhemia 1101 3rd St SECedar Rapids, IA 52401


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Map of Downtown Cedar Rapids

DoubleTree Cedar Rapids

Convention Complex

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Get involved. community.macmillan.com

To request your complimentary review copy now, please visit: macmillanhighered.com/English

In 1984, we published The Bedford Bibliography for Teachers of Writing, the first resource of its kind in the field of rhetoric and composition. Today everything we make is still built to meet the needs of a growing field and changing classroom. We are proud to work with accomplished teachers and scholars who bring their ideas to the classroom in innovative and engaging ways. Join us as we celebrate the work that teachers and students do.

Get involved. At Bedford/St. Martin’s, we’re eager to work with you.

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Professional Resources Because teaching is central to composition, Bedford/St. Martin’s supports the work that teachers do with something for everyone — from the first-time teaching assistant to the program director.

We asked 1,600 students how they search for help with writing problems: we built our smart search with their responses in mind. Writer’s Help 2.0 gives reliable results even when students aren’t familiar with composition terms and instead use terms like flow, point, or getting unstuck. With comprehensive content from authors you trust, Writer’s Help 2.0 is an online writing resource that answers writers’ questions and lets instructors track student achievement. Now available with any Bedford/St. Martin’s title for only $10 net.

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Andrea A. Lunsford, Stanford University

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Collaborative at Cs

April 6, 2016Houston, TX Summer

InstituteJune 5-10, 2016

Bryan, TX

IWCA Conference

October 14-16, 2016Denver, CO

UPCOMING EVENTS

IWC A

http://writingcenters.org

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Our mission.

To participate in the survey, please visit

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/research/survey

Get involved.

THE WRITING CENTERS

RESEARCH PROJECT

MAKE YOUR MARK.

The WCRP conducts and supports research on writing

center theory and practice and collects information about

writing center operations, administration, and usage.

Learn more.Contact:Allison Holland ([email protected])for information about the WCRP orHarry Denny ([email protected])about the WCRP Survey.

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Write St. Louis!The largest humanities department at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, we offer an undergraduate major and a minor in English, an MA with a concentration in literature or writing studies, and an MFA in creative writing, as well as undergraduate certiÞcates in professional and creative writing and a graduate certiÞcate in the Teaching of Writing. The Department’s award-winning faculty are dedicated and innovative teachers, writers, and researchers, offering courses reßecting the wide range of our discipline: theories of writing, literacy, and rhetoric; editing and professional writing; the teaching of writing; disability studies; editing; linguistics; Þlm; and British, American, and world literatures. We also offer courses in cooperation with the Gender Studies Program, the Honors College, and the College of Education. We operate a Writing Center that serves the entire campus and is staffed by graduate students, and we publish two literary magazines, Natural Bridge and Litmag.

For more information, contact:

University of Missouri–St. LouisDepartment of English

1 University Blvd. 484 Lucas Hall St. Louis, MO 63121-4400

(314) 516-5541 1-888-GO-2-UMSLumsl.edu/divisions/artscience/english

e

English

Suellynn DuffeyWriting Program [email protected]

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Documents

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