Kentucky

SWCA Kentucky State Representative: Scott Whiddon

Exciting news!! Kentucky writing centers now has a listerv!

Click on the link for subscription info: http://listserve.eku.edu/mailman/listinfo/kywc

KYWC Director’s Day Notes - July 15, 2011

Participants: Leslie Valley, Russell Carpenter, Jared Odd, Scott Whiddon, Judy Prats, Mandy Davis, Adam Robinson, and Janet Eldred (via Skype)

After introductions, refreshments, and a tour of the Noel Studio, participants began discussing the current focuses of their centers:

•Integration of composition, written and oral

•Faculty and student outreach

•Distant students: regional, branch campuses

•Online services

•Marketing

•Writing Across the Curriculum

•Multimodal Composition

Since so many centers seemed to be focused on the same issues, we discussed ways that we could support each other:

•Listserv (EKU to create and host)

•Regular face-to-face meetings

•Cross-institutional grants

•Collaborative training sessions

•SWCA state meetings

•Social Media (Facebook page for students—Adam will create)

•KY Virtual University (Janet will look into)

•Second Life

•Professional Development for directors (reading and discussing new texts); also, consider

bringing pairing with a faculty member on campus to involve?

•Dropbox

•State conference

Other points of discussion:

•“Fix it” issues—is technology becoming the new grammar?

•Community Literacy and Engagement

•Writing centers should have a political presence in 21st Century literacy: contacting legislators

•Labor issues that affect the WC: who designs curriculum vs. who teaches courses

•Visual rhetoric and tutor training

•Branding

•Service Learning

•Assessment

•Demonstrating impact on campus

•Helping faculty embrace changes (i.e., tutor/consultant, writing center/studio, multimodal, etc.)

•Writing coordinators in Learning Resource Centers

•Written communication tends to be expressive; oral communication is often template-driven

•Establishing partnerships on campus, perhaps through an advisory committee

After all of the discussion, we realized that we came up with 2 main goals: 1) Exploring avenues for more extensive and cohesive professional development, and 2) establishing more collaboration in training. As a result, we decided on some next steps:

1.EKU will create and host a listserv for KY writing center directors.

2.Adam Robinson will create a Facebook page that will primarily serve as a place of contact and

  discussion for consultants/tutors.

3.Leslie Valley will create a KYWC dropbox that will serve as a repository where directors can share

  readings, training and assessment materials, and other resources. If you would like access to the

  dropbox, please email Leslie at leslie.valley@eku.edu

4.Tentative dates for proposed collaborative training: Sept. 16th, 17th, 23rd, and 24th. Some

  directors thought it would be easier to bring students on a Saturday when they don’t have classes;

  others thought students would be more apt to attend if they could miss classes on a Friday. The

  final date will be chosen by the majority and a cap for attendance will be determined once the date

  and number of participating institutions is established. A tentative agenda was discussed and can

  be found in the dropbox.

Ideally, the collaborative training would lead to potential presentation opportunities at SWCA and the future state conference

5.Identifying shared readings for professional development. Some proposed titles were:

  Academically Adrift

  Public Work of Rhetoric

  Radiant Textuality

Sponsoring an Event

We like to have free and low-cost events so everyone can attend. If your institution is able to sponsor or

co-sponsor an event, please contact Scott Whiddon.

Other ideas and Suggestions?

Contact the KY rep: Scott Whiddon

SWCA

est. 1981

southeastern writing center association

SWCA - 2012

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