Writing Program Administration at Small Liberal Arts Colleges

Jill M. Gladstein, Dara Rossman Regaignon

Description

WRITING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION AT SMALL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES presents an empirical study of the writing programs at one hundred small, private liberal arts colleges. Jill M. Gladstein and Dara Rossman Regaignon provide detailed information about a type of writing program not often highlighted in the scholarly record and offer a model for such national, multi-institutional research.

Informations

• Publié par: Parlor Press, LLC
• Date de parution: 19 mars 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781602353077
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Writing Program Administration
Series Editors: Susan H. McLeod and Margot Soven
The Writing Program Administration series provides a venue for scholarly monographs and projects that are research- or theory-based and that provide insights into important issues in the field. We encourage submissions that examine the work of writing program administration, broadly defined (e.g., not just administration of first-year composition programs). Possible topics include but are not limited to 1) historical studies of writing program administration or administrators (archival work is particularly encouraged); 2) studies evaluating the relevance of theories developed in other fields (e.g., management, sustainability, organizational theory); 3) studies of particular personnel issues (e.g., unionization, use of adjunct faculty); 4) research on developing and articulating curricula; 5) studies of assessment and accountability issues for WPAs; and 6) examinations of the politics of writing program administration work at the community college.
Books in the Series
The WPA Outcomes Statement—A Decade Later , edited by Nicholas Behm, Gregory Glau, Deborah Holdstein, Duane Roen, and Edward M. White (2012)
GenAdmin: Theorizing WPA Identities in the 21st Century by Colin Charlton, Jonikka Charlton, Tarez Samra Graban, Kathleen J. Ryan, and Amy Ferdinandt Stolley (2011)


Writing Program Administration at Small Liberal Arts Colleges
Jill M. Gladstein and
Dara Rossman Regaignon
Parlor Press
Anderson, South Carolina
www.parlorpress.com


Parlor Press LLC, Anderson, South Carolina, USA
© 2012 by Parlor Press
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
S A N: 2 5 4 - 8 8 7 9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gladstein, Jill M., 1968-
Writing program administration at small liberal arts colleges / Jill M. Gladstein and Dara Rossman Regaignon.
p. cm. -- (Writing Program Adminstration)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60235-304-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-305-3 (alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-306-0 (adobe ebook) -- ISBN 978-1-60235-307-7 (epub)
1. English language--Rhetoric--Study and teaching--United States. 2. Report writing--Study and teaching (Higher)--United States. 3. Writing centers--Administration. 4. Small colleges--United States. 5. Education, Humanistic--United States. I. Regaignon , Dara Rossman. II. Title.
PE1405.U6G55 2012
808’.042071173--dc23
2012005637
1 2 3 4 5
Cover background by Lisa-Blue, © 2010. Used by permission
Cover design by David Blakesley
Printed on acid-free paper.
Parlor Press, LLC is an independent publisher of scholarly and trade titles in print and multimedia formats. This book is available in paper, cloth and eBook formats from Parlor Press on the World Wide Web at http://www.parlorpress.com or through online and brick-and-mortar bookstores. For submission information or to find out about Parlor Press publications, write to Parlor Press, 3015 Brackenberry Drive, Anderson, South Carolina, 29621, or e-mail [e-mail].


Contents
Foreword Writing Programs at Liberal Arts Colleges: Treasures in Small Packages
Carol Rutz
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Studying Writing Program Administration at Small Liberal Arts Colleges
I:A Grounded Theory of Writing Program Administration
1 The Small Liberal Arts College Structure of Feeling
2 Grounded Theory and Mixed Methods Research
3 Mapping Small College Sites of Writing
4 Configurations of Writing Program Leadership
5 Positioning of Writing Program Administrators
II:Curriculum-Centered Writing Instruction
6 Writing Requirements
7 Staffing First-Year Writing
8 Redefining Small College Writing Programs: Leadership Configurations and Writing Requirements
III:Student-Centered Writing Instruction
9 Writing Centers
10 Supporting Diversely Prepared Writers
IV : Small College Writing Programs
11 Assessment
12 Conclusion
Appendix A: List of Schools Invited to Complete the Survey
Agnes Scott College
Appendix B: Writing at SLACs Survey
Appendix C: Initial E-mail Invitation to Complete the Survey
Appendix D: Supplemental Tables
Appendix E: Assessment Materials from Occidental College
Appendix F: List of Questions for Schools to Consider when Investigating Writing Program Structures
Notes
Works Cited
Index for the Print Edition
About the Authors


Foreword Writing Programs at Liberal Arts Colleges: Treasures in Small Packages
Carol Rutz
Question: Why write a book about the administration of writing programs in small liberal arts colleges (SLACs) that collectively account for only about five percent of the post-secondary options available to students in the U.S.? Writing Program Administration at Small Liberal Arts Colleges offers answers to that question based on top-notch research. By collecting and analyzing comparative data on writing programs, the authors demonstrate that SLACs exhibit a culture of long-standing commitments to writing and writing instruction; SLACs organize writing programs in creative ways; SLACs, though small in scale, can achieve institutional agility difficult for large universities; and SLACs have much to learn from one another—and much to teach colleagues at other, larger institutions.
Far from being negligible in the greater pantheon of higher education, the SLAC acts out a historical commitment to liberal education rooted in rhetoric, both written and spoken. Smaller institutional and class sizes allow for greater interaction between faculty and students, often resulting in focused attention on writing to learn, writing in the disciplines, and writing across the curriculum. The SLAC mission typically specifies citizenship and communication as institutional goals, and small schools take their missions seriously, actively working with alumni to update expectations of employers, graduate and professional schools, and service opportunities.
Much has been written about the tendency of graduate programs to replicate themselves by preparing graduate students for tenure-track teaching and administrative positions in research institutions. However, as study after study reports, graduate students in all fields are wise to broaden their job search strategies as they seek to put their graduate degrees to work. Toward that end, graduate programs are beginning to inform their faculty and graduate students about opportunities at regional universities, community colleges, proprietary institutions, the corporate world, non-profits, and yes, SLACs.
At SLACs, a writing program may consist of required courses, writing across the curriculum, writing in the major, or perhaps required or optional capstone projects with a thesis component. The program may be housed in a department (often English), and it may include a writing center staffed with professional tutors, undergraduate peer tutors, or professional staff responsible for training and supervising undergraduates. In some cases, the writing center is separate from the curricular components of the writing program, and an independent, non-departmental writing curriculum may be staffed with one or more professionals charged with faculty development, assessment, and outreach. As the authors observe, some of the organizational features of SLAC writing programs reveal long-standing practices based more in tradition than in function. Nevertheless, SLACs can adapt to changing expectations, often embracing a challenging new idea more easily than a larger institution.
However a SLAC writing program is configured, it serves a common institutional mandate: teaching and assessing writing skills as a learning outcome. Writing lends itself well to assessment, and assessment methods work best when tailored to local situations. SLACs teach and support writing in a variety of ways—carefully documented in this volume—that can support thoughtful assessment as well. However, the busy WPA at one SLAC may be unaware of assessment programs at similar institutions. The authors of this book show through multiple methods that good answers to common (and vexing!) questions reside in colleagues’ experiences. A phone call between writing program administrators, writing center directors, deans, or program faculty may open up possibilities invisible to problem-solvers at a given site. In this sense, the authors promote collaboration across campuses and consortia in search of innovative ideas.
Readers from SLACs will find that their local writing program, whatever its design, is represented in the authors’ exhaustive inventory, along with other models well worth consideration. Anyone who wants to know the likelihood that a SLAC has, say, a writing center separate from an academic department can find the answer here—as well as data on FTE, assessment methods, staff vs. faculty appointments, and much more. As a reference, readers will be impressed with the range and completeness of the research.
Most important, however, is the deep understanding of the SLAC world reflected by the authors, and theorized through data and experience. Those who prepare WPAs for jobs in all kinds of schools will find the insights here relevant as they teach and advise graduate students. Readers currently at SLACs will understand their own institutions better in the context of the larger SLAC universe—a universe of surprising variety, innovation, and commitment to writing instruction and administration.