15th Annual Fall Carolinas Writing Program Administrators Conference
September 17-19, 2018 | Wildacres Retreat, Little Switzerland, NC (Directions) | $220/$210 (includes 2 nights lodging, 5 meals)
- Proposal deadline:11:59PM Friday, August 24, 2018
- Registration deadline: 11:59PM Monday, September 10, 2018
Monday Evening Keynote Speaker: Wendy Sharer, East Carolina University
Tuesday Workshop Leaders: Wendy Sharer and Kerri Bright Flinchbaugh, East Carolina University
Promoting Metacognition in the Classroom
Metacognition—monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting one’s own approaches to learning—is essential for a writer’s development. Our Monday evening interactive session will introduce participants to research about and fundamental practices for fostering metacognition.
Our Tuesday workshop will focus on two related areas: 1) strategies for helping students develop metacognitive awareness of their writing processes, and 2) promoting metacognitive pedagogy through WAC–based professional development. Time will be provided for participants to begin planning activities and assignments for their courses and/or to sketch out structures for metacognition-focused faculty workshops.
Conference Schedule and Format. The conference begins at 5:00 pm on Monday, September 17, and concludes at 10:00 am on Wednesday, September 19. Wendy Sharer’s Monday evening interactive keynote session on metacognition will be followed by a full day Tuesday of workshops and presentations for and by writing teachers and program administrators. Non-tenure track members and attendees are invited to gather to talk shop and make connections during the NTT Network portion of the retreat. Paula Patch will convene that group. Unscripted time will be available, too, on the beautiful mountaintop of Wildacres Retreat, with a closing session Wednesday morning. All meals are provided.
Wildacres Retreat is a low-tech, informal setting conducive to relaxing, collaborating, and learning with friends and colleagues across the Carolinas. We welcome teams or solo participants from across our region.
Call for Proposals. You are entirely welcome to attend without presenting, but those whose proposals are accepted will be listed on the formal agenda. This may help you advocate for travel funding. Proposals also help us plan appropriate groups and design activities around members’ goals.
We encourage individual or team proposals from people in the Carolinas who are working in any teaching, research, or administrative positions related to writing. We also welcome creative interpretation – and deviation – from this year’s theme of Promoting Metacognition in the Classroom.
Three different presentation types reflect members’ interests:
- Problem: Describe a teaching, program leadership, or research problem that you would like help thinking about with other attendees. 20 minutes includes feedback time.
- Showcase: Share a teaching method or writing program leadership strategy that is working well at your site. Or present findings from a study you’re involved in that would interest writing teachers and WPAs. 20 minutes includes feedback time.
- Other: You have an idea for Wildacres that doesn’t fit either category. Explain! Include how much time you would need between 15-60 minutes.
Proposals include:
- Names and contact information (email, phone, home institution) for each person associated with your proposal
- Type of presentation (problem, showcase, other)
- A title and brief description for the program
- Your specific goals for presenting
Submit your proposal by completing this online proposal form.
Registration and Cost. The registration fee of $220 for full-time tenure track faculty and $210 for other faculty and graduate students includes 2 nights’ lodging, and 5 meals at Wildacres, as well as all conference materials and annual voting membership in Carolinas Writing Program Administrators.
Deadline. Conferencegoers must register by 11:59PM Monday, September 10, 2018.
Plans changed? Registration will be fully refunded if we are notified by 11:59PM Friday, September 7.
Questions or Comments? – Contact Collie Fulford, cfulfor1@nccu.edu
Keynote Speaker and Workshop Leader: Wendy Sharer
Wendy Sharer is professor of English at East Carolina University where she directs the Quality Enhancement Plan, “Write Where You Belong.” Previously, she was ECU’s Director of Writing Foundations for six years. Her interests include composition pedagogy, writing program administration, feminist theory, and the history of rhetoric and composition. She has served as President of the Carolinas Writing Program Administrators and has just completed a term on the Executive Committees of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). Additionally, she is Vice President of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition (CFSHRC) and a member of the editorial boards for the journals WPA: Writing Program Administration and Peitho (the journal of CFSHRC). Now that her term as QEP Director is wrapping up, she plans to return to a research project focused on writing instruction in the camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s.
Workshop Leader: Kerri Bright Flinchbaugh
Kerri Bright Flinchbaugh is a former high school English teacher who currently serves as the Assistant Director of East Carolina University’s University Writing Program while also working on a PhD in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication. As Assistant Director, she coordinates and facilitates faculty development on various aspects of teaching and utilizing writing in courses across the disciplines, develops and organizes programmatic assessment, and directs ECU’s WAC Academy and Advanced Academy – a series of workshops fashioned after the National Writing Project model of professional development for instructors from across the university. She also serves on the leadership team for the Tar River Writing Project. Her research and academic interests include writing studies, writing center & program administration, identity theory, transfer of writing skills, and threshold concepts in composition across the disciplines. At this time, she is focusing on finishing and defending her dissertation.