Like lines drawn in the sand… Writing Center work is continuously recast by ever-changing policies in higher education, innovations in technology, outsourced alternatives to student services, increased diversity of student populations, and progressions in writing center praxis. With the tides, we must be willing to shift within our philosophies and our policies in order to [...]

Each year, writingcenters.org publishes a review of the prior year’s conferences–short reflections and full-length papers that were presented at the prior year’s IWCA, NCPTW, and regional conferences. We are pleased to present IWCA Conference Notes #3, which will run through the remainder of summer 2011. Download IWCA Conference Notes #3 here. Enjoy!

In the fall 2009 issue of Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, Rebecca Day Babcock (University of Texas of the Permian Basin) interviews Ben Rafoth (IUP) about writing centers.   An Interview with Ben Rafoth on Writing Center Research, Dissertations, and Job Opportunities By: Rebecca Day Babcock, University of Texas of the Permian Basin Ben Rafoth [...]

Save the Date: IWCA Talk Time for March, 2011, 1:00-2:00 PM Eastern (12 Cen, 11 Mtn, 10 Pac) Join Jared Featherstone and members of his writing center staff for the first spring 2011 IWCA Talk Time. Jared and staff will discuss the conception and production of their writing center music video “We Think You’re Gonna [...]

Wittenberg University Writing Center’s short film can be viewed at http://www5.wittenberg.edu/administration/writingcenter/movie.html . Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Unfortunate Writer by Laura Kay, Wittenberg University When I was originally approached to create promotional films for the Wittenberg Writing Center, my initial idea was to simply make videos that were straightforward, to the point, and [...]

Since the inception of the European Writing Centers Association, Dilek Tokay has served as a founder, leader, and moving force in the development of the organization and its collaboration with IWCA. She has hosted the EWCA conference, served as president, and hosts the EWCA website among other things. She has hosted many leaders from IWCA [...]

Congratulations to Dr. Leigh Ryan and Dr. Brian Fallon for recognition of their outstanding service and leadership in IWCA and NCPTW. At the November 6 keynote luncheon at the IWCA-NCPTW 2010 conference in Baltimore, MD, Drs. Ryan and Fallon were presented with their respective awards. Below is the transcript of the speech given by Al [...]

Paula Gillepsie, Director of the Center for Excellence in Writing at Florida International University and former President of the International Writing Centers Association (2001-03), writes about language diversity students at the CCCC Blog: “One year and one month ago I made a move that was as much a seismic shift as a transplantation. After 29 [...]

The IWCA board is now accepting nominations for the following board member positions. These are board positions with voting privileges; two-year terms will begin in November of 2010 following NCTE. Positions include: • Six at-large representatives • One graduate student representative • One community college representative • One secondary school representative All nominees must be [...]

An interview with high school writing center director Jennifer Wells “Summary: Jennifer Wells, a teacher-consultant with the Central California Writing Project, writes about the establishment of a writing center at her high school and advises educators on how to create writing centers that are hubs of writing for writers of all levels.” Read Art Peterson’s [...]

Congratulations to Isabelle Thompson of Auburn University, whose 2009 Written Communication article received the IWCA’s Best Article Award for 2009. Thompson’s article “Scaffolding in the Writing Center: A Microanalysis of an Experienced Tutor’s Verbal and Nonverbal Tutoring Strategies” (Written Communication, 26.4, 417-453) was announced as the Best Article Award Committee’s choice at the Thursday evening [...]

The Hurricane and the Writing Lab by Bonnie Devet and tutors Ericka Burroughs, Lydia Hopson, Donna Kenyon, Trisha Martin, Cheryl Sims, Hope Norment, Liz Young, Prof. Sylvia Gamboa, Prof. Kathy Haney College of Charleston Writing Lab In late September, Hurricane Hugo roared through Charleston, South Carolina, ripping off roofs, toppling massive oaks onto buildings, and [...]

Access the IWCA NDoW blog and read what those in and out of your time zones are writing: http://blogs.bgsu.edu/dayonwriting . For our international writing center friends, please join in the celebration of writing at http://blogs.bgsu.edu/internationaldayonwriting. Visit the IWCA’s NDoW information page at http://writingcenters.org/2009/10/participate-in-the-national-day-of-writing-october-20-2009/ .

Visit Writing Centers’ National Galleries of Writing and other NDoW sites at http://writingcenters.org/2009/10/writing-center-ndow-galleries-submit-your-link-today-ndow-is-october-20/ . Dear Writing Center Colleagues, Perhaps you’re still planning your celebration for the National Day on Writing. The IWCA team to promote NDoW is at no loss for ideas– Karl Fornes, The University of South Carolina Aiken Writing Center, has suggested a [...]

Beginning in Spring 2009, a biannual feature of the IWCA website will be a collection of reflections and reports from the semester’s writing center-related conferences, institutes, and other events. The pieces will be authored by conference participants; all IWCA members as well as non-members who attended a conference or other event are invited to submit [...]

IWCA presents a screencast of Sherri Winans’ 2008 Northern California Writing Centers Association Regional Conference keynote address entitled “Writing Selves in the Center: Possibility, Play, and Potential Space.” Visit http://media.waol.org/8433/Writing%20Selves%20Sherri%20Winans.swf to view the keynote address. Sherri is director of the Writing Center at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Washington and the community college representative for [...]

By Lisa Ede, Oregon State University, Paula Gillespie, Marquette University, and Brad Hughes, University of Wisconsin-Madison Wow!  This past summer the three of us finished one of the most satisfying experiences of our long writing center careers–co-chairing the 6th Annual IWCA Summer Institute (SI), which was held July 20-25, 2008, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  [...]

Theory—or at least the term “theory”—can be highly problematic.  Let me say upfront that I don’t make this claim lightly, for I feel as though I have spent much of my academic career pondering the relationship of theory and practice (primarily because I initially found the term theory to be so vexing).  Subsequently, I have [...]

Do essays make you feel uptight? Do you have trouble when you write? Perhaps you don’t know how to start or end or write the middle part? We can chase your fears away, and show you what you want to say. Do thesis statements make you wince? Does evidence not quite convince? Is organization but [...]

Book Review by MaryAnn Crawford, Ellen Schendel, Barbara Toth MaryAnn Crawford is the Director of the Writing Center/Basic Writing and University Writing Program and a Professor of English at Central Michigan University Ellen Schendel is an Associate Professor in the Writing Department, and the Director of the Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors [...]