Our fall conference is our largest event of the year with 600-1000+ attendees participating in hundreds of presentations, workshops, and roundtables over the three-day event. The annual conference is a welcoming event for new and experienced writing center tutors, scholars, and professionals. 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS (Submission Portal Opening Soon!)

Theme: Common Ground: Reorganizing, Expanding, Collaborating

Date: October 29 to October 31 2026

The consolidation of writing centers with other services or into other service areas is an increasingly common practice. From a pragmatic administrative point of view, it may make sense to co-locate services, merge various learning centers together, or incorporate writing centers into other sites like libraries and learning commons. There can be numerous benefits to co-locating or consolidating services, both for writing centers and for other academic units like libraries. Mahaffy notes, for example, “As writing centers sometimes are given periphery status, often living on the margins of the English department, locating in the library provides them a more central and prominent location,” (174) while Elmborg argues, “Libraries, meanwhile, are undergoing a crisis of space…the nature of library space is changing, and libraries are actively exploring ways to create space for collaboration and education” (9-10). Similar partnerships and collaborations exist in international contexts as well. Godínez López writes about the institutional placement as well as the collaboration efforts of three writing centers in Mexico, and how each writing center has had to adapt or redefine itself in order to continue to support students (3). Ultimately, Godínez López identifies, among other factors, a strong pedagogical foundation and the centrality of tutoring as important for writing centers maintaining their continuity (29).

Yet, as contributing authors to Writing Centers and Learning Commons: Staying Centered while Sharing Common Ground note, “What may seem like an obvious fit to university administrators—to merge writing centers with other, similar student services—brings up many long-held anxieties on the part of writing center professionals” (3). These anxieties emerge most notably in writing centers’ historical marginalization, both as sites of writing and as a method of writing support. As Elizabeth Boquet notes in “‘Our Little Secret’: A History of Writing Centers Pre- to Post-Open Admissions,” the writing lab in the early 20th century was most legible as a method of instruction, contrasted with the writing classroom; however, as the century wore on, writing labs became readily recognized for their sites. She argues that, between the 1920s and 1940s, there’s “evidence of the tension emerging between the institutional space of the writing center and the individual pedagogies enacted in that space” (467). I argue this tension continues today and is, perhaps, most clearly exemplified in the move to consolidate writing centers with other learning support services, libraries, and learning commons. When we’re called to change how we operate, how do writing centers transform and innovate to continue to support students?

Unifying a writing center with other services poses some perceived risks for the writing center, especially in terms of identity and practices. In “How are Learning Centers Working Out: Maintaining Identity During Consolidation,” Malkiel Choseed asserts, “A writing center director must convince stakeholders that the links to our discipline and proven expertise are worth maintaining” (19). That is, even as the space of a writing center shifts and changes, there is need and value to maintaining writing center pedagogical practices, values, and beliefs. As writing centers are unified or co-located with other services, their mission may necessarily expand, creating uncertainties around how to position writing center work in the context of the institution. 

Yet, mergers and consolidation position writing centers to expand on their missions, evolve their methods, and amplify their impact on student success.

In her Peripheral Visions for Writing Centers, Jackie Grutsch McKinney asserts, “the writing center grand narrative has narrowed our gaze to such a degree that others do not understand the complexity of our work and we continue to face untenable positions because of it” (85). She ultimately argues for an expanded vision of writing center work and how we in writing centers communicate what we do. While she briefly discusses multiliteracy centers and centers for writing excellence, other types of consolidation, especially into new spaces or organizational structures, present opportunities for the writing center to demonstrate its value and why the work we do is so critical for student success. As Choseed notes, it can be a time for writing centers to lead.

For IWCA 2026, we seek proposals on any topic related to writing centers, with extra interest in topics that address the following questions:

• How has a recent consolidation in services affected the operational, pedagogical, or socio-emotional functions of your center, and how are you responding to this change? 

• How has the current, recent, and historical institutional placement of your center  influenced your working life and strategies for work as a practitioner? 

• How do writing/learning center and service institutional placements differ across international settings? What benefits and limitations do these placements present for your work? 

• What impact, if any, has consolidation/reorganization/collaboration had on usage and success rates for students who utilize the writing center?

• In what ways has your center negotiated identity and pedagogical practices during mergers or consolidations?

Because IWCA 2026 will be hosted virtually, this gives presenters an array of flexible options when it comes to proposal types and modalities. Please consider the following options:

• Individual Presentations (synchronous or asynchronous): a 15-20-minute presentation on a question, topic, or issue relevant to the conference theme. Individual presentations will be combined into a conference panel by conference organizers.

• Panel Presentations (synchronous or asynchronous): a panel of closely-related talks (3-4) on a question, topic, or issue relevant to the conference theme. Panelists have 75 minutes total for their presentation.

• Roundtables (synchronous): 75-minute group discussions. Presenters offer introductory remarks and facilitate discussion on a question, topic, or issue relevant to the conference theme.

• Workshops (synchronous): 75-minute interactive session in which organizers facilitate engagement among participants to explore an issue, question, or theme or to produce some tangible product (writing, research, art, etc.).

• Poster Presentations (asynchronous): organized as a virtual gallery, presenters offer a visual representation of their research and then prepare a short text or audio explanation.

• Something else: Because a virtual option allows for flexibility for presentations, we’re also happy to consider presentation proposals that don’t necessarily fit into the above categories, including short-form videos, interactive documents, soundscapes or other forms or digital-first presentations.

• Proposals in languages besides English: In the spirit of facilitating dialogue across the spectrum of writing centers, we welcome proposals from a broad array of languages and cultural perspectives

Information Required for Proposal Submission:

Title, abstract (100 words), session description (400 words), Type of session, Justification for session type, Track

Works Cited

Choseed, Malkiel. “How are Learning Centers Working Out: Maintaining Identity During Consolidation.” WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, vol. 41, no. 5, 2017, pp. 18-21. https://wacclearinghouse.org/docs/wln/v41n5/choseed.pdf  

Corbett, Steven J, Teagan E. Decker, and Maria L. Soriano Young (eds). Writing Centers and Learning Commons: Staying Centered while Sharing Common Ground. Utah State UP, 2023.

Elmborg, James K. "Locating the Center: Libraries, Writing Centers, and Information Literacy." WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, vol. 30, no. 6, 2006. https://wacclearinghouse.org/docs/wln/v30/30.6.pdf 

Godínez López, Eva Margarita. “Writing Centers in Mexico: Specificities and Challenges in the Development of Academic Enculturation Initiatives.” Andamiajes: Boletin de la RCLPE, vol. 5, no. 2, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25071/2818-2618.44 

Mahaffy, Mardi. “Exploring Common Ground: US Writing Center/Library Collaboration.” New Library World, vol. 109, no. 3/4, 2008, pp. 173-181. https://tccd.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/exploring-common-ground-us-writing-center-library/docview/229668698/se-2?accountid=7079 

McKinney, Jackie Grutsch. Peripheral Visions for Writing Centers. Utah State UP, 2013.

Sabatino, Lindsay, and Maggie M. Herb. "Turf Wars, Culture Clashes, and a Room of One's Own: A Survey of Centers Located in Libraries." Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 84-97, 2021.https://www.praxisuwc.com/182-sabatino-herb 

Conference Chair:

Dr. Eric Camarillo serves as Dean of the Learning Commons at Tarrant County College’s Northwest Campus. He is a seasoned higher education professional with over a decade of experience in teaching, writing center management, library administration, and executive leadership. He has served the field as president of the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW) and Book Review Editor for The Writing Center Journal. His work has been published in WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship and Praxis, and he has a forthcoming article in the Writing Center Journal on asynchronous tutoring. He has also presented his research at several conferences including the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the College English Association, the IWCA, the SCWCA, and he was the keynote speaker for MAWCA’s 2024 conference. He currently serves as the President of the South Central Writing Centers Association.

REGISTRATION DETAILS: Coming soon