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As a long-time
member of the North Texas Writing Centers Association, and its current
president, I want to welcome everyone to what promises to be an active
and important year for our association. Among other events,
this year
will bring the first Mary Nell Kivikko Excellence in Scholarship
Award. Given in the memory of a beloved writing center
professional,
and a founder of our association, the $150 prize will go to the best
proposal submitted by a graduate or undergraduate tutor to the 2005
South Central Writing Center Association Conference.
This year will
also bring a concerted effort to spread the word about our
association. We hope to make writing center practitioners at
institutions in the North Texas region aware of the many benefits,
including camaraderie and support, available to members of NTWCA.
Most
of us have discovered the rewards—in the form of friendship and
knowledge—of exchanging ideas with other dedicated and creative writing
center people. And traveling to campuses throughout the
North Texas
region to attend meetings has given our members a greater familiarity
with the student populations, faculty, and facilities of other
institutions of higher learning—including the particular issues with
which each writing center must cope. The first article of
our
constitution reads, “The North Texas Writing Centers Association serves
writing centers of the region as a clearinghouse for exchanging
information, as a forum for discussing important writing center issues,
and as a means of promoting the professional status of writing center
personnel.” Most members can point to times when the
association
served this purpose for them or for their centers. And we
want other
writing center colleagues from North Texas to join us. To this
end, I
have appointed Billie Hara, of TCU’s William L. Adams Center for
Writing, to serve as the association’s first Membership
Chair. Ms.
Hara will be contacting writing centers in the area to invite their
personnel to attend our fall and spring meetings, and I would urge all
members to do what they can to support her efforts—by supplying contact
names (if you have them), by inviting colleagues to join, and by
continuing to make visitors feel welcome at our meetings.
I would also
urge all members to attend the fall meeting at TCU, which will include
a presentation on innovative tutor training techniques by Dr. Chris
LeCluyse, director of the University of Texas Undergraduate Writing
Center. And our spring meeting will bring the first
presentation to
the membership of a paper by the winner of the Mary Nell Kivikko
Excellence in Scholarship Award. As always, both meetings
will give
us all a chance to renew friendships and make important contacts.
Please join us. |
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About Dr. Le Cluyse
Christopher LeCluyse is interim coordinator of the University of Texas at Austin's Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC) and a contributing editor of the online journal Praxis. In his previous capacities as a training specialist and assistant director, he planned training for a staff of one hundred graduate and undergraduate writing consultants and helped launch writing consultation services for graduate students. Both his administrative work and scholarship focus on applying writing center pedagogy to consultant training and on situating writing center practice within rhetorical theory. A medievalist and linguist, he also teaches for UT's Science, Technology, and Society program and sings professionally in several Austin-based choral and early music ensembles. Abstract of Presentation "Technology in Training: Putting Values First" At its best, writing center training applies the same values that inform our work with writers, approaching consultants in a collaborative and non-hierarchical fashion. Technology can extend the reach and "shelf-life" of training, but to do so effectively requires that we be mindful of those values. Rather than serving as an end in itself, training technology should embody the center's culture and practices. Examples from the continuing training program at the University of Texas at Austin's Undergraduate Writing Center will illustrate both the advantages and pitfalls of training in the Digital Age. |
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Spring 2004 Meeting at Texas Christian
University
Texas Christian
University hosted the spring meeting on April 2, 2004.
Members in attendance elected officers for 2004-2006, in addition to discussing a number of issues about the organization itself. Most members present raised concerns about the direction of the organization and all agreed that some revision of the constitution would be beneficial. The revised constitution is included in this newsletter. Also, a more coordinated membership effort was posed as a possible measure to let more higher education institutions learn about the NTWCA. For some time, the organization has attempted to honor Mary Nell Kivviko, one of the founders of the NTWCA. To this end, members approved the Mary Nell Kivviko Excellence in Scholarship Award. This award is designed to encourage student tutors to participate in the South Central Writing Centers Conference, held each year. The winner will present his or her paper at the NTWCA spring meeting and will receive a cash award and a certificate. More information about the award appears later in the newsletter. Current officers are President: Steve Sherwood Vice-President: Cheryl Carithers Secretary: Rita Wisdom Treasurer: Vera Ornelas Membership Chair: Billie Hara Archivisit: Margaret-Rose Marek Newsletter Editor: Alice Newsome Immediate Past President: Guy Litton Past Presidents in Advisory Capacity: Mike Matthews andSandra Beaty |
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Officer
Reports
NTWCA TREASURER’S REPORT August 5, 2004 Balance June 8, 2004 $1,348.40 Correction: Expense check #577, 4/2/04 was for $8.00, not $11.00 + 3.00 Adjusted June 8 total 1,351.40 Deposit: 06/11/04 140.00 Total Balance August 5, 2004 $1,491.40 |