Deadline for Cs Proposals fast approaching!

The deadline for sending in propoals for the 4Cs in New York next year is coming at us quickly.

Deadlines
Mailed proposals must be postmarked by April 24, 2006.
Online proposals must be complete by midnight (Central time), May 5, 2006.

Be sure to gather your colleagues and propose a panel, or send in an individual proposal.

The proposal forms are available at:
http://www.ncte.org/cccc/announcements/124211.htm

2yr College Writing Centers

The complete document "

I hope the document can serve as a spur to discussion on your campuses, and give some guidance for those of you who are creating new writing centers.

Proposals for 4Cs in 2007 - New York

Next year the Cs will be meeting in New York, and I’m already looking forward to connecting with people who teach at two-year colleges from all over the nation. In order to facilitate submissions, TYCA national has a program chair, Gwen Gresham.

Those of you who were at TYCA Talks in Chicago had a chance to meet Gwen and pass along your topics for next year’s proposals. If you were unable to join us in Chicago and want to submit a proposal for next year, let me know and I’ll connect you with Gwen. She has a list of people who are interested in presenting, and she will help you put together panels. She will also provide guidance for those who are new to the submission process. Of course, not all proposals are accepted (last year about 34% of the submission were accepted), but Gwen can certainly give feedback on expressing your ideas clearly in the proposal forms.


The call for proposals is available on the Cs website: http://www.ncte.org/cccc/announcements/124211.htm

You can access the online submission at the same site.

Contact the Spellings Commission

Mary L. Fifield, President of Bunker Hill Community College, spoke with the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the future of Higher Education on Monday, March 20, 2006. The text of her remarks is available on the AACC web page, (you can go directly there by clicking http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Template.cfm?section=GovernmentRelations&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=16111 (please forgive my technological ineptitude – I’ll learn to make better links some day…..)

Generally, I think her comments accurately reflected the mission and distinctive character of two-year colleges. However, it would be even better if the Spellings Commission were able to hear comments from many of us. We need to communicate our concerns and the ways community colleges are distinct institutions within higher education.

To add your voice, you can attend one of the regional meetings the commission is holding around the country. The next public hearing of the Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education, to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 6 and 7.

There is more information at the NCTE Action Alert website http://www.ncte.org/about/issues/action/alerts/124274.htm

Call for Volunteers in the SE region

Sharon Gerald just posted a request for volunteers at the TYCA-SE blog http://compsoutheast.blogspot.com/

If you can assist, be sure to contact her there. As many of you know, a number of schools in the SE region, especially in Mississippi were hit hard by hurricane Katrina last fall. They are up and running, but the devastation has been pronounced, and communities remain in tatters. Any help you might be able to provide would be valuable.

Position Statement on 2yr College Writing Centers

When the TYCA National Executive Committee met in Chicago on March 25, they discussed a “Position Statement on Two-Year College Writing Centers” which was published in the March TETYC v33.3 (260-263). http://www.ncte.org/pubs/journals/tetyc

The entire issue was focused on Writing Centers in the Two-Year College, and I would encourage everyone to look carefully at the articles by Lerner and Tassoni, along with the “Position Statement.”

The position statement was endorsed by the International Writing Center Association, an NCTE affiliate, in November 2005. The TYCA EC also voted to endorse the document.

Below, I’ll list a few of the major points:

1- The writing center should be as autonomous as possible within the institutional structure….Many writing centers in two—year colleges, rather than being tied to specific areas of the curriculum, serve writers at all levels and in any area of the curriculum across the entire institution. In addition to serving student, many writing centers also serve faculty and the community.

2- The writing center should be provided a physical space appropriate and conducive to the variety of services provided. An autonomous space is recommended whenever possible. Computer technology should be available in the writing center and should support the work of the center. Although the writing center might contain a computer lab, it is not, in itself, a computer lab, and should not be thought of as such.

3- The writing center should not be an editing or proofreading service.

4- The writing center should be given the opportunity, when appropriate, to participate in college program review processes within its own institution.

5- Writing center administrators should be tenure-stream or continuing contract salaried employees, depending on local context. It is preferable that they have faculty status with a minimum of a 50-percent release from their teaching responsibilities per semester to oversee the writing center.

There are 10 more recommendations which can be found in the March TETYC http://www.ncte.org/pubs/journals/tetyc or on the IWCA WebPages: writingcenters.org