Polylog: Are Writing Center Directors Writing Program Administrators?

• Published in: Composition studies Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 11 - 42
• Main Authors: Ianetta, Melissa, Bergmann, Linda, Fitzgerald, Lauren, Haviland, Carol Peterson, Lebduska, Lisa, Wislocki, Mary
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago Texas Christian University 01-10-2006; University of Cincinnati on behalf of Composition Studies
• Subjects: Accountability; Administrators; Basic writing; Beginning Teachers; College students; Conferences; Councils; Curricula; Directors; Educational administration; English Departments; Figurative Language; Freshman Composition; Higher Education; Individualized Instruction; Laboratories; Literary criticism; Rhetoric; Roles; Studies; Tutoring; Writing; Writing (Composition); Writing Instruction; Writing Teachers; Written composition
• ISSN: 1534-9322; 2832-0093

As Composition Studies has grown as a discipline over the last quarter century, the field has wrestled with defining and naming disciplinary expertise and professional positions. At first glance, issues of naming may not appear worthy of debate, and so whether an individual writing center director identifies as a writing program administrator (WPA) may seem of little disciplinary import. Yet, as the authors work at the institutional level on hiring as well as on promotion and tenure committees, and engage in disciplinary debates at the national level, they also implicitly work to determine who "really is" a compositionist, a rhetorician, and/or a WPA. Ambiguity in these definitions can lead to elisions. Therefore, the seemingly trivial matter of naming raises questions of credentialing, working conditions, and professional authority. This essay presents the authors' conversations wherein they have considered, discussed, researched and debated the question that provides this essay's title: "Are writing center directors WPAs?" and identified a spectrum of opinions on questions of administrative expertise. None of the authors fully commits to any single position on the spectrum, yet they find that defining these positions helps them outline historical narratives, analyze disciplinary debates, and forecast the possibilities for their professional futures. Thus, they outline these positions broadly before moving to the individual voices of the polylog. (Contains 3 notes.)