ABOUT THE SITE
During the spring of 2016, I was given the good fortune of enrolling in a Writing Program Administrators course developed and taught by Distingusihed University Professor, Dr. Chris M. Anson. Before I even came to the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media doctoral program at North Carolina State University, I knew that I wanted to work with Chris. Having read much of his prolific work and hearing his praises sung by so many scholars that I revered, I knew that I had to take any course with him that I could. Luckily for me, the class being taught was about Writing Program Administration, which was in line of my research interests in the Composition Field and Digital Pedagogy.
In our WPA class, we learned so much from program assessment to working within tight budgets to dealing with burnout to motivating a faculty. We read a lot of the scholarship that you will see on the site, we worked with WPAs from other institutions, we role-played different WPA scenarios, and we had countless discussions on what life can be like for a WPA. What I realized during this class was how much of a remarkable opportunity it was--not all new WPAs are given the time, the opportunity, or the pleasure of learning what being a WPA entails before becoming a WPA herself. I decided that even this remarkable opportunity isn't shared by everyone, perhaps I can give new WPAs the benefit of a space to create their own opportunity to learn about being a new WPA. This website is a direct result of my work in Chris' class and provides new WPAs a space to start.
As described earlier, my purpose for the site was to create an opportunity for new WPAs who may need quick information when starting a new career as a WPA. The website is by no means an exhaustive repository of all WPA-related issues; in fact, I purposefully omitted much of the scholarship and resources directed to the general rheotric & composition since it is assumed that someone in a WPA position has already had access to those sources. I have highlighted and included links to important books, journals, and online sources of WPA scholarship, but I also welcome any feedback if there are others that should be included or ones that have been published since the site was created.
Also, please keep in mind that I am NOT an expert in WPA studies and I am not attempting to tell new WPAs how to run their programs. I did not include any advice, suggestions, or musings from myself since I am a novice to the field as well. Rather, I am collecting and organizing resources that I believe will be useful to someone who is new to the WPA position.
And finally, please know that there are many fantastic and renowned books already in the field that discuss how to survive as a new WPA, and many of those books have been included on this website. My purpose was not to do the same thing as those books or edited collections, but to provide a space that is free and easy to access. The medium of a website lends itself well to this project because it allows me to link the new WPA to online resources and to other people in the field. I was inspired and owe a debt of gratitude to the researchers at CompPile who have created innumberable web resources for the new Writing Program Administrator; I hope this site serves as an extension of that project or perhaps brings more people to participate in its many research opportunities. Part of my doctoral research is on digital composition (specifically creating websites and digital essays in First-Year Composition), which also drew me to creating a website and using a digital space to share the resources I have gathered.. The affordances of a digital repositiory and resource inventory allow me to provide a wealth of information and resources for no cost to the new WPA.
I hope that you enjoy the site and find it to be useful in your new position. Please let me know if you have any questions for me or if you have any suggestions for the site. You are more than welcome to contact me via email (klandre3@ncsu.edu)or leave a note on the Contact Page.
MY VISION FOR THE SITE
