The ECWCA Board is now looking for hosts for the 2013 East Central Writing Center Association Conference. Traditionally, the ECWCA Conference is held over two consecutive days‚ typically a Friday and Saturday‚ during March or early April. The conference attracts about 200-300 writing center tutors and administrators from the region. The board works closely with the conference hosts throughout the entire process. Most hosts are able to fund the conference with seed money from the board and from conference registrations; hosts do not need to fund the conference from their own coffers. Schools that are in the same city or nearby can also apply to be co-hosts to split the responsibilities.
If you are even the slightest bit curious or just would like more information about hosting, please contact the current president Jackie Grutsch McKinney (
jrmckinney@bsu.edu) who can provide you with details, encouragement, the application, and very helpful conference planning guide.
ECWCA is pleased to announce that it will offer a select number of travel awards for the 2012 conference in Indianapolis. The awards will be given to presenters at the 2012 ECWCA Conference who are from institutions in the region that have not previously presented at the conference or have not presented in the last 3 years.
Please let us know if your institution is new to the ECWCA conference or has not attended the conference in the last 3 years.
Travel awards scholarships cover only registration fees and are limited in number.
To apply please send the following to Trixie Smith
(smit1254@msu.edu):
• Name
• Institution
• Email address
• Presentation title
DEADLINE: March 1, 2012
Nominations are now open for the upcoming East Central Writing Center Association Board election. We have one open at-large position this year for a three-year term.
To qualify, board members must be involved with writing center work within the ECWCA region, and may be writing center directors, professional staff members, or student staff members. Each board member is expected to commit a significant amount of time to share in the following responsibilities:
• Assisting the conference host in planning the annual ECWCA conference;
• Attending the Board meeting at the annual conference, as well as possibly a summer retreat;
• Taking part in committee work, such as developing procedures and creating documents;
• Participating in online discussion and decision-making between face-to-face meetings of the Board;
• Reporting to the ECWCA membership at the annual conference and communicating with the membership at other times as needed; and
• Determining the dispersal of the treasury in support of research and scholarship related to writing centers.
Eligible candidates may nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else. Nominations will be accepted by email through
February 24, 2012. If you are interested in nominating someone or yourself, please
download nomination form, complete it, and send it to Megan Ward (
mward@nmc.edu). Please limit your biographical information and statement of service to no more than 250 words. Once submitted, nominees’ information will be posted on the ECWCA website, so members can familiarize themselves with nominees’ experience before voting.
Each year the East Central Writing Center Association acknowledges the outstanding service provided by tutor/consultants throughout the region. Designed to celebrate the contributions of undergraduate-student, graduate- student, and staff writing center tutors, these awards serve not only to publicly acknowledge deserving tutor/consultants, but also to support and sustain the important work of writing centers for campuses and larger communities for another generation. Two awards, one in each category explained below, are presented each year.
Outstanding Tutor of the Year Award: This award recognizes innovative approaches to tutoring/consulting, the quality of work with writers, and the articulation of a tutoring/consulting philosophy. While any member of the writing center staff who tutors may be nominated for the Outstanding Tutor of the Year award, it is generally given to those who hold tutoring positions.
Tutor Leadership Award: This award recognizes the leadership contributions of undergraduate-student, graduate-student, and staff writing center tutors, including but not limited to administrative work, development of new programs, writing center training innovations, presentation of writing center work in academic and non-academic forums, work with special populations, and creativity. While any tutor may be nominated for the Tutor Leadership Award, it is generally given to tutors who hold positions of leadership in their writing centers: for instance, assistants to the director, assistant directors, and graduate students are the most likely candidates for this award.
Awards: $200 Cash Award and Award Certificate
Guidelines for nominations and award criteria is available here [pdf].
The nominating person should attach the forms in an email to Trixie Smith, Awards Committee Chair (smit1254@msu.edu)
Deadline: February 29, 2012
