A MINEFIELD OF DREAMS TRIUMPHS AND TRAVAILS OF INDEPENDENT WRITING PROGRAMS Edited by Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch A MINEFIELD OF DREAMS: TRIUMPHS AND TRAVAILS OF INDEPENDENT WRITING PROGRAMS PERSPECTIVES ON WRITING Series Editors, Susan H. McLeod and Rich Rice The Perspectives on Writing series addresses writing studies in a broad sense. Consistent with the wide ranging approaches characteristic of teaching and scholarship in writing across the curriculum, the series presents works that take divergent perspectives on working as a writer, teaching writing, administering writing programs, and studying writing in its various forms. The WAC Clearinghouse, Colorado State University Open Press, and University Press of Colorado are collaborating so that these books will be widely available through free digital distribution and low-cost print editions. The publishers and the Series editors are committed to the principle that knowledge should freely circulate. We see the opportunities that new technologies have for further de- mocratizing knowledge. And we see that to share the power of writing is to share the means for all to articulate their needs, interest, and learning into the great experiment of literacy. Recent Books in the Series Chris M. Anson and Jessie L. Moore (Eds.), Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer (2017) Joanne Addison and Sharon James McGee, Writing and School Reform: Writing Instruction in the Age of Common Core and Standardized Testing (2017) Lisa Emerson, The Forgotten Tribe: Scientists as Writers (2017) Jacob S. Blumner and Pamela B. Childers (Eds.), WAC Partnerships Between Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions (2015) Nathan Shepley, Placing the History of College Writing: Stories from the Incom- plete Archive (2015) Asao B. Inoue, Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: An Approach to Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future (2015) Theresa Lillis, Kathy Harrington, Mary R. Lea, and Sally Mitchell (Eds.), Working with Academic Literacies: Case Studies Towards Transformative Practice (2015) Beth L. Hewett and Kevin Eric DePew (Eds.), Foundational Practices of Online Writing Instruction (2015) Christy I. Wenger, Yoga Minds, Writing Bodies: Contemplative Writing Pedagogy (2015) Sarah Allen, Beyond Argument: Essaying as a Practice of (Ex)Change (2015) Steven J. Corbett, Beyond Dichotomy: Synergizing Writing Center and Classroom Pedagogies (2015) A MINEFIELD OF DREAMS: TRIUMPHS AND TRAVAILS OF INDEPENDENT WRITING PROGRAMS Edited by Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch The WAC Clearinghouse wac.colostate.edu Fort Collins, Colorado University Press of Colorado upcolorado.com Boulder, Colorado The WAC Clearinghouse, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80303 © 2016 by Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. ISBN 978-1-64215-081-0 (pdf) | 978-1-64215-082-7 | 978-1-60732-651-9 (pbk.) DOI 10.37514/PER-B.2016.0810 Produced in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Everett, Justin, editor. | Hanganu-Bresch, Cristina, editor. Title: A minefield of dreams : triumphs and travails of independent writing programs / edited by Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch. Other titles: Perspectives on writing (Fort Collins, Colo.) Description: Fort Collins, Colorado : The WAC Clearinghouse ; Boulder, Colorado : UniversIty Press of Colorado, [2016] | Series: Perspectives on writing | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2016045188 | ISBN 978-1-64215-081-0 (pdf) | ISBN 978-1-64215-082-7 | ISBN 978-1-60732-651-9 (pbk.) Subjects: LCSH: English language—Rhetoric—Study and teaching (Higher) | Report writing— Study and teaching (Higher) | Writing centers—Administration. Classification: LCC PE1404 .M575 2016 | DDC 808/.0420711—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016045188 Copyeditor: Don Donahue Designer: Mike Palmquist Series Editors: Susan H. McLeod and Rich Rice The WAC Clearinghouse supports teachers of writing across the disciplines. Hosted by Colorado State University, and supported by the Colorado State University Open Press, it brings together scholarly journals and book series as well as resources for teachers who use writing in their courses. This book is available in digital formats for free download at wac.colostate.edu. Founded in 1965, the University Press of Colorado is a nonprofit cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, Utah State University, and Western Colorado University. For more information, visit upcolorado.com. CONTENTS Foreword ...................................................vii Barry Maid Introduction. Toward a Schema of Independent Writing Programs ........3 Justin Everett and Cristina Hanganu-Bresch Part I. Mythos: The Stories We Tell Chapter 1. Coming into Being: The Writing Department at Grand Valley State University in its 13th Year ........................23 Dan Royer and Ellen Schendel Chapter 2. An Outsider’s Perspective: Curriculum Design and Strategies for Sustainability in a Canadian IWP ......................43 Judith Kearns and Brian Turner Chapter 3. An Alternative History of an Interdependent Writing Program ...63 Keith Hjortshoj Part II. Topoi: The Places We Inhabit Chapter 4. TA Training in an Independent Writing Program: Revisiting the Old Comp./Lit. Split in a New Venue ..................87 Jennifer K. Johnson Chapter 5. Integrating Writing into the Disciplines: Risks and Rewards of an Alternative Independent Writing Program ...............111 W. Brock MacDonald, Margaret Procter, and Andrea L. Williams Chapter 6. Still Trying to Break Our Bonds: Contingent Faculty, Independence, and Rhetorics from Below and Above .................133 Georgia Rhoades, Kim Gunter, and Elizabeth Carroll Chapter 7. Part of the Fabric of the University: From First Year through Graduate School and Across the Disciplines .................149 Chris Thaiss, Sarah Perrault, Katharine Rodger, Eric Schroeder, and Carl Whithaus v Contents Part III. Techne: The Methods We Employ Chapter 8. Inscribing Justice: IWPs and Inclusivity Education ..........177 Michelle Filling-Brown and Seth Frechie Chapter 9. Quo Vadis, Independent Writing Programs? Writing about Writing and Rhetorical Education ....................193 Cristina Hanganu-Bresch Chapter 10. Not Just Teachers: The Long-Term Effects of Placing Instructors in Administrative Roles in an Independent Writing Program. .213 Laura J. Davies Part IV. Praxis: The Transformations We Enact Chapter 11. Managing Change in an IWP: Identity, Leadership Style and Communication Strategies .................................245 Valerie C. Ross Chapter 12. Navigating the Minefield of Dreams: Branding and Strategic Planning as Conceptual Core for Independent Programs .......269 Justin Everett Chapter 13. The Five Equities: How to Achieve a Progressive Writing Program within a Department of English ...................293 William B. Lalicker Afterword. Between Smoke and Crystal: Accomplishing In(ter)dependent Writing Programs ..............................321 Louise Wetherbee Phelps Epilogue. Marginalization on the Home Front: The Curious Sibling Relationship between English Studies and Composition Studies. A Personal Account. ...................................351 George D. Gopen Contributors ...............................................371 vi FOREWORD Barry Maid Arizona State University It’s been fourteen years since Field of Dreams: Independent Writing Programs and the Future of Composition Studies was published. Much has changed in the world in general and in higher education in particular. My sense is that the chapters that comprise this volume demonstrate the reality of the new world of higher education. The collection’s title plays off of the optimism ofField of Dreams yet still acknowledges that there are, indeed, “Triumphs” amidst the very real “Tra- vails.” The reality is that after feeling the exuberance of attaining a goal, all of us are faced with the necessity of implementing the vision into a workable reality. That’s not always easy and is often fraught with danger. I also think it’s crucial for us to remember that when talking about specific academic units like departments and programs such as Independent Writing Programs (IWP), we are really looking at micro-levels within an institution. All academic units also exist within the macro-environment of the institution as a whole and within the whole changing nature of higher education. Since most of our day-to-day existence exists within the academic unit, we have a tendency to focus on the micro-level. All the chapters in this collection tend to do so, though some clearly position themselves more within their own institution’s macro-level structure and mission. Taken as a whole, they give us a wider picture of what it means to be an IWP within the broader structure of both American and Cana- dian institutions. Before turning to some of the individual chapters, I think it pays to make a few comments about higher education in general. For most of the past century or so, higher education has changed slowly and has a tendency to be conservative (in the sense of holding on to myths of the past). We are now seeing large changes being