Our BoardEXECUTIVE BOARDPresident: Juli Parrish (she/her), University of DenverOriginally from: Cambria County, Pennsylvania, but I've also lived in 4 of the 8 states in our region. Worked in writing centers for: 15+years (11 years as an administrator) What is your favorite part about working for a writing center? Collaboration, curiosity, inquiry, discovery, and reflection. What do you hope to bring to your position on the RMWCA board? I hope to learn more about the any writing centers in our region and to help foster connection and collaboration. Favorite/Recommended piece of media? Currently, it's the alternate-history space-race tv show For All Mankind. President Elect: Heather Graham (she/they), Salt Lake Community CollegeOriginally from: Draper, UT Worked in the writing centers for: 7+ years What is your favorite part about working for a writing center? Learning about the vast and diverse lived-experiences of the students I get to interact with. Chipping away at the status quo and challenging academic gatekeeping through supporting students. What do you hope to bring to your position on the RMWCA board? A 2-year community college/peer tutor perspective Favorite/Recommended piece of media? Marianas Trench's "Ever After" or "Phantoms" albums. Outreach Coordinator: Olivia Tracy (she/her), University of Denver Originally from: Golden, CO Worked in Writing Centers For: 6+ years. What is your favorite part about working for a writing center? I love the possibilities writing centers create-- not just the opportunities for writers and consultants/tutors to have conversations about writing that can create space for each of their learning needs, backgrounds, and identities, but also the ways that writing centers can promote equity and access in the wider campus and community. What do you hope to bring to your position on the RMWCA board? I hope to foster connections among writing center administrators and consultants/tutors within and beyond the Rocky Mountain region. By creating opportunities for writing center folx to brainstorm together, learn from one another, and share resources and strategies, we can create more accessible and equitable writing center spaces and practices. Favorite/Recommended piece of media? Anything by Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, and The Indigo Girls. Treasurer: Clint Gardner (he/him), Salt Lake Community CollegeTime working in writing centers: 34 yearsWhat is your favorite part of working in writing centers? Working with peer writing tutors and witnessing the life-changing work that they engage in. What do you hope to bring to the RMWCA Board? I hope to collaborate with the excellent folks on our board and in our region to continue the development of the best regional association of writing centers (ever). Favorite/Recommended piece of media? I’d have to say David Attenborough’s The Living Planet. It is a bit dated, but is a stunning natural history series.Secretary: Tara Hogan (she/they),I am a life-long resident of Utah, and I’ve been working in
writing centers for about two years. I hope to bring the RMWCA board
perspective on the greater Salt Lake area that our community writers bring to
SLCC’s Community Writing Center every day. It’s the swell of those voices that
I enjoy most about being part of an organization founded on the principles
within the social practices of writing. I also hope to bring my own contributions
to the table as a queer, neurodivergent writer that not only needs to write for
everyday living, but is compelled to write in response to the human condition.
I highly recommend that everyone read Colonize This!, an anthology
edited by Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman, and listen to The Shape of
Colour by Intervals. Tutor Representative: Michael O'Donnell (he/him), Salt Lake Community CollegeOriginally from: Salt Lake City, Utah Worked in the writing centers for: 3 years What is your favorite part about working for a writing center? The Students What do you hope to bring to your position on the RMWCA board? A different perspective Favorite/Recommended piece of media ? Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell IWCA Affiliate Representative: Maureen McBride (she/her), Nevada State CollegeOriginally from: Reno, NV Worked in the writing centers for: 12 years What is your favorite part about working for a writing center? learning with and from students What do you hope to bring to your position on the RMWCA board? WC concerns from the state of Nevada and support back to the WCs in Nevada; making connections in our region across states Favorite/Recommended piece of media ? Jack Johnson’s “Banana Pancakes” Web Editor: Amanda M. May (she/her), New Mexico Highlands UniversityOriginally from: Michigan Worked in the writing centers for: About 11 years. I started in 2008, took a 2-year break to teach abroad in 2012, and then came back and took an admin position. I remained pretty active in writing center work and research during my doctoral program and, in most semesters, either tutored or administrated in the writing center. What is your favorite part about working for a writing center? The communities that form around writing center work, not in the individual centers I’ve worked in, but within the field as a whole. I love being part of a line of work where I can go to an academic conference, spin around three times, and see someone who I’ve met in-person or on social media, or whose work I’ve read. What do you hope to bring to your position on the RMWCA board? I’m hoping to strengthen community among writing centers in the state I currently represent (New Mexico). In addition, I’m hoping to contribute my expertise in multimodal composing and social media to initiatives centered around mental health in writing centers. Favorite/Recommended piece of media? The Umbrella Academy and Breaking Bad.
STATE REPRESENTATIVESArizona: Nick Cenegy, University of ArizonaI currently direct the writing center at the University of Arizona's THINK TANK and coordinate other writing initiatives across campus. I'm brand new to this position. Prior to coming to Arizona, I spent several years as a writing center administrator at the Texas A&M University Writing Center. In addition to general supervisory duties at A&M's UWC, I created and led programs tailored for grad students. I have presented research at a variety of writing center and student services conferences, including several IWCA annual conferences. My sense of the RMWCA's recent activity is that there is a new (or renewed) interest in connecting writing support organizations from a variety of academic venues. I see this reflected in the 2019 joint conference with the C&W Writing Tutors Conference, as well as reflected in the revised language of the recent web redesign--i.e. "We define writing centers broadly...". I think this is a good direction and future goals for the RMWCA should further efforts to incorporate a variety of writing support communities. Since institutional structure so intimately influences the everyday operations of a writing center, it is of real and immediate benefit to encourage a robust exchange of models, ideas, and concerns about writing support administration and practice. The conversations I've had with secondary school writing center administrators, near-peer program coordinators, community writing center practitioners, and others who operate in a different context than mine, have been among the most important in helping to articulate how and why we do what we do in our center. I have the benefit of being new in my position and at my institution. Learning about other institutions and building relationships with writing support communities in the region are among my highest priorities. I see it as my responsibility to connect these groups. I have a genuine desire to understand how others have approached writing support in their contexts, and believe that such authentic interest yields valuable conversations. It can even serve as the basis for enduring relationships. My current efforts, from a university context, have already yielded burgeoning collaborations with local high schools and community colleges. By extending these nascent efforts to the broader region, I can help connect RMWCA members as well as identify writing support communities that (from my relative outsider position) appear to have not yet been invited into the conversation.
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