NSU’s Writing and Communication Center (WCC) faculty and students presented on ten panels at the 2021 Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) virtual conference, Feb. 11-13, 2021. The 2021 SWCA Conference was attended by over 400 participants and featured 100 presentations from over 50 institutions.
From the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, the following individuals presented at the conference:
- WCC Executive Director Kevin Dvorak and WCC Assistant Director, Nikki Chasteen (adjunct faculty)
- Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts and WCC Faculty Coordinators, Eric Mason (Associate Professor), Janine Morris (Assistant Professor), and Kelly Concannon (Associate Professor)
- Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) Master’s students and WCC Graduate Assistant Coordinators, Monique Cole, Adara Cox, Jordan Guido, Anthony Laboriel, Sabrina Louissaint, Michael Lynn, Emma Masur, Danielle Pierce, Megan Provenzale, ‘Aolani Robinson, Carlos Rodriguez Rosa, Meredith Sharp, and alumna Veronica Diaz
- Biology and Nutrition undergraduate student (WCC undergraduate consultant), Amber Gulau
From the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science undergraduate student (WCC undergraduate consultant), Stephanie Shneydman and Speech Language Pathology graduate student ( WCC graduate consultant), Clarisse El Khouri presented.
From the Fischler College of Education, English & Secondary English Education undergraduate student (WCC undergraduate consultant), Bianca Oliveira presented.
From the College of Psychology, PSY.D in Clinical Psychology graduate students (WCC graduate consultants), Imani Gibbs and Troy Thisler presented.
To learn more about the NSU Writing and Communication Center, visit https://www.nova.edu/wcc/
About the Panels:
Building Connections in the Online Era: Developing a Social Media Strategy Based on Inclusion and Technology
Monique Cole, Meredith Sharp, Anthony Laboriel, Michael Lynn, Sabrina Louissaint
- This presentation focused on how writing centers can utilize their platforms to build a more supportive and welcoming environment for students through creating inclusive content and utilizing technology.
Developing a Social Media Campaign Workshop: Bringing a Heightened Sense of Consistency and Engagement to your Center’s Social Media
Monique Cole & Sabrina Louissaint
- This interactive workshop described the experience of developing the SWCA 2020 social media campaign.
Embracing the Pod-demic: A Discussion of Podcast Production in Writing Centers in the Time of COVID-19
Eric Mason, Michael Lynn, Adara Cox, and Emma Masur, Devon Ralston (Winthrop University), Trey Hall and Joseph Pickert (Virginia Commonwealth University
- This roundtable discussion brought together staff from multiple centers to discuss the challenges and charms of producing podcasts to support the work of writing centers. WCC Podcast: “The Writer’s Edge”
Emotions and Affect in Tutoring Interactions
Janine Morris, Kelly Concannon, Elise Dixon (University of North Carolina at Pembroke), Rachel Robinson (Michigan State University), Lauren Brentnell (University of Northern Colorado), Steven J. Corbett (Texas A&M University – Kingsville), Anna Rita Napoleone (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Luke Iantorno (Texas Tech University)
- This synchronous roundtable examined the ways that emotions and affect are implicated in tutoring interactions and tutor training.
Emotions and Affect in Writing Center Administration: A Roundtable on the Emotional Dimensions of Administrative Work
Janine Morris, Kelly Concannon, Erica Cirillo-McCarthy (Middle Tennessee State University), Kelin Hull (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), Elizabeth Leahy (University of Tennessee-Chattanooga), Genie Giaimo (Middlebury College), Marilee Brooks-Gilles (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), Kristi Costello (Old Dominion University), Tabatha Simpson-Farrow (Arkansas State University)
- This synchronous roundtable examined the ways that emotions and affect appear in writing center administration.
Get it Published: A Conversation with Journal Editors
Eric Mason, Scott Pleasant (Coastal Carolina University), Devon Ralston (Winthrop University), Nikki Caswell (Eastern Carolina University), Eliana Schonberg (Duke University), Ted Roggenbuck (Bloomsburg University), Karen Johnson (Shippensburg University), Julianne Newmark (University of New Mexico)
- This Q&A session was aimed to speak with editors from Southern Discourse in the Center, The Peer Review, The Writing Center Journal , WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, and Xchanges about any part of the publishing process.
Leadership in Isolation: Successes and Challenges of a Virtual Consultant Leadership Program
Adara Cox, Amber Gulau, Sabrina Louissaint, Bianca Oliveira, Stephanie Shneydman
- This panel described an immersive leadership development program launched in Fall 2020 aimed to empower and encourage consultants to build their leadership experiences and share challenges, lessons, and best practices.
Remote Control: Developing Effective Writing Center Training at a Distance
Carlos Rodriguez Rosa, Jordan Guido, Danielle Pierce, Adara Cox, ‘Aolani Robinson, Eric Mason, Kelly Concannon
- This presentation provided access to sample materials developed by WCC staff to train new consultants in a fully online setting.
Supporting Graduate Writers Across the Disciplines
Veronica Diaz, Clarisse El Khouri, Imani Gibbs, Megan Provenzale, Troy Thisler, Janine Morris, Kevin Dvorak
- This synchronous roundtable featured current and former graduate consultants from clinical psychology, speech-language pathology, and composition/rhetoric to discuss their experiences working with graduate student writers from across the disciplines.
Transforming First-year Composition Course-Embedded Consultant Programs to Meet the Demands of Remote Learning and Consulting
Kevin Dvorak, Nikki Chasteen, Danielle Pierce, Russell Carpenter (Eastern Kentucky University), Clint Stivers (Eastern Kentucky University), Chaise Robinson (Eastern Kentucky University), Jonathon Collins (Eastern Kentucky University)
- This panel explored how two SWCA-based writing centers transformed their first-year composition-focused consultant programs to meet the needs of their students and consultants, who have largely transitioned to remote learning and consulting during the pandemic.
Transforming STEM-focused Course-Embedded Consultant Programs to Meet the Demands of Remote Learning and Consulting
Kevin Dvorak Nikki Chasteen, Russell Carpenter (Eastern Kentucky University), Clint Stivers (Eastern Kentucky University)
- This panel explored how two SWCA-based writing centers have transformed their STEM-focused course-embedded consultant programs to meet the needs of their students and consultants, who have largely transitioned to remote learning and consulting during the pandemic.
Transforming Writing Centers: Continual Dialogue on Diversity Training
Adara Cox
- This presentation focused on diversity training in writing centers to encourage healthy dialogue among leadership, staff, and tutors using Saul Alinsky’s ‘dialectic approach’ as the first step in organizing diversity training to better serve minority students.
