After three years of outstanding service to our organization, CWPA Secretary Jennifer Clary-Lemon is ready to hand over this position to a new colleague.
Thus, The Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA) invites nominations from its members for individuals wishing to serve as the organization’s Secretary. This is an opportunity for individuals to contribute their talents and time to the important work we do by serving as a leader of the organization. The Secretary serves as an ex officio member of the CWPA Executive Board. Ideally, we would like to make this appointment during fall 2020 to facilitate activity leading up to the March 2020 Executive Board meeting.
As a member of the Executive Board, the Secretary must attend two meetings of the Board each year. CWPA will provide (economy class) travel to CCCC and CWPA conferences, one night’s lodging and two days’ meals at established government per diem rates at CCCC, and all nights’ lodging and registration costs (including conference meals) and non-conference meals at the CWPA annual meeting. In the event of travel restrictions or (let’s just say) a global pandemic in which the organizational leadership decides not to hold official CWPA business in person, CWPA will not provide the above funding.
The CWPA Secretary maintains current and historical membership records (which include current contact information and membership status), records minutes at Executive Board meetings, and coordinates and tallies votes of the membership and the Executive Board both at in-person meetings and via the CWPA web site. The Secretary is the first point of contact for membership questions, and works with Websuite2 to maintain a database of membership (occasionally running demographic and research reports related to the website’s tracking of membership). The Secretary also works with the CWPA President to handle reprint permissions related to CWPA publications and position statements. The Secretary organizes the CWPA booth at the CCCC exhibit Hall each year, and is in charge of organizing staffing shifts at the CCCC annual convention.
The Secretary maintains the circulation of the CWPA Journal (WPA: Writing Program Administration), including maintaining individual and institutional subscriptions, working with the editors and printers to fill and mail back issue inventory, and creating mailing lists. Journal mailing takes place in conjunction with our publisher, currently Parlor Press. Familiarity with Microsoft Word and Excel is a must.
The position provides some clerical support for CWPA, for answering e-mail, telephone, or written queries about the organization and for referring individuals to appropriate contact persons. While our budgets are limited, CWPA may be able to cover some costs associated with clerical support for the Secretary from institutional staff or undergraduate or graduate employees. If this is desirable, please specify the range of duties that will be associated with this request, the approximate number of hours associated with the duties, and an estimate of the budget amount associated with this request.
To Apply:
Send to CWPA President Mark Blaauw-Hara (markblaauwhara@gmail.com): 1) A brief letter, designating your intent to be considered for Secretary and a brief overview of your qualifications and reasons why you are interested; (2) your CV, along with the CVs of any other professionals at your institution who may contribute to the effort; (3) if desired, a request for funds to support clerical support including a description of the duties to be performed and an estimate of the number of hours associated with those duties and an estimated budget; and optionally, 4) a letter of endorsement from the administrator(s) (chair, dean, vice-president) demonstrating support for your taking on this role. We can provide applicants with a letter highlighting the ways in which these roles represent professional service to our national organization, and how this work can provide excellent experience for WPA work.
The Secretary must be a member of CWPA at the time of application. You may self-nominate or be nominated for the position. The Secretary will be chosen by vote of the Executive Board. We welcome inquiries about any facet of serving in this role, and would be glad to have individual conversations about your interest.
Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but for full consideration, we would like to receive them by December 15, 2020, when full review will begin.