Call for Applications for OWCA Executive Board
2026-03-16 08:00 - 2026-03-30 23:59 (America/New_York)
We are accepting applications for open positions on the Online Writing Center Association (OWCA) Executive Board. We invite anyone interested in online writing centers and/or online writing tutoring to apply.
Serving on the OWCA Board is a great opportunity to develop administrative skills while giving back to the writing center community. All new Board members receive mentoring and support.
Click here to apply by March 30, 2026. Applications require a written (150-200 words) or video (one minute) statement.
Open Positions
You and/or your staff can apply for any of the following open positions:

Assistant Secretary
Accessibility Co-Chair
Virtual Events Co-Chair
Website coordinators (2)

Position Descriptions
Learn more about our open positions below. See the bylaws for additional information.
Assistant Secretary
The Assistant Secretary will serve for 1 year and become Secretary at the end of the previous Secretary’s term. The Assistant Secretary will be a voting member of the Executive Board, with the following duties:

Assist the Secretary with fulfilling their duties
Co-chair the Mentoring and Resources Committee
Coordinate with the Secretary on the tasks and deadlines of the Mentoring and Resources Committee
Serve in place of the Secretary in their absence
Succeed the Secretary upon end of term or vacancy

Accessibility Co-Chair
The Accessibility Co-Chair will serve for 1 year and become Accessibility Chair at the end of the previous Accessibility Chair’s term. The Accessibility Co-Chair will be a voting member of the Executive Board, with the following duties:

Assist the Accessibility Chair with fulfilling their duties
Co-chair the Accessibility Committee
Coordinate with the Accessibility Chair on the tasks and deadlines of the Accessibility Committee
Serve in place of the Accessibility Chair in their absence
Succeed the Accessibility Chair upon end of term or vacancy

Virtual Events Co-Chair
The Virtual Events Co-Chair will serve for 1 year and become Virtual Events Chair at the end of the previous Virtual Event Chair’s term. The Virtual Events Co-Chair will be a voting member of the Executive Board, with the following duties:

Assist the Virtual Events Chair with fulfilling their duties
Co-chair the Virtual Events Committee
Coordinate with the Virtual Events Chair on the tasks and deadlines of the Virtual Events Committee
Serve in place of the Virtual Events Chair in their absence
Succeed the Virtual Events Chair upon end of term or vacancy

Website Coordinator (Two Positions)
Website Coordinators will serve for 2 years and will be voting members of the Executive Board, with the following duties:

Manage and update the OWCA website and membership software on a timely basis
Maintain OWCA logos and branding
Add and remove administrative access to the OWCA website
Make timely updates to website content and navigation, as requested by the Board and committees.
Research website plugins and applications that will offer additional features for Officers and members
Work with the Accessibility Committee to make the OWCA website accessible to all users
Collaborate and meet with the other Website Coordinator regularly
Attend committee meetings when invited
Onboard incoming Website Coordinators, including synchronous and asynchronous training materials, conversations, etc.
Compile and maintain reports on website statistics

Who Can Apply
Anyone can apply, including students, individuals who are not currently employed at a writing center, and individuals who are not currently OWCA members.
Please note that individuals who are elected must be or become OWCA members to accept the position and serve their terms. We offer low-cost memberships for students, and memberships at no charge for people of color.
How to Apply
Submit your nomination using this form by March 30, 2026, 11:59 pm (ET). Please pass this call along to anyone who might be interested. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged!
Reach out to OWCA Secretary Madeline Sutton, madeline.sutton@duke.edu, with any questions.

OWCA April 2026 Reading Club: Multimodal Online Feedback
2026-04-08 14:30 - 15:30
Reading club provides a space to discuss writing center scholarship. Based on the article or chapter chosen, participants will share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about online writing centers (OWCs).
OWCA is pleased to offer the April 2026 Reading Club session focused on two articles exploring the affordances and trade-offs of multimodal online feedback. The session will be facilitated by Shelbi Fitzpatrick, Miranda Hannasch, and Lacie McEntire, all of whom are graduate students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) as well as Lead Consultants at UNLV’s Writing Center.
Stewart’s “Investigating Multimodal Feedback Methods in Asynchronous Tutoring at the Writing Center” discusses student responses to a combination of written and audio feedback at a small private college, while Lee and Michelini’s “Beyond Convenience: A Mixed-Methods Study of Asynchronous Multimodal Tutoring and Its Impact on Understanding and Connection” describes the process of training consultants to leave asynchronous video feedback at a public Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).
Both studies suggest that multimodal feedback can increase accessibility and help bridge “empathy gaps,” making it easier for students to understand and connect to online feedback. However, adding this type of feedback is intimidating–it requires Writing Centers to adopt both new technology and modified tutor-training methods.
Our conversation will use these articles as a jumping-off point to discuss participants’ experience (if any) with audiovisual feedback and to brainstorm potential smaller-scale multimodal approaches that we might adapt to our own Writing Centers.
Guidelines for Participating
Reading Club is currently held in a Zoom Pro room. Participation is open to everyone, including not-yet OWCA members. To ensure a safe space for open communication and interaction, these sessions will not be recorded.
Register
You can register for a reading club through the scheduling system below (note: there may be multiple events listed). Follow these steps:

Select your time zone from the drop-down menu
Click the “Register” button next to the event you’d like to attend
Fill out the registration form and click “Complete Registration”
Save your confirmation email to have the Zoom information or cancel your registration later. You can also respond to this email to contact the event organizers.

A reminder email will also be sent the morning of the event.

OWCA Conference 2026: Writing Centers as Sites of Solidarity
2026-04-09 - 2026-04-10
OWCA Conference 2026
Writing Centers as Sites of Solidarity
April 9-10, 2026
OWCA’s 2026 conference will explore how writing centers can build solidarity across difference and navigate today’s challenging academic and sociopolitical landscapes. Drawing on frameworks of collective impact, counterstory, and rhetorical listening, the conference invites participants to consider how dissensus, tension, and friction can become productive spaces for learning and connection. Join fellow writing center professionals in examining how we can foster solidarity while supporting tutors, administrators, and colleagues facing unprecedented challenges.
Conference Program
For more information on our upcoming conference please read our OWCA 2026 Conference Program.
Registration
The OWCA does not require a conference registration fee. Instead, conference participation is included as part of your OWCA membership. To learn more about the costs of an OWCA membership and to join, please visit our website.
Registered attendees will receive updates when the conference schedule has been created, asynchronous materials are uploaded, and more! Please be advised that this year’s conference will not be recorded. As we gather virtually, we want everyone to feel comfortable exchanging ideas and speaking freely. We look forward to having you join us for as much of the conference as you can.
OWCA 2026 Conference Registration
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the OWCA Conference Chair: Jenny Torres, jtorr74@uic.edu

OWCA Reading Club Series Part 1: Foundations
2026-06-19 13:00 - 14:00
Reading club provides a space to discuss writing center scholarship. Based on the article or chapter chosen, participants will share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about online writing centers (OWCs).
Reading Club Series: Grammar and Linguistic Justice at the Online Writing Center
OWCA is pleased to offer this four-part reading series, facilitated by Faith Thompson of Salisbury University and Susanne Treiber of Madison Area Technical College, specifically for tutors in online writing center spaces. From the facilitators:
We would like to open a space within OWCA to discuss current trends in linguistic justice scholarship, which include tutor perspectives and ideologies as well as a focus on the issue of grammar. We want to give tutors the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences, language identities, and tutoring practices, while also learning from others who are exploring how to enact linguistic justice in their writing centers. We are particularly interested in discussing the “g” word – how to turn the theoretical concepts of linguistic justice into practical application at the grammatical, sentence level. Although we are not using articles exclusive to online tutoring, knowing that our audience works in online writing centers will allow us to discuss the role of technological innovation, such as how the rise of AI impacts our conversations on linguistic justice. This reading series will elevate tutor voices, particularly around how we assist linguistically diverse students.
Series Sessions:
You can select which session(s) to attend; you do not have to attend all sessions in order to participate.
Session One: Foundations

Date: Friday, June 19 at 1pm EST
Reading: “We Don’t Do That Here”: Calling Out Deficit Discourses in the Writing Center to Reframe Multilingual Graduate Support (Cirrillo-McCarthy, et. al., 2014)

Session Two: Practices

Date: Friday, August 7 at 1pm EST
Reading: Language Usage Liberation: Applying Rhetorical Grammar in a Tutoring Session (Treiber, 2025)

Session Three: Reflections

Date: Friday, October 9 at 1pm EST
Reading: “How I Speak Doesn’t Really Matter; What I Speak About Does”: BIPOC Tutor Voices on Linguistic Justice in the Writing Center (Ray and Goldin, 2025)

Session Four: Call to Action

Date: Friday, November 13 at 1pm EST
Reading: “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it”: Writing Center Tutors and Their Conceptualizations of Academic Writing in Tutoring Sessions (Thompson, 2026)

Guidelines for Participating
Reading Club is currently held in a Zoom Pro room. Participation is open to everyone, including not-yet OWCA members. To ensure a safe space for open communication and interaction, these sessions will not be recorded.
Register
You can register for a reading club through the scheduling system below (note: there may be multiple events listed). Follow these steps:

Select your time zone from the drop-down menu
Click the “Register” button next to the event you’d like to attend
Fill out the registration form and click “Complete Registration”
Save your confirmation email to have the Zoom information or cancel your registration later. You can also respond to this email to contact the event organizers.

A reminder email will also be sent the morning of the event.

OWCA Reading Club Series Part 2: Practices
2026-08-07 13:00 - 14:00
Reading club provides a space to discuss writing center scholarship. Based on the article or chapter chosen, participants will share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about online writing centers (OWCs).
Reading Club Series: Grammar and Linguistic Justice at the Online Writing Center
OWCA is pleased to offer this four-part reading series, facilitated by Faith Thompson of Salisbury University and Susanne Treiber of Madison Area Technical College, specifically for tutors in online writing center spaces. From the facilitators:
We would like to open a space within OWCA to discuss current trends in linguistic justice scholarship, which include tutor perspectives and ideologies as well as a focus on the issue of grammar. We want to give tutors the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences, language identities, and tutoring practices, while also learning from others who are exploring how to enact linguistic justice in their writing centers. We are particularly interested in discussing the “g” word – how to turn the theoretical concepts of linguistic justice into practical application at the grammatical, sentence level. Although we are not using articles exclusive to online tutoring, knowing that our audience works in online writing centers will allow us to discuss the role of technological innovation, such as how the rise of AI impacts our conversations on linguistic justice. This reading series will elevate tutor voices, particularly around how we assist linguistically diverse students.
Series Sessions:
You can select which session(s) to attend; you do not have to attend all sessions in order to participate.
Session Two: Practices

Date: Friday, August 7 at 1pm EST
Reading: Language Usage Liberation: Applying Rhetorical Grammar in a Tutoring Session (Treiber, 2025)

Session Three: Reflections

Date: Friday, October 9 at 1pm EST
Reading: “How I Speak Doesn’t Really Matter; What I Speak About Does”: BIPOC Tutor Voices on Linguistic Justice in the Writing Center (Ray and Goldin, 2025)

Session Four: Call to Action

Date: Friday, November 13 at 1pm EST
Reading: “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it”: Writing Center Tutors and Their Conceptualizations of Academic Writing in Tutoring Sessions (Thompson, 2026)

Guidelines for Participating
Reading Club is currently held in a Zoom Pro room. Participation is open to everyone, including not-yet OWCA members. To ensure a safe space for open communication and interaction, these sessions will not be recorded.
Register
You can register for a reading club through the scheduling system below (note: there may be multiple events listed). Follow these steps:

Select your time zone from the drop-down menu
Click the “Register” button next to the event you’d like to attend
Fill out the registration form and click “Complete Registration”
Save your confirmation email to have the Zoom information or cancel your registration later. You can also respond to this email to contact the event organizers.

A reminder email will also be sent the morning of the event.

OWCA Reading Club Series Part 3: Reflections
2026-10-09 13:00 - 14:00
Reading club provides a space to discuss writing center scholarship. Based on the article or chapter chosen, participants will share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about online writing centers (OWCs).
Reading Club Series: Grammar and Linguistic Justice at the Online Writing Center
OWCA is pleased to offer this four-part reading series, facilitated by Faith Thompson of Salisbury University and Susanne Treiber of Madison Area Technical College, specifically for tutors in online writing center spaces. From the facilitators:
We would like to open a space within OWCA to discuss current trends in linguistic justice scholarship, which include tutor perspectives and ideologies as well as a focus on the issue of grammar. We want to give tutors the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences, language identities, and tutoring practices, while also learning from others who are exploring how to enact linguistic justice in their writing centers. We are particularly interested in discussing the “g” word – how to turn the theoretical concepts of linguistic justice into practical application at the grammatical, sentence level. Although we are not using articles exclusive to online tutoring, knowing that our audience works in online writing centers will allow us to discuss the role of technological innovation, such as how the rise of AI impacts our conversations on linguistic justice. This reading series will elevate tutor voices, particularly around how we assist linguistically diverse students.
Series Sessions:
You can select which session(s) to attend; you do not have to attend all sessions in order to participate.
Session Three: Reflections

Date: Friday, October 9 at 1pm EST
Reading: “How I Speak Doesn’t Really Matter; What I Speak About Does”: BIPOC Tutor Voices on Linguistic Justice in the Writing Center (Ray and Goldin, 2025)

Session Four: Call to Action

Date: Friday, November 13 at 1pm EST
Reading: “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it”: Writing Center Tutors and Their Conceptualizations of Academic Writing in Tutoring Sessions (Thompson, 2026)

Guidelines for Participating
Reading Club is currently held in a Zoom Pro room. Participation is open to everyone, including not-yet OWCA members. To ensure a safe space for open communication and interaction, these sessions will not be recorded.
Register
You can register for a reading club through the scheduling system below (note: there may be multiple events listed). Follow these steps:

Select your time zone from the drop-down menu
Click the “Register” button next to the event you’d like to attend
Fill out the registration form and click “Complete Registration”
Save your confirmation email to have the Zoom information or cancel your registration later. You can also respond to this email to contact the event organizers.

A reminder email will also be sent the morning of the event.

OWCA Reading Club Series Part 4: Call to Action
2026-11-13 13:00 - 14:00
Reading club provides a space to discuss writing center scholarship. Based on the article or chapter chosen, participants will share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about online writing centers (OWCs).
Reading Club Series: Grammar and Linguistic Justice at the Online Writing Center
OWCA is pleased to offer this four-part reading series, facilitated by Faith Thompson of Salisbury University and Susanne Treiber of Madison Area Technical College, specifically for tutors in online writing center spaces. From the facilitators:
We would like to open a space within OWCA to discuss current trends in linguistic justice scholarship, which include tutor perspectives and ideologies as well as a focus on the issue of grammar. We want to give tutors the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences, language identities, and tutoring practices, while also learning from others who are exploring how to enact linguistic justice in their writing centers. We are particularly interested in discussing the “g” word – how to turn the theoretical concepts of linguistic justice into practical application at the grammatical, sentence level. Although we are not using articles exclusive to online tutoring, knowing that our audience works in online writing centers will allow us to discuss the role of technological innovation, such as how the rise of AI impacts our conversations on linguistic justice. This reading series will elevate tutor voices, particularly around how we assist linguistically diverse students.
Series Sessions:
You can select which session(s) to attend; you do not have to attend all sessions in order to participate.
Session Four: Call to Action

Date: Friday, November 13 at 1pm EST
Reading: “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it”: Writing Center Tutors and Their Conceptualizations of Academic Writing in Tutoring Sessions (Thompson, 2026)

Guidelines for Participating
Reading Club is currently held in a Zoom Pro room. Participation is open to everyone, including not-yet OWCA members. To ensure a safe space for open communication and interaction, these sessions will not be recorded.
Register
You can register for a reading club through the scheduling system below (note: there may be multiple events listed). Follow these steps:

Select your time zone from the drop-down menu
Click the “Register” button next to the event you’d like to attend
Fill out the registration form and click “Complete Registration”
Save your confirmation email to have the Zoom information or cancel your registration later. You can also respond to this email to contact the event organizers.

A reminder email will also be sent the morning of the event.
