Online Writing Centers Association

Open Position: OWC Community Coding Coordinator
2020-01-01 - 2020-03-13
The OWC Community is accepting applications for a Coding Coordinator. This is a volunteer position for anyone interested in online writing center work. Applicants of all backgrounds are welcome to apply.
Responsibilities
The Coding Coordinator will be responsible for the following:

Managing all advanced coding and plugins for the OWC Community website in WordPress
Editing HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP to make our website template more accessible and user-friendly
Researching and installing new plugins that offer additional features
Managing the OWC Community listserv and solving technical issues in a timely manner
Attending a monthly meeting with other OWC Coordinators and additional meetings as needed
Representing the OWC Community at their local writing center conferences and at IWCA (when able to attend)

The person in this position can take on additional tasks, depending on their interests and availability. The time commitment is an average of 5 hours a month, but can fluctuate based on events and initiatives. Appointment to this position is for at least 1 calendar year, with the option to stay on longer if desired.
To Apply
To apply for this position, please send a general curriculum vitae and a 200-word statement of interest to submissions@onlinewritingcenters.org. Applications are accepted until the position is filled.
Applicants will be invited to attend a video meeting to meet the current OWC Coordinators and learn more about the position and our goals for this year. If you have any questions before or after applying, please contact Jenelle Dembsey at jmdembsey@gmail.com.

Virtual Conversation Hour: Assessment & Reporting for OWCs
2019-11-15 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
The OWC Community invites you to join us for discussion during our free Virtual Conversation Hour.

Date: Friday, November 15, from 12-1pm EST
Topic: assessment and reporting
Registration: register online

During this session, we’ll consider the following questions (or any other questions and ideas attendees bring!):

What metrics do you collect?
What barriers or difficulties have you encountered?
How has collecting metrics benefited you?
Who do you report metrics to and how do you do that reporting?

Virtual Conversation Hours will be held in Zoom; you will receive attendance information after registering. You can participate via audio and/or text chat.

SIG at IWCA 2019
2019-10-19 12:15 - 13:30
Session Information
Conference: International Writing Centers Association (view OWC-related sessions at IWCA 2019)
Date and Time: Saturday, October 19, 12:15 – 1:30pm EST
Presenters: Sarah Prince, Beth Nastachowski, Jenelle Dembsey, and Megan Boeshart
Onsite Participation: Room Union A, Hyatt Regency, Columbus, Ohio
Virtual Participation: Zoom. Register to attend our SIG virtually! Save your confirmation email with the link to join the session.
Abstract
This special interest group (SIG) is for writing centers working with or thinking about working with students online as either a partial or fully online writing center (OWC). During its second year at IWCA, this SIG will be structured in two parts: First, we will report back on current and upcoming initiatives, including the OWC Community website, our on-going virtual conversation hours, a special issue of ROLE on OWCs, and our efforts make this SIG an IWCA standing group. Second, attendees will participate in small-group discussions on the benefits and challenges specific to OWCs, including ways OWC tutors and professionals can better connect.

Virtual Conversation Hour: Identifying & Navigating Institutional Context for OWCs
2019-09-13 12:00 - 13:00
The OWC Community invites you to join us for discussion during our free Virtual Conversation Hour.

Date: Friday, September 13, from 12-1pm EST
Topic: identifying and navigating institutional contexts
Registration: register online

During this session, we’ll consider the following questions (or any other questions and ideas attendees bring!):

How do you know your student demographics? Where did you find them and who did you consult?
How did you determine your institutional context?
How did learning that information impact decisions around OWC tutoring?

Virtual Conversation Hours will be held in Zoom; you will receive attendance information after registering. You can participate via audio and/or text chat.

Virtual Conversation Hour: OWC Readings
2019-08-20 12:00 - 13:00
The OWC Community invites you to join us for discussion during our free Virtual Conversation Hour.

Date: Tuesday, August 20, from 12-1pm EST
Topic: OWC readings
Registration: register online

During this session, we’ll consider the following questions (or any other questions and ideas attendees bring!):

What readings do you find most helpful in your OWC work or your tutor training?
In what ways are those readings helpful?
How have the readings impacted or changed your OWC tutoring?

Virtual Conversation Hours will be held in Zoom; you will receive attendance information after registering. You can participate via audio and/or text chat.

Virtual Conversation Hour: Training for Online Writing Tutoring
2019-05-03 13:00 - 14:00
The OWC Community invites you to join us for discussion during our free Virtual Conversation Hour.

Date: Friday, May 3, from 1-2 pm EST
Topic: training for online writing tutoring

Registration: register online

During this session, we’ll consider the following questions (or any other questions and ideas attendees bring!):

What unique training, if any, do you offer staff engaging in online writing tutoring? How do you structure your training (is it integrated with your face-to-face training or is it an additional “level” of training?)
What training materials or activities have you found especially effective?
What barriers are you facing in terms of training staff engaged in online writing tutoring?

We welcome all participants. Virtual Conversation Hours will be held in Zoom; you will receive attendance information after registering. You can participate via audio or text chat.

Virtual Conversation Hour: Synchronous Tutoring Platforms
2019-04-12 13:00 - 14:00
The OWC Community invites you to join us for discussion during our free Virtual Conversation Hour.

Date: Friday, April 12, from 1-2 pm EST
Topic: synchronous tutoring platforms

Registration: register online

During this session, we’ll consider the following questions (or any other questions and ideas attendees bring!):

What platform do you use for your synchronous tutoring (e.g., Skype, Google Docs, etc.)?
What are the pros and the cons of your platform?
How did you choose the platform? What considerations went into that choice?

Virtual Conversation Hours will be held in Zoom; you will receive attendance information after registering. You can participate via audio and/or text chat.

SIG at ECWCA 2019: Evolving Technologies in Online Writing Center Work
2019-04-05 14:00 - 15:00
Google Doc for recording session notes
Session Information
Conference: East Central Writing Centers Association (ECWCA) Conference 2019
Type of Session: Roundtable and Special Interest Group (SIG)
Institution: University of Dayton
Session Title: Evolving Technologies in Online Writing Center Work
Facilitator: Jenelle Dembsey
Date: April 5, 2019 from 2-3pm EST
Session Description
The potential for online writing center work is directly affected by available and evolving technology platforms. At times, technology can limit what is possible. In other cases, technology can re-define online consultations entirely. For example, collaborative technologies like Google Docs have introduced the revolutionary idea that students can be present for and active in asynchronous appointments (Moberg, 2010; Schultz, 2010), blurring the boundaries between asynchronous and synchronous consulting support.
In a recent IWCA survey, respondents were interested in learning the pros and cons of different technological platforms used for online writing center work. As a response to this need, this session will engage attendees in conversations regarding the successes and failures of asynchronous and synchronous technologies in their local contexts. This session focuses both as a roundtable for online consulting platforms and as a special interest group for online writing center work more broadly. In addition to discussion, attendees will be briefly introduced to the Online Writing Centers Community and invited to participate in shaping future resources and support.

Virtual Conversation Hour: Asynchronous Tutoring Strategies
2019-03-26 13:00 - 14:00
The Online Writing Center (OWC) Community invites you to join us for discussion during our first free Virtual Conversation Hour.

Date: Tuesday, March 26, from 1-2 pm EST
Topic: asynchronous tutoring strategies
Registration: register online

During this session, we’ll discuss asynchronous tutoring strategies, considering the following questions (or any other questions and ideas attendees bring!):

What strategies do you use for providing students feedback asynchronously?
What technologies or tools do you find helpful or effective?
What kind of training have you done? What kind of training do you need to do?

We welcome all participants, whether you’re just beginning to think about asynchronous tutoring or have a lot of prior experience. Our goal is to bring together writing center tutors, administrators, faculty, and staff to share their experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions. Through conversations like these, we can connect our individual writing centers to build community.

Virtual Conversation Hours will be held in Zoom; you will receive attendance information after registering. You can participate via audio or text chat.
