Event: RMWCA Inter-Institutional Transfer Students and Writing Centers Symposium

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Rocky Mountain Writing Centers Association Inter-Institutional Transfer Students and Writing Centers Symposium

When: Fri, June 03, 2022 to Sat, June 04, 2022

Where: Salt Lake Community College Taylorsville Redwood Campus, Salt Lake City, Utah and and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

EVENT DETAILS:

Register at https://rmwca.wildapricot.org/event-3602811 

Writing Center personnel and pre- or post-transfer students are invited to attend the RMWCA Inter-Institutional Transfer Students and Writing Centers Symposium on June 3-4, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah, to learn about and discuss what Writing Centers at both universities and two-year colleges can do to support transfer students in their transitions.  

Discussion at the symposium will result in collaboratively written vision, policy, and best practices statements for the support of transfer students and Writing Center work. A key goal of the symposium is that these statements be put to practical use at participants’ institutions. As researchers who focus on community colleges and transfer students, Dr. Romeo García (University of Utah), Clint Gardner (Salt Lake Community College), Dr. Christopher LeCluyse (Westminster College, Salt Lake City), Dr. Lizbett Tinoco (University of Texas A&M, San Antonio), and Dr. Christie Toth (University of Utah) will facilitate discussion. A special panel discussion will feature students who have experienced inter-institutional transfer.

As alternative educational spaces that provide support to students from across the institution, writing centers seem to be a good location to assist students in easing their institutional transfer. However, little research is available regarding both transfer student identities and transfer-and-receiving institutional partnership and writing centers. Only two studies (Ellis, 2013; Gere et al., 2017) mention writing centers as sites of both difficulty and access for transfer students. This lack of research into transfer students and writing centers leads directly to the critical question that drives this symposium on inter-institutional transfer and writing centers: What policies and best practices can writing centers adopt in order to assist transfer students to successfully transfer and complete bachelors degrees?

Symposium attendees will benefit in four distinct ways:  

1. They will learn the conditions of transfer students at various institutions in general and in our writing centers in particular.
2. They will be apprised of the relevant research on institutional transfer and writing centers.
3. They will participate in the collaborative development of policies and best pedagogical practice statements that can be taken back to their home institutions.
4. They can build relationships with other institutions to help support students who are transferring.
5. They can develop ideas for further research leading to publication on writing centers and inter-institutional transfer.

The symposium is hosted by Salt Lake Community College, the University of Utah, and Westminster College, and will be held on the Taylorsville Redwood Campus of Salt Lake Community College  (4600 South Redwood Road, Salt Lake City, Utah) for the first day.  For the second day, we will be at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City,   The event is open to all interested in inter-institutional transfer and Writing Centers.

 

Needs-based travel scholarships are available, and can cover the cost of registration as well as other travel needs. Apply for the travel grant at https://forms.gle/Wqhfzqva62DZsPfr9.  

 

Best regards,

Rocky Mountain Writing Centers Association

 

References

Ellis, M.M. (2013). Successful community college transfer students speak out. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 32(2) pp 73-84. DOI: 10.180/10668920903304914.

Gere, A.R., Hutton, E., Keating, B., Knutson, A. Silver, N and Toth, C (2017). “Mutual

 

Clint Gardner (he/him/his)

[Pronunciation]

Salt Lake Community College is located on the Native American shared territory of the Goshute, Navajo, Paiute, Shoshone, and Ute People. We honor the original ancestors of this land and also offer respect to our other tribal communities. We acknowledge this history to cultivate respect for and advocate with our Indigenous students and communities still connected to this land.

 

Program Manager of College Writing & Reading Centers (https://www.slccswc.org)

Salt Lake Community College

ENG

4600 South Redwood Road
Salt Lake City, Utah 84121   USA

+1-801-957-4842

(http://www.cgardner.org/)

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