[CBW_Exec] Answers to Your Questions About BW

Sun Apr 10 09:10:35 CDT 2011

Sorry, I meant to say I was co-chair, with Hannah Ashley, from  
2008-2011. Hannah will continue through 2012, and Liz is taking on  
position as co-chair with Hannah. I'm outgoing co-chair

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 10, 2011, at 9:41 AM, "Shannon Carter" <Shannon_Carter at tamu-commerce.edu 
 > wrote:

> Thanks, Liz!
>
> Serena: what Liz said!
>
> She's replacing me. I was chair 2008 thru thus year's CCCC and led the
> workshop that ended with working session and resolution Bill drafted.
>
> The idea of a cbw resolution has been a goal of ours for some time,
> and another member (BArbara Gleason) did quite a lot of research to
> suggest to group to pursue the same.
>
> Major movement forward would not have been possible without Bill's
> crafting of language and drive that took it forward and, to a great
> extent, Liz's organization and extremely smart use of social media and
> consensus building, enabling everyone a voice in this process.
>
> The signatures and support offered online were so extensive they
> crashed the listserve. Several individuals from listserv conversation
> said they had not been coming to cccc in recent years because they saw
> so little attention paid to BW.
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Apr 10, 2011, at 8:46 AM, "J. Elizabeth Clark"
> <lclark at lagcc.cuny.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hi Serena,
>>
>>
>> I hope some of these answers will help you. I'm J. Elizabeth Clark,
>> the incoming co-chair of CBW with Hannah Ashley. I wasn't there on
>> Saturday, but was at the conference prior to Saturday morning's
>> events. Shannon Carter forwarded me your note, since I'm at home
>> with Internet access. I'm going to answer your questions here
>> quickly. I am also available by phone today: 347.860.1963.
>>
>>
>> Was basic writing ever its own conference cluster?
>>
>>
>> Yes. Historically, basic writing has always been a conference
>> cluster (a thread/strand). It stopped having its own strand a few
>> years ago.
>>
>> What changes have you seen in the treatment of and focus on basic
>> writing at CCCCs over the years?
>>
>>
>> Basic Writing has moved from one of the central places in the
>> discipline to an increasingly marginalized place as other sub-genres
>> have moved in: digital rhetoric, creative writing, etc. This has
>> happened at the same time public support for Basic Writing programs
>> has waned significantly.
>>
>>
>> What distinguishes a featured session from the others? Is it simply
>> prominence in the conference's program, or are there other
>> advantages?
>>
>>
>> A featured session has a prominent place in the program & that means
>> that 1.) people pay attention to it and 2.)
>>
>>
>> How did the movement behind proposing a sense-of-the-house motion
>> get started? Who began it, and when?
>>
>>
>> Each year, the CBW has a preconference workshop at CCCC. It has done
>> so since 1980. This year's workshop included keynote presentations
>> from Mary Soliday, Rebecca Mlynarczyk, and Kelly Ritter. It also
>> featured presentations from a number of Basic Writing faculty
>> presenting on their programs and pedagogy.
>>
>>
>> A central component of this year's workshop was also a "working
>> session" to deal with current issues in Basic Writing and in BW's
>> presence at CCCC. We have  list of 21 recommendations from the
>> group. We are moving ahead with several of these, one of which
>> involves increasing the presence of BW at CCCC.
>>
>>
>> During that discussion and brainstorming session, William Lalicker
>> suggested the Sense of the House motion. He drafted it and read it
>> to the group. The group decided to approve the motion unanimously,
>> but asked the Executive Board to tinker with the language at its
>> meeting that night. We had about 50 people in the room (it was
>> unanimous so we didn't do a head count).
>>
>>
>> That evening, the Executive Board worked on the resolution further.
>> Then, I copied it and we collected signatures at the Special
>> Interest Group on Thursday night. We also distributed it via our
>> blog and our listserv in order to get to people who were not in
>> attendance. We collected signatures at CCCC and virtually, as people
>> send their names and in some cases statements of support for this
>> issue.
>>
>>
>> What's next?
>>
>>
>> We have a busy year ahead of us moving ahead with the 21
>> recommendations from the larger group. We are writing a more
>> specific mission statement for our group. Because financial issues
>> (travel money) is a huge issue for many of our group, we are
>> exploring ways to augment CCCC with some regional meetings/
>> conferences. We will be working to approach the CCCC leadership to
>> enhance the position of Basic Writing at the conference and in the
>> mission of CCCC's work. We are also going to work to create
>> opportunities to support people who want to publish in the area of
>> Basic Writing. As Mike Hill said in his note to you, we will also be
>> working on policy issues. We believe that it's important for us to
>> begin shaping the discussion rather than having it shaped for us by
>> policy makers. These are a few of the things in the works.
>>
>>
>> We will also continue with 2 important awards the group offers
>> annually, a fellowship to travel to CCCC and the Innovations Award
>> to recognize excellence in Basic Writing programs.
>>
>>
>> Is there any particular reason why Prof. Lalicker was designated to
>> propose the motion?
>>
>>
>> It was originally his idea.
>>
>>
>> And finally, an easy one -- how many members does the CBW have?
>> (And how do you count them -- simply by listserv signups, or... ?)
>>
>>
>> Listserv signup; CBW preconference workshop attendance. It's an open
>> coalition of teacher-scholars. If someone is interested in Basic
>> Writing, they are welcome to join us. That said, there are a number
>> of members and previous chairs of the group who consistently guide
>> its work: Greg Glau, Peter Adams, Karen Uehling, Rebecca Mlynarczyk,
>> Shannon Carter, William Lalicker, Susan Naomi Bernstein, Kelly
>> Ritter, Deborah Mutnick, Hannah Ashley, Sonya Armstrong, Lynn
>> Quitman Troyka, Kathleen Baca, Sugie Goen-Salter, Sarah Kirk, Alan
>> Meyers, Barbara Gleason, and myself. Our membership and leadership
>> changes over time (as is expected of a group that goes back to 1980).
>>
>>
>> Here's more about the history of CBW (the organization):
>>
>>
>> http://cbwblog.wordpress.com/about/
>> A longer history is in the introduction to the Bedford Basic Writing
>> book. The history was written by Karen Uehling.
>>
>>
>>
>> This is a nice history of basic writing (the field) by George Otte
>> and Rebecca Mlynarczyk:
>> http://wac.colostate.edu/books/basicwriting/introduction.pdf
>>
>>
>> I hope this answers many of your questions.
>>
>>
>> Best,
>> J. Elizabeth Clark
>>
>>
>>
>> J. Elizabeth Clark, Ph.D.
>> Professor of English
>> LaGuardia Community College--CUNY
>> e-mail:  lclark at lagcc.cuny.edu
>> Phone:  718.482.5665
>> www.jelizabethclark.com
>>>>> "Shannon Carter"  04/10/11 8:18 AM >>>
>> Hi, Serena--
>>
>> Thanks again for your wonderful help in getting this story out there
>> and thanks, Muchael, for responding to Serena's questions:
>>
>> Serena, I can't get  online right now nor will I be able to until
>> evening when I'm back home--well, other than via phone and tying on
>> this is slow, slow, slow.
>>
>> I'm cc-ing the exec board so they can weigh in and I also welcome  
>> your
>> phone call at 9033661767
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Shannon
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Apr 9, 2011, at 8:44 PM, "Michael Hill"  wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Serena,
>>> I hope either Shannon or Bill have responded or will respond to
>>> you.  They know the history of the group far better than I do.  I
>>> can tell you that Basic Writing had its own cluster in 2006, but has
>>> since disappeared as a cluster.  I cannot tell you why that is the
>>> case--this is based only on my own very short review of past
>>> programs.
>>>
>>> As for the generation of the statement, I believe William Lalicker
>>> had the original idea, but it arose during a discussion wherein many
>>> others were voicing discontent over the relative absence of Basic
>>> Writing from this year's conference proceedings.  William Lalicker
>>> is also the one who came up with the original wording of the motion
>>> and then it was parsed by the group--both in meetings here at the
>>> conference and online with people who are not here--during the next
>>> couple of days.  Because of Bill's passion and original wording, he
>>> was the obvious choice of spokesperson for the motion.
>>>
>>> I am not sure of the number of members of CBW.  There is not an
>>> official membership roll and no dues, pledge, or fancy membership
>>> card.  We have a listserv that has a great deal of members, but I do
>>> not know how many people are on that list.  As far as I can tell,
>>> our membership is fluid with an open door policy.  If one teaches,
>>> researches, or cares about basic writing issues, one can be a
>>> member.  Shannon can probably give you a rough idea about how many
>>> people are on the listserv or how many people come to the workshop
>>> and/or SIG.
>>>
>>> As for the future of the CBW, Shannon or Bill, as exec board
>>> members, are probably better suited to speak to that.  I can say
>>> that my hope is that we become a more vibrant force within the
>>> study, the teaching, the research, and the policy of basic writing.
>>> My belief is that we are on our way to doing this through planning
>>> on having a more vocal presence--in terms of presentations--at next
>>> year's CCCC.  We are also attempting to develop some group
>>> structures that will allow us to build a stronger sense for our
>>> members, our field, and our publics about who we are and what we
>>> work for.
>>>
>>> Thanks again for working at this.  Your efforts are much  
>>> appreciated.
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>> Michael D. Hill
>>> English Division
>>> Henry Ford Community College
>>> (313) 845-6368
>>>
>>>>>> Serena Golden 04/09/11 6:49 PM >>>
>>> Dear Professors Carter, Adams, and Hill:
>>>
>>> Thanks very much to all of you for the time you took to speak with
>>> me about the CBW's sense-of-the-house motion this morning. I'm
>>> working on a brief story about it for Inside Higher Ed, and I just
>>> have a couple of followup/background questions; answers from any one
>>> of you would be just fine (although more is always good), but I
>>> figured with the conference wrapping up and a lot of people in
>>> transit, it'd be best to contact all of you and hope that at least
>>> one person will have ten minutes and an internet connection between
>>> now and, let's say, tomorrow morning at the latest. (I'm very
>>> conscious of my basic writing in this email, and I'm sorry for that
>>> run-on sentence.)
>>>
>>> Here's what I'm looking for:
>>>
>>> --Was basic writing ever its own conference cluster? Or, if the CBW
>>> is successful in making it a cluster at future CCCCs, will that be
>>> the first time?
>>>
>>> --What changes have you seen in the treatment of and focus on basic
>>> writing at CCCCs over the years?
>>>
>>> --What distinguishes a featured session from the others? Is it
>>> simply prominence in the conference's program, or are there other
>>> advantages?
>>>
>>> --How did the movement behind proposing a sense-of-the-house motion
>>> get started? Who began it, and when?
>>>
>>> --What's next?
>>>
>>> --Is there any particular reason why Prof. Lalicker was designated
>>> to propose the motion?
>>>
>>> --And finally, an easy one -- how many members does the CBW have?
>>> (And how do you count them -- simply by listserv signups, or... ?)
>>>
>>> Thanks again for your time and assistance; I hope to hear back from
>>> one or more of you!
>>>
>>> All the best,
>>>
>>>
>>> Serena
>>>
>>> ---
>>> Serena Golden
>>> Copy Editor
>>> Inside Higher Ed
>>> http://www.insidehighered.com
>>> (202) 448-6113
>>>
>>
>>
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