Best Ph.D. programs for Writing Center / WPA work?

[EspritHabile]

Greetings, all,

I currently direct a small writing center, which I absolutely love, but am ready to move on to other opportunities. Job postings all seem to require a Ph.D., so I am ready to "close the loop," so to speak, and return to graduate school.

So far, my list of schools that offer an emphasis in writing center / writing program administration and composition includes:

UT Austin, Miami University, Ohio University, Ball State University, Purdue, U. of Louisville, U. of Wisconsin-Madison, and U. of Michigan. For technical and scientific writing, I'll also throw in the U. of Minnesota.

Do you have any insights on the schools/programs I've listed here? I've heard that there are some concerns about how TAs are treated at Purdue, and their recent acquisition of Kaplan is certainly pretty interesting. Are there other schools/programs I ought to consider?

Cheers, and thanks!

[NoirFemme]

Put University of Delaware on the list.

[bhr]

I'm biased, but I wouldn't put any school on that list above Michigan State or Ohio State. I also have not heard anything bad from multiple friends at Purdue, but anecdotal evidence isn't much. Also keep in mind that UM, as good as Sweetland is, isn't a R/C or English program

I would suggest the same thing I do with everyone: look at the major conferences and see what programs are being represented. Where did people go/where are they now? Same with journals. Writing centers and WPA jobs are a bit harder to judge based on who is current in those positions, as often those people weren't originally hired for that role, but it's still worth looking at the job listings and seeing who filled them come September.

[sgc001]

I'm definitely biased, because I accepted an offer from this school, but Arizona State. It doesn't have an official WPA option, but there is plenty of opportunity to work with Shirley Rose and help run the university's giant writing program.

[EspritHabile]

On 4/29/2017 at 1:31 AM, NoirFemme said:

Put University of Delaware on the list.

Thank you! Do you care to share why you think they should be on my radar?

 

On 4/29/2017 at 1:14 PM, sgc001 said:

I'm definitely biased, because I accepted an offer from this school, but Arizona State. It doesn't have an official WPA option, but there is plenty of opportunity to work with Shirley Rose and help run the university's giant writing program.

Thank you! I've heard good things about Arizona State and U. of Arizona and will check them both out. 

 

On 4/29/2017 at 7:29 AM, bhr said:

I would suggest the same thing I do with everyone: look at the major conferences and see what programs are being represented. Where did people go/where are they now? Same with journals. Writing centers and WPA jobs are a bit harder to judge based on who is current in those positions, as often those people weren't originally hired for that role, but it's still worth looking at the job listings and seeing who filled them come September.

Sound advice--thank you!

[NoirFemme]

14 hours ago, EspritHabile said:

Thank you! Do you care to share why you think they should be on my radar?

 

 

I was accepted, and despite loving the faculty, the campus, and the program, I was not--LOL--anticipating the strong focus on rhetoric and composition (I come from a general humanities background, not English). About half of the faculty are rhet/comp, and English Ph.D students teach it and run the writing center. 

Edited May 1, 2017 by NoirFemme

[silenus_thescribe]

I acknowledge my bias here as well; UT Austin is great for writing center work, and for writing center job placements. A colleague of mine went straight from her PhD to a writing center gig at a great school on the east coast. We also placed someone at the Columbia writing center. Students at UT get the opportunity to work at the University Writing Center both as consultants and as Assistant Directors (a kind of administrative position). I know lots of fellow PhD students who work at the UWC even though they are not interested in writing center work down the line. 

[EspritHabile]

8 hours ago, NoirFemme said:

I was accepted, and despite loving the faculty, the campus, and the program, I was not--LOL--anticipating the strong focus on rhetoric and composition (I come from a general humanities background, not English). About half of the faculty are rhet/comp, and English Ph.D students teach it and run the writing center. 

I appreciate your perspective--thanks! U of Delaware had not popped onto my radar before, but I'm scoping them out. My list just keeps on growing...

[Warelin]

There are a lot of schools that can offer you a lot of things depending on what you're interested in.  What kind of theory are you interested in? Can you stand extreme hot or cold weather? Do you prefer the city or rural areas? Would you prefer a "competitive" or "friendlier" cohort? Each university will have its own method of doing things. Its strengths in different niches would be something to pay attention to. How important is Technical writing?  How important is it for the program to be interdisciplinary? In addition to those already mentioned, I'd consider looking into:

Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, Writing Studies)
Michigan State (WRAC)
Carnegie Mellon
Northwestern (Rhetoric and Civic Culture)
University of California, Irvine
University of New Hampshire

 

If you're interested in technical writing:
NC State
Iowa State


 

 

[EspritHabile]

4 hours ago, silenus_thescribe said:

I acknowledge my bias here as well; UT Austin is great for writing center work, and for writing center job placements. A colleague of mine went straight from her PhD to a writing center gig at a great school on the east coast. We also placed someone at the Columbia writing center. Students at UT get the opportunity to work at the University Writing Center both as consultants and as Assistant Directors (a kind of administrative position). I know lots of fellow PhD students who work at the UWC even though they are not interested in writing center work down the line. 

Thanks for this. UT Austin is near the top of my list due to the combination of my respect for the Charles A. Dana Center and the stunning new writing center space. Is it cool if I ping you privately about what the grad life is like there?

[silenus_thescribe]

25 minutes ago, EspritHabile said:

Thanks for this. UT Austin is near the top of my list due to the combination of my respect for the Charles A. Dana Center and the stunning new writing center space. Is it cool if I ping you privately about what the grad life is like there?

Of course!

[EspritHabile]

5 minutes ago, Warelin said:

There are a lot of schools that can offer you a lot of things depending on what you're interested in.  What kind of theory are you interested in? Can you stand extreme hot or cold weather? Do you prefer the city or rural areas? Would you prefer a "competitive" or "friendlier" cohort? Each university will have its own method of doing things. Its strengths in different niches would be something to pay attention to. How important is Technical writing?  How important is it for the program to be interdisciplinary? 

 

 

All good questions. Thanks, too, for your other info-heavy posts about deadlines, fees, and other data. 

I'm very Interdisciplinary by nature, so my research interests are, I think, pretty widely scattered. My current work focuses significantly on inclusive pedagogy (so, ELL concerns, non-prescriptive linguistics, supporting at-risk students, Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, anti-racist pedagogy). I'm also interested in assessment and RAD research. And for fun, let's throw in the rhetoric of science, science fiction, and ecocriticism. Because of my broad interests, I enjoy collaborative environments. However, I am burnt out on winter and tiny towns. 

[Enjay]

If you're adding more schools to the list, University of Illinois at Chicago has a dedicated Writing Center that I've seen a lot of the English Ed and Rhet/Comp PhD students TA at.  We have a pretty decent placement record and a recently-retired professor here co-wrote (along with his wife, who is still a lecturer here) They Say, I Say, which gets a lot of circulation in in composition classrooms.  Of course, if you're more into narrative over argumentative, we have people here that do that too, and the Writing Center itself has its own theories and practices as far as instructing their tutors, I'm just most familiar with the PhD side of things.

[klader]

I'm biased, but Miami of Ohio is great because we have an endowed writing center worth millions and Elizabeth Wardle. Good and big things happen with Liz. Plus she's simply an amazing human being and professor. There's also a business writing center that offers some great WAC/WID opportunities, and there are assistant director of comp positions, too. 

I can offer a lot more specific info over pm, if you'd be interested! 

ETA: U Delaware is great, too. Melissa Ianetta is awesome and gets. shit. done. Very thorough, and funny too! I'm possibly applying there myself, although the program seems to be more lit-focused than I'm looking for. 

Edited May 15, 2017 by klader