University of Arkansas

Walton College

The Sam M. Walton College of Business

2018 SCWCA Arkansas Conference

The Business Communication Lab and CLASS+ Writing Center were proud to host the South Central Writing Centers Association's 2018 Microregional Conference. The University of Arkansas hosted 40 of our colleagues from all across Arkansas and Texas on Saturday, September 22nd. Thank you to all of those who attended and presented at the conference!

Conference Goals

This conference has a simple goal: to provide an opportunity to collaborate with, learn from, and build relationships among writing center tutors, faculty, and staff. With this in mind, the conference will consist of a series of roundtables and workshops that will focus on practical strategies that you can take home and implement.

Conference theme

Our theme – Embodied Communication – takes a look at how we as writing centers are often seen as the body within the university responsible for helping students become more confident and effective communicators. This conference will address how we handle that responsibility and how that responsibility has an impact on tutor training strategies, our own policies, and how we define ourselves.

Tutors are especially encouraged to attend, as we will have professional development sessions for tutors and a tutor meetup hosted by CLASS+ and Business Communication Lab tutors. We are admittedly biased, but this is going to be an amazing conference and we hope you can join us on September 22nd! We look forward to meeting you, your tutors, and learning from each other!

This conference would not have been possible without the generous support of the South Central Writing Centers Association, whose support has enabled us to host this conference at no charge to attendees. Our SCWCA state representative, Carey Smitherman Clark, will be attending the conference - click here for a quick introduction to Carey!

 

Conference Schedule

8:15 - 9:00AM: Breakfast, registration (ARKU 508-510)

9:00 - 9:30AM: Opening remarks from Business Communication Lab, CLASS+, and SCWCA (ARKU 508-510)

9:45 - 11:00AM: Concurrent Sessions I and II

"Center Fusion: A Discussion of Combining Writing and Communication Tutoring," led by Dr. Carey Smitherman Clark, University of Central Arkansas (ARKU 511)

"Creating Atmosphere: A Discussion of How Mentorship Training Has Affected our Tutoring," led by Garrett Bronn, De'Stani Clark, and Dr. Ryan Sheets, Business Communication Lab, University of Arkansas (ARKU 507)

11:15AM - 12:15PM: Director's Roundtable and Tutor professional development session 

Director's Roundtable topic: How do we measure/assess our work and success as a writing/communication center? (ARKU 511)

Tutor Professional Development topic: How can tutors leverage their experience on the job market and communicate effectively with potential employers? Panel will consist of former tutors, Allison Banks and Courtney Wilson, and led by Jessi Schnebelen, University of Arkansas (ARKU 507)

12:15 - 1:15PM: Lunch and table/networking activities (ARKU 508-510)

1:15 PM - 2:15PM: Tour of campus, CLASS+ Writing Support, and the Business Communication Lab and  a Tutor Meet-up at the Arkansas Union, hosted by tutors from the University of Arkansas and Henderson State University

2:30 - 3:45PM: Concurrent Sessions III and IV

"Embodied Policy, Embodied Performance at the Center: An Action-Planning Workshop," led by Dr. Caleb James, University of Arkansas at Little Rock (ARKU 511)

"Tutoring Strategies for Students with Disabilities," led by Anne Raines, CLASS+, University of Arkansas (ARKU 507)

4:00 - 4:30PM: Closing Remarks (ARKU 508-510)

 

We will be having an optional post-conference meet-up at Hog Haus Brewpub on Dickson Street. We also have a list of fun things to do while in NWA for the weekend, here are a few of our favorite things!

 

Hotel and Parking

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Courtyard by Marriott, which is located at 600 E. Van Asche Dr. in Fayetteville. Just mention that you are part of the "SCWCA Micro Regional" conference.

View map

Room rates: $110/night - please reserve your room by September 10th to receive the discounted rate.

Reservations can be made by calling (479) 571-4900 or by clicking this link.

The 2018 SCWCA Arkansas Conference will be held at the Arkansas Union, which has a parking deck adjacent to it. Parking is free after 8pm and free on Saturday and Sunday.







Holding Documents

Documents