Context Matters: Centering Writing Center Administrators' Institutional Status and Scholarly Identity

Abstract

This article examines writing center administrators (WCAs) in relationship to conditions that influence their institutional status and scholarly identity. Drawing upon survey and interview data, we elaborate on four themes that shape WCAs' experiences: 1. education and training; 2. position and institutional oversight; 3. financial resources; and 4. sponsorship. While these factors do not impact all WCAs in the same ways, we believe they influence WCAs' empirical research production and their relationships with department-based colleagues in interesting albeit context-dependent ways when viewed across the experiences of the current study's participants and those queried in earlier studies. After examining the implications of these factors—factors that suggest a separate and unequal WCA experience—we first propose the need for more comprehensive study of current professionals in our field to determine the degree to which the themes that emerged from our sample resonate with other WCAs. Second, we ask readers to revisit the notion that all routes to and forms of writing center leadership are equally effective in preparing and supporting our members, in serving the writers with whom they consult, and for sustaining the field's knowledge-making capacity. Finally, we encourage our professional organizations to be more explicit about what writing center professionals need to know and to advocate for employment conditions that best allow them to provide research-informed services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]