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Rhonda

>>> Betsy Sargent <[log in to unmask]> 12/17/06 7:29 PM >>>
Dear Inkshedders (whatever that may mean!),

I ended my previous email with a statement of 
gratitude for the online community of Inkshed and 
am now hoping for an occasion to be even more 
grateful, even at this busy time of year.  I'm 
hoping for a simple "yes" or "no" from anyone 
who's listening (see the question below).

Apparently, Canadian organizations are no more 
prone to introspection than US ones, since WPA 
(the Council of Writing Program 
Administrators)--because it is turning 30  this 
year--is devoting two sessions to introspection 
at the Modern Language Association Convention 
(Dec. 27-30 in Philadelphia).  Having just 
finished giving my exams, I'm realizing that I 
foolishly promised (long ago) to say something at 
one of these sessions about possible useful roles 
for the WPA in Canada.  If any of you have 
thoughts on that subject, I'm all ears (on- or 
off-line), but most important to me right now is 
a one-word reply to the following question.

Has the WPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year 
Composition been useful to you in your work in 
Canada in any way, as a CASLL/Inkshed member 
(that is, a person who is interested in Language and Learning)?
Yes or No?

I'll paste in below the URL for the WPA Outcomes 
Statement, but it actually is more useful to me 
if you just give a quick reply off the top of 
your head, without checking the statement out (on 
the assumption that if it's been useful in any 
way to you so far, you'd already have some 
impression of it, good or bad--and if it hasn't, 
you'll know that without needing to invest any 
time in reading it, whether for the 10th  or  the first time).

Please feel free to just say "no" (if, for 
instance, you have no idea what I'm talking about 
or if you have never used the WPA Outcomes 
Statement for any purpose whatsoever or if you 
feel neutral towards it or if you feel it's pernicious in some way).

Also please feel free to just say "yes" (if you 
don't have time to go into any detail about how 
you used it, I can always email you directly for 
further details, not that you'd need to give 
them).  A quick "yes" or "no" would more useful 
to me than a decision to wait to respond because 
you have a lot to say about the WPA Outcomes 
Statement and no time to say it now (though as I 
say, anything you have to say about it would 
interest me--just feel free to do that later, if you don't have time now).

I won't be mentioning any names in connection 
with these "yes" or "no" answers--just doing a 
quick total (how many answers online within 48 
hours, how many were "yes," how many were 
"no").  If you email me anything further about 
the WPA or its statement, let me know if you want 
your comments to be attributed to you by name or not.

Many many thanks!  Betsy

______________________
I'm pasting in here a description of and 
invitation to these two WPA sessions (plus 
reception) from the WPA website, in case anyone 
is interested (talk about group identity 
confusion--I'm a WPA member even though I'm not a 
Writing Program Administrator):

Dear WPA Members and Friends:

If you're going to MLA in Philadelphia this year, 
please note these WPA events on your convention schedules:
(more details available at 
<http://wpacouncil.org/node/532>http://wpacouncil.org/node/532)

Panel: “Moving toward Inclusion: Thirty Years of 
the Council of Writing Program Administrators,” 
Friday, December 29th, 1:45–3:00 p.m., Room 307 
of the Philadelphia Marriott 
(internationalization is one of the issues being discussed in this session).

Panel: “Challenges of the Future: Foregrounding 
Diversity in the WPA Palette” Saturday, December 
30th, noon to 1:15, Room 302 of the Philadelphia Marriott.

WPA 30th Anniversary Reception: 5:00-7:00 on the 
evening of Friday, December 29 at the Hilton 
Garden Inn (1100 Arch St) in Philadelphia, 
sponsored by the Council of Writing Program 
Adge of Pennsylvania.

Please join us if you're in Philadelphia!

Shirley Rose
President
____________________________
Below are two URLs for the WPA Outcomes Statement 
(I hope they both work, but the second one, 
posted at the U of A Writing Task Force website, 
should definitely work--if it doesn't, please let me know).

http://wpacouncil.org/positions/outcomes.html?PHPSESSID=7cb84e682a3fea1ede1e180f20fbbf7c

http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/arts//pdfs/WTF_WPA_Outcomes.pdf 

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                -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to
  [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties,
         write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask]

For the list archives and information about the organization,
    its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to
              http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/
                 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-