A Critical Look at Institutional Mission: A Guide for Writing Program Administrators

Abstract

Edited by Joseph Janangelo Writing Program Administration Edited by Chris Carter and Laura Micciche Information and Pricing 978-1-60235-840-9 (paperback, $32) 978-1-60235-841-6 (hardcover, $65) 978-1-60235-842-3 (PDF, $19.99). © 2016 by Parlor Press. 261 pages, with notes, bibliography, and index. Bookstores : Order by fax, mail, or phone. See our "Sales and Ordering Page" for details. What People Are Saying "As a WPA who recently transitioned into being a department chair, I was pulled in from the first paragraph. . . . A Critical Look at Institutional Mission is a welcome gap-filler, focusing on the 'mission' as a fulcrum for academic writing/program-building activities. I think it's a critical collection that confronts the rhetorical power of institutional goals rather than connecting alignment to a more ethereal 'big bad.' . . . [T]he book focuses on the mission statement as an artifact that offers insight into our institutional discussions about what we value, how we imagine learning to happen, and how we publicly circulate those ideas." —Colin Charlton, Co-author, GenAdmin: Theorizing WPA Identities in the Twenty-First Century Description A Critical Look at Institutional Mission: A Guide for Writing Program Administrators helps writing program administrators and writing center directors understand how their work is fueled and constrained by institutional mission. It offers provocations for reflection, conversation, and strategic stewardship of writing programs and writing centers. Mission is a central concept in millennial academe. For many two- and four-year colleges, mission denotes the distinctive institutional history and traditions of practice colleges use to serve students. Yet some traditions may be at odds with marketplace drivers, such as recruitment and retention, institutional rebranding, and social change. WPAs and writing center directors may struggle to reconcile historical practice with contemporary work in civic engagement, undergraduate resear