Watkins selected to co-chair International Writing Centers Association Summer Institutes
Lacey Klotz |
Stacia Watkins, director of general education and the Writing Studio as well as associate professor of English at Lipscomb University, has been in the writing center field since 2002, and was recently selected to serve as co-chair for the International Writing Centers Association’s 2017 and 2018 Summer Institutes.
For the past 15 years, the IWCA has chosen leaders in the writing center field to host weeklong summer institutes, and Watkins, who has led Lipscomb’s Writing Studio since 2010, says she is honored to have been selected for both 2017 and 2018.
“This is a remarkable honor for Stacia Watkins as the International Writing Center Association is the premier association for directors of writing centers,” said Kimberly Reed, chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages. “Virtually every college and university now has a writing center, so for Dr. Watkins to be chosen attests to her stellar work in re-conceiving and developing our Writing Studio, and indicates that Lipscomb is on the cutting edge in research and best practices for this crucially important field.”
As co-chair, Watkins, along with Christopher LeCluyse from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, will lead workshops that cultivate informed, sustainable and effective writing centers by focusing on tutor training, budget and logistics, diversity and inclusion, institutional advocacy and qualitative and quantitative assessment and research.
The 2017 International Writing Center Association Summer Institute, titled “The Relevant Writing Center: Advocacy through Inquiry,” will be held in Vancouver, Canada at the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel from June 18-22, and the 2018 Summer Institute will be held in Nashville in June 2018.
“I love to learn, and have always considered myself to be a professional student; this honor affirms that I am at a point in my career where other people feel like they can learn from me, and that is extremely flattering. I am also excited to work alongside other leaders in this field and continue to do what I am so passionate about,” said Watkins.
A native of Glasgow, Kentucky, Watkins received her undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University, and her master’s and Ph.D. from Middle Tennessee State University.
From 2002 through 2010, Watkins served as MTSU’s associate director of teaching assistants and the Writing Center. In 2010, Watkins came to Lipscomb to take over the writing studio.
Throughout the years, Watkins has grown Lipscomb’s Writing Studio from almost 200 appointments annually to nearly 2,500. Aside from helping Lipscomb university students, faculty and staff improve upon their writing techniques, Lipscomb’s Writing Studio also provides workshops for local schools including Lipscomb Academy, and hosts several events including: The National Day of Writing, International Writing Center Week, Tennessee Tutor Collaboration Day, Nashville Reads, International Write-In, The Long Night Against Procrastination and Tennessee Directors Day.
“One thing that I love about writing is there is never a point where you stop growing,” said Watkins. “I always feel as if I learn just as much, if not more, than the students do just by working in the Writing Studio at Lipscomb.”
In addition to leading Lipscomb’s Writing Studio; teaching Lipscomb freshman seminar classes, film and creative media graduate courses and English courses; and now serving as the general education director for English, Watkins has also held several positions for the Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) and IWCA.
Watkins is the current President of SWCA and the regional affiliate on the IWCA board. In the past, Watkins has served as vice president and Tennessee State Representative of SWCA, and in 2015, Watkins hosted the SWCA Conference at Lipscomb University. She is also on the advisory board of Southern Discourse in the Center: A Journal of Innovation and Multiliteracy, and has presented at the IWCA conference several times.
Watkins has also recently had an article accepted to SDC, and has an article that has been revised and resubmitted to Writing Lab Newsletter, which she hopes, will be published next year.
Watkins says she loves to help get Lipscomb’s name out to different universities through the Writing Studio’s growth and to help students apply themselves in new and creative ways.
An established tradition within the International Writing Center Association since 2003, the Summer Institute is meant to guide current or would-be writing center directors and assistants, writing program administrators, tutors, writing teachers, curriculum developers, graduate students, new Ph.D.’s and academic leaders through discussions on a variety of writing center topics. Leaders also work one-on-one with participants throughout the week.
For more information about the IWCA 2017 and 2018 Summer Institutes, click here. To learn more about Lipscomb’s Writing Studio, click here.