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The administration
of the CWRL is currently quite distributed. There is a faculty director
for institutional purposes. However, beyond basic administration, the director's
role is that of a "visioneer," facilitator, and coordinator for the rich
knowledge ecology of the lab. The director is responsible to the college
and the DRC, on the one hand, and to the faculty, graduate student instructors,
staff, and students on the other. The staff includes an administrative
coordinator, a systems administrator, three graduate student assistant
directors, the CWRL steering committee, approximately 40 graduate student
instructors (expanding next year to around 50), and undergraduate work
study proctors and specialists. The graduate instructors are grouped in
regularly-meeting cohorts, and many also serve as developers for ongoing
lab functions: the maintenance and development of the CWRL web site, journals,
annual colloquium, yearbook, newsletter, community connections, and so
on.
We will have needs
for additional staff resources as the facilities expand, including additional
assistance for the systems administrator and clerical assistance for the
program coordinator. There are several major and related considerations
for administration as the lab has expanded and developed its mission and
scope. The first consideration is time, and the second is funding: currently
the director of the CWRL can expect to spend about 25-30 contact hours
per week managing the lab, not counting liaison work and meetings with
the DRC and the English department. This work continues on a year-round
basis, as the director is responsible for a great deal of administration,
research, and planning, particularly in the summer months. While the director
receives one course relief for these responsibilities, there is currently
a compelling need for a salary supplement for this position, for additional
course relief, and for assured summer funding. Without this support it
will be increasingly difficult for the lab to provide incentives for faculty
to take on or sustain this demanding role, particularly as the lab expands
and requires even more time, management skills, and expertise.
Ideally, the
director would also increase the national stature of the CWRL and keep
abreast of technological and pedagogical changes through expanded travel
for presentations at high-level conferences. The third, and in many ways
most difficult, consideration is space: in addition to the classroom space,
office space will be needed not only for additional staff and graduate
ADs, but for an office for the director close to the administrative staff
in FAC. The success of the CWRL has been well-recognized; it has established
its leadership both within the university and nationally. We are looking
forward to continued development and even greater achievements.
Through projects such as our participation in AIR Austin, and volunteer
efforts at the Austin Learning Academy, the CWRL has begun reaching out
to provide more service to the university and the community. We have hosted
focus groups of teachers learning technology through ITAL and participated
in UT Interactive. We invite community leaders to participate in
the CWRL spring colloquium. We are looking forward to expanding these efforts
through our investigation of service learning as a component of writing
courses, as well as through our connection with the technology, literacy,
and culture concentration.
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