Supporting a New Home for the Writing Studies Community
215 Comments
E
Elizabeth Latosi-Sawin
3 months ago
Having directed a Writing in the Disciplines Program for 17 years, I consider the work of CCCC to be invaluable for the future of teaching and studying writing strategies to enhance learning and prepare students for the different discourse communities they will enter.
E
Elaine Maimon
3 months ago
NCTE has taken actions resulting in my loss of faith in the organization.
S
Supporter
3 months ago
Welp. Obviously my trust in NCTE has been burned to the ground and the ashes scattered.
D
DONNA Qualley
3 months ago
Because writing, composition, rhetoric, and literacy studies--especially at this critical moment--needs to be served by an association specifically focused on our work.
R
RNF Chairs
3 months ago
As a 30+ year chair/co-chair of Research Network Forum that met as a pre-convention forum at CCCC since forming in 1987, I am hurt by the way NCTE de-chartered CCCC without a discussion or vote among members and without a plan to move forward which aligns with CCCC’s goals. NCTE pushed a decision so hastily, which shows a lack of respect to the many of members who have given thousands of hours of unpaid labor over 77 years. The time has come to move forward without NCTE.
V
Vershawn Young
3 months ago
We demand the the chair team we voted on lead our independent organization as we intended separately and apart from NCTE. PeriodT.
K
Kelly Kinney
3 months ago
As a former executive board member of CWPA and the 2026 CWPA conference chair and local host, I whole heartedly agree that CCCC should take on a new form independent from other entities. I offer the new name of the organization as follows: College Composition and Rhetoric (CCR), with it's journal College Composition and Rhetoric: A Journal of Writing Studies (CCRWS).
B
Betsy Gilliland
3 months ago
CCC represents a unique focus that is quite different from the broad areas covered by NCTE's College Section.
J
Jennifer Wilson
3 months ago
Honestly, it never felt to me like NCTE was a good match with the expansive nature of what it means to teach college writing and communication. (I don't consider myself an English teacher!) It seemed like a marriage of convenience by the end, so now we have a chance to build something by and for ourselves.
M
Matt Hill
3 months ago
I’ve never felt comfortable in the NCTE and would welcome a more indie approach to our field.
N
Natalie Dorfeld
3 months ago
I am severely disappointed with NCTE. Unfortunately, I think this rash decision will come back to bite them in the ass. I strongly support the work of CCCC, and I am excited to cheerlead the organization in its new and improved form. Onward.
D
David DeVine
3 months ago
Community makes the work not /easier/ but possible. Especially after watching close friends and pedagogical and academic family members put in effort, for years, and at times in great volume, I agree with Doug, and would love to see this flourish.
J
James Austin
3 months ago
Organization, press, conference independent of NCTE is the way to go. Perhaps existing organizations can band together to make this happen.
S
Supporter
3 months ago
Writing Studies has reached the end of a fruitful and trustworthy relationship with NCTE. This is the moment for CCCC folks to strike out in an independent direction.
S
Supporter
3 months ago
As a past chair of CCCC, who has served on numerous committees and worked in service of both CCCC and NCTE through years of dedicated service to the joint Black Caucus, I am horrified by the lack of respect the leaders of NCTE have given to a 77 year old organization that has walked hand in hand with NCTE and contributed to the wealth of knowledge and capital throughout that decades long partnership. You don't reward that kind of loyalty with cowardice.
R
Rebecca Mlynarczyk
3 months ago
CCCC was so important for me throughout my career. Today’s scholars in writing studies deserve similar opportunities for professional support and warm collegiality.
H
Heather Falconer
3 months ago
NCTE has shown us who they really are. We need to believe them.
M
Mara Holt
3 months ago
As someone whose entire career has been bookmarked with CCCC, I can't imagine a world without it. I remember several moments of despair in departments characterized by literary supremacy when a CCCC respite reminded me that I belonged to a community outside of any particular department that valued what I valued. That knowledge and the intellectual stimulation of being around real peers kept me and many others moving forward.
S
Supporter
3 months ago
Yes to a NEW, INDEPENDENT, and INTERNATIONAL writing and rhetoric studies association!
C
Carl Whithaus
3 months ago
With the decision by the NCTE Executive Committee to decharter CCCC, it is clear that writing studies has outgrown the narrow focus on classroom literacy practices. Forming a new organization outside of the control of NCTE will allow us to reflect the field's interdisciplinary (and international) reach.
Having directed a Writing in the Disciplines Program for 17 years, I consider the work of CCCC to be invaluable for the future of teaching and studying writing strategies to enhance learning and prepare students for the different discourse communities they will enter.
NCTE has taken actions resulting in my loss of faith in the organization.
Welp. Obviously my trust in NCTE has been burned to the ground and the ashes scattered.
Because writing, composition, rhetoric, and literacy studies--especially at this critical moment--needs to be served by an association specifically focused on our work.
As a 30+ year chair/co-chair of Research Network Forum that met as a pre-convention forum at CCCC since forming in 1987, I am hurt by the way NCTE de-chartered CCCC without a discussion or vote among members and without a plan to move forward which aligns with CCCC’s goals. NCTE pushed a decision so hastily, which shows a lack of respect to the many of members who have given thousands of hours of unpaid labor over 77 years. The time has come to move forward without NCTE.
We demand the the chair team we voted on lead our independent organization as we intended separately and apart from NCTE. PeriodT.
As a former executive board member of CWPA and the 2026 CWPA conference chair and local host, I whole heartedly agree that CCCC should take on a new form independent from other entities. I offer the new name of the organization as follows: College Composition and Rhetoric (CCR), with it's journal College Composition and Rhetoric: A Journal of Writing Studies (CCRWS).
CCC represents a unique focus that is quite different from the broad areas covered by NCTE's College Section.
Honestly, it never felt to me like NCTE was a good match with the expansive nature of what it means to teach college writing and communication. (I don't consider myself an English teacher!) It seemed like a marriage of convenience by the end, so now we have a chance to build something by and for ourselves.
I’ve never felt comfortable in the NCTE and would welcome a more indie approach to our field.
I am severely disappointed with NCTE. Unfortunately, I think this rash decision will come back to bite them in the ass. I strongly support the work of CCCC, and I am excited to cheerlead the organization in its new and improved form. Onward.
Community makes the work not /easier/ but possible. Especially after watching close friends and pedagogical and academic family members put in effort, for years, and at times in great volume, I agree with Doug, and would love to see this flourish.
Organization, press, conference independent of NCTE is the way to go. Perhaps existing organizations can band together to make this happen.
Writing Studies has reached the end of a fruitful and trustworthy relationship with NCTE. This is the moment for CCCC folks to strike out in an independent direction.
As a past chair of CCCC, who has served on numerous committees and worked in service of both CCCC and NCTE through years of dedicated service to the joint Black Caucus, I am horrified by the lack of respect the leaders of NCTE have given to a 77 year old organization that has walked hand in hand with NCTE and contributed to the wealth of knowledge and capital throughout that decades long partnership. You don't reward that kind of loyalty with cowardice.
CCCC was so important for me throughout my career. Today’s scholars in writing studies deserve similar opportunities for professional support and warm collegiality.
NCTE has shown us who they really are. We need to believe them.
As someone whose entire career has been bookmarked with CCCC, I can't imagine a world without it. I remember several moments of despair in departments characterized by literary supremacy when a CCCC respite reminded me that I belonged to a community outside of any particular department that valued what I valued. That knowledge and the intellectual stimulation of being around real peers kept me and many others moving forward.
Yes to a NEW, INDEPENDENT, and INTERNATIONAL writing and rhetoric studies association!
With the decision by the NCTE Executive Committee to decharter CCCC, it is clear that writing studies has outgrown the narrow focus on classroom literacy practices. Forming a new organization outside of the control of NCTE will allow us to reflect the field's interdisciplinary (and international) reach.