The struggle toward professionalization: the historical evolution of writing program administrators

Abstract

Many great changes have taken place in the oversight and administration of writing programs in colleges and universities in the United States. This evolution, however, has not been an unimpeded eventuality; writing program administrators (WPAs) have struggled for professional training, power, identity-formation, and recognition. It is this struggle toward professionalization which this dissertation documents. No written histories exist to chronicle the evolution of WPAs¿no unified and coherent accounting addresses their historical and current work. In an effort to begin to fill this void, I argue for an interpretation of the evolution of WPAs compiled from primary research in journals, books, and direct interviews¿an interpretation which asserts that WPAs have struggled to transform themselves, and other's impressions of them, from bureaucratic managers of an undervalued discipline to dynamic administrators and theorizers of their work and their field. I examine WPAs' struggle toward professionalization in three time periods: what I call the Early Era (1940¿1963), when WPAs began to identify the problems confronting professionalization as writing program administration was beginning to surface in relation to discussions of teaching composition; through a Transitional Era (1964¿1979), when WPAs gained more responsibility and acknowledgment and began to propose solutions to the problems hindering professionalization; to the Professional Era (1980¿present), when WPAs have realized many of their desired outcomes in the struggle toward professionalization. This history of WPAs not only chronicles their evolution toward professionalization but also aids in that process because it documents the breadth of work and worth of this administrative field. Ultimately, the documentation and validation of this administrative history not only helps frame historical actions, it can help shape future acknowledgment and professionalization of WPAs.