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Excellence and Expertise Research and Innovation

HCWE Staff Welcome Local and National Advisory Boards to the Howe Center for Writing Excellence

King Library was abuzz with excitement in the week leading up to the Howe Center for Writing Excellence’s National Advisory Board meeting--the first in-person event since 2019. Donors Roger and Joyce Howe and members of the National Advisory Board (NAB) traveled from across the United States to hear about the center’s accomplishments and initiatives.

Excellence and Expertise Research and Innovation

HCWE Staff Welcome Local and National Advisory Boards to the Howe Center for Writing Excellence

King Library was abuzz with excitement in the week leading up to the Howe Center for Writing Excellence’s National Advisory Board meeting--the first in-person event since 2019. Donors Roger and Joyce Howe and members of the National Advisory Board (NAB) traveled from across the United States to hear about the center’s accomplishments and initiatives.

The event kicked off Thursday night, September 15, with a reception. Attendees included the HCWE National and Local Advisory Board members, Miami faculty and staff who have been closely involved with Howe events, President Crawford, and Provost Mullenix. NAB member Linda Adler-Kassner (UC Santa Barbara) toasted the center’s three awards, and attendees celebrated the forthcoming book about the Fellows’ curricular change efforts, the Miami Writing Institute, past Howe Award winners, and Writing Center consultant research projects.

On September 16, HCWE Director Elizabeth Wardle, Writing Center Director Lizzie Hutton, and Writing Across the Curriculum Assistant Director Mandy Olejnik met with the National Advisory Board to discuss the state of the center as well as its initiatives and achievements over the past academic year. 

Wardle and Hutton shared accomplishments from the past year and snapshots of the reach of the Writing Center and Writing Across the Curriculum Program. For example, since 2007, the Writing Center has reached 15,000 Miami writers through 53,700 consultations and employed over 650 student consultants. The Writing Across the Curriculum Program has offered 73 workshops to 2,800 participants since 2016, and offered 12 semester-long Fellows seminars with 137 graduates since 2017. 

Wardle and Hutton especially noted the research happening in the HCWE, from undergraduate consultant inquiry projects and conference presentations to collaborative articles with graduate students to the forthcoming book with Fellows

They also emphasized the center’s current goal to impact teaching and writing practices outside Miami. For example, the HCWE now hosts the Ohio College Teaching Consortium, which offers an Inclusive Teaching Endorsement. The Miami Writing Institute enrolled 1,000 people in Spring and Summer 2022 and has re-launched for Fall 2022. The faculty at the Maricopa Community College 10-college system have begun offering their own version of the Howe Faculty Writing Fellows Program. 

Jessica Rivinius and Christian Ponce, from University Communications and Marketing, also shared a writing campaign that will kick off soon, called “I am a Writer,” which is designed to bring national attention to Miami’s commitment to writing. Jesy Herron from video company RESLV also showed some of the new videos the company made this summer for HCWE. 

At lunch, Library Dean Jerome Conley, Havinghurst Special Collections Head Bill Modrow, and Special Collections Librarian Rachel Makarowski arranged an impromptu educational viewing of some of Miami’s archival treasures, including the Shakespeare folio and artifacts from Freedom Summer. 

At the end of the day, the NAB held a closed meeting with Provost Mullenix to provide their assessment of the work of the HCWE. Roger and Joyce Howe shared their excitement that their vision for writing and innovation at Miami is coming to fruition.