Phelps, "Fresh Eyes"

Summary: An excerpt from a keynote speech Phelps gave to the Syracuse writing program in 1999. This is a snapshot of the concerns and current issues of a writing program, and offers a different vibe and perspective than the other articles, although it touches on some issues common to the other articles. This address is actually "from the trenches" and offers an interesting case study of a writing program. Some of the issues covered in the speech are the constituent groups of the program (there are five major groups, all quite different, yet all deeply engaged in the program), the physical and financial space of the program, the curriculum, and the role of the director.

Response: I found the piece as a whole interesting, but there were several specific sections that particularly caught my eye. One was the diversity of the constituent groups in the program. This is different from my experience--at my school, we have full-time, tenured faculty, and part-time faculty. So I found this picture of how a program functions at a university very interesting. I also was struck by the amount of discussion of money and pay. Phelps discusses, for instance, the issue of the program controlling its own funds. That seems like a significant win (albeit one that comes with a headache). It frustrates me how composition is so frequently treated as a cash cow by the institution, yet we are so rarely put in charge of any of the funds it generates. I realize this speech isn't saying that the program would be in charge of all those funds, but the issue of funding and its connection to programmatic autonomy and respect is really significant. I was also struck by Phelps's statement that she disagrees with "the notion that the Writing Program is a zero-sum game in which benefits for one group will harm or take them away from another." Unfortunately, I think that negative perception is pretty widespread. (I know it exists at my school, and not just in the writing program.)

Uses: To provide a first-person, local perspective of a university writing program. Also, Phelps provides an outline of a possible role for a WPA.