By-laws for The Writing about Writing Development Group

(A Standing Group of CCCC)

Instituted March, 2019
Revised from previous version March 2015

PREAMBLE

These By-laws provide operating guidelines for The Writing about Writing Development Group members and its Steering Committee. They codify past practice and record the governance structures, supervisory responsibilities, committee arrangements, voting privileges, and procedural rules necessary for the orderly conduct of business. We anticipate the need to amend these by-laws as necessary and herein make the provision to do so. Ultimately, however, we agree that these By-laws can never, and should never, substitute for our good will toward one another, and we have adopted them in a spirit of professional cooperation and mutual trust.

ARTICLE I.  MEMBERSHIP

Each year, we will determine membership in two ways: (1) by counting the number of attendees at the CCCC Standing Group meeting, and (2) by collecting names, institutions, and e-mail addresses through a brief online survey sent to the WAW and other listservs, for those who do not attend CCCC but would like to be added to, removed from, or remain on our membership rolls.

ARTICLE II.  CCCC Convention Privileges and Responsibilities

The Writing about Writing Development Group is allotted one designated panel in addition to a business meeting at the CCCC Annual Convention, subject to the Program Chair’s approval.

The group is expected to submit a brief annual report of their activities (with recommendations for future action) no later than 30 days after the conclusion of the CCCC Convention.

The group is formally reviewed by the CCCC Officers every three years.

ARTICLE III.  STRUCTURE AND ADMINISTRATION

The WAW Standing Group is led by a Steering Committee consisting of

• Co-Coordinators
• At-Large Members

Co-coordinators and Steering Committee At-Large members are elected by the Standing Group.

All WAW Standing Group members are eligible for nomination as as an At-Large Steering Committee member. We aim to have broad representation on the committee, including, but not limited to, tenure-line, non-tenure-line, and graduate student instructors from four-year, two-year, and other institutions.

Steering Committee Duties

• Coordinate the work of the Standing Group according to the by-laws
• Appoint At-Large Members to year-long offices with renewable terms.  These offices do not exclude the possibility of further ad-hoc committees or working groups that may be created by the steering committee. Co-coordinators are ineligible for any committee role other than co-coordinator.

Co-coordinators, elected by the Standing Group

All current Steering Committee members are eligible for nomination to an open Co-Coordinator position. The co-coordinators are ineligible for election / appointment to any other Steering Committee roles. These co-coordinators will do the following:

• Manage the Standing Group according to CCCC office requirements (annual report, reserving meeting times and spaces at annual convention; communicating with CCCC office and exec board as required).
• Work with the Workshop Proposer / Conference Organizer to ensure that a sponsored panel and/or a  workshop is proposed for CCCC.
• Work with the Voting Coordinator to organize elections for Steering Committee members and the next co-coordinator prior to each year’s CCCC.
• Organize Steering Committee and standing group meetings as necessary throughout the year.

TERMS: Co-Coordinators terms are staggered, with each coordinator serving a three-year term that can be repeated. Following the 3-year term, each co-coordinator will continue to serve as a Steering Committee member for 1 year to ensure continuity.

Steering Committee At-Large Members, elected by the Standing Group

All Standing Group members are eligible for At-Large positions. These At-Large Members hold various offices and form working groups as needed. At-Large Members will do the following:

• Serve as voting members of Steering Committee
• Serve on sub-committees and working groups as needed
• Serve as elected to the following offices
  • Workshop Proposer/ Conference Organizer
  • Voting Coordinator
  • Secretary
  • Web Resource Team
  • WAW-list Owner (standing rather than term position)

Steering Committee Offices, elected by the Standing Group

All At-Large Steering Committee members are eligible for election to Steering Committee the following offices.

Workshop Proposer/Conference Organizer

The workshop proposer/conference organizer will

• Organize standing group panel session.
• If there is interest, work with a group to propose workshop for CCCC and organize it.
• If there is interest, coordinate efforts on possible WAW conference(s).

Voting Coordinator

The voting coordinator will

• Work with the Steering Group co-coordinators to set up online voting for an open Co-Coordinator position and any open Steering Group offices (other than At-Large positions) prior to CCCC;
• Ensure the slate of candidates is approved in a timely manner for voting, including contacting nominees and confirming their acceptance of the nomination;
• Announce the voting and remind people to vote;
• Manage electronic voting methods
• Report results to the Steering Committee and standing group membership

Secretary

The Secretary will

• Keep membership records.
• Records minutes at all meetings.
• Perform other duties as they develop.

Web Resource Team

The Web Resource Team will

• Maintain the WAW website, which includes curating and updating WAW resources such as syllabi, articles, assessment plans, assignments, and blog posts.
• Announce the resource location to members.
• Send out a message to WAWN listserv whenever new content is added to the website.
• Serve as moderators for the WAWN listserv, to facilitate timely approval of messages and/or blocking of spam
• Maintain an online shared document for WAW Business Meeting minutes and other relevant documents.

WAWN-L List Owner

The WAWN-L List Owner will

• Maintain the listserv for the WAWN e-mail list (currently housed at U of Pittsburgh).
• Archive previous issues of the newsletter.

ARTICLE IV.  ELECTIONS

Elections for the Co-Coordinators and Steering Committee offices (other than At-Large positions) will be held online each year prior to the annual CCCC meeting.

Timeline

• At-Large Steering Committee members will be recruited for any soon-to-open Steering Committee offices each fall. At a minimum, such recruitment will include announcements through the WAWN listserv and the website.
• Members may nominate themselves or other eligible members. If a candidate is nominated by someone other than themselves, that candidate must signal their acceptance of the nomination to the Voting Coordinator before being included on the slate of nominees.
• The slate of nominees will be posted online by early February.
• Electronic voting will take place during February.
• Election results will be announced prior to the CCCC meeting, via the website and via the WAWN listserv.
• Elected members will officially begin their terms at the CCCC meeting each year.

Elections for Steering Committee At-Large positions will be held at the annual Standing Group meeting at CCCC.

• All members of the Standing Group are eligible to serve as At-Large members of the Steering Committee.
• Elections will take place each year at CCCC through a “call for participants” both prior to (via website and listserv) and at the annual WAW meeting. An SG member who has indicated their interest prior to the annual meeting need not be present at the meeting to stand for election.
• Standing Group members at the meeting will have the option of selecting new At-Large members by acclamation, by show of hands/voice, or by paper ballot, as circumstances dictate. Co-Coordinators will determine the method of selection by seeking and honoring the sense of the house.

ARTICLE V. AMENDING BYLAWS

These bylaws may be amended by a vote of the Steering Committee according to the following procedure.

• Any Steering Committee member may propose a bylaw change to the Steering Committee. The proposing committee member is responsible to provide language for the bylaw change or to lead development of it with other committee members.
• The Steering Committee will have 10 business days to discuss final language for the change, electronically or by conference call, before voting is opened.
• Voting by the Steering Committee will take place electronically, by whichever method the Voting Coordinator approves for the vote (typically email or online survey).
• Steering Committee members will have 10 business days to register their vote once voting opens.
• Approval of a bylaw change requires a simple majority of Steering Committee members to cast votes, and a 2/3rds majority of those votes.

Any Standing Group member may propose a by-law change by contacting any Steering Committee member, who will carry the member’s proposal and/or language for a suggested change to the Steering Committee.