Speakers 7 and 8: Whitney Douglas and Kelli Prejean
In "Managing Lives," Whitney Douglas and Kelli Prejean illuminate the emotional and intellectual labor of writing program administration. They note that WPAs are stressed by the mediation they perform between marginalized members of the academy (i.e. adjunct faculty, basic writers) and those with more power. Accordingly, they make three suggestions for WPAs: first, display vulnerability and openness in conveying strategic plans; second, show empathy for writing faculty even while establishing boundaries for professional communication; third, conduct strategic contemplation in order to better invest emotional labor in long-range goals.
