Welcome Message
Hello and welcome to the 43rd Annual Spring Conference on the Teaching of Writing! We are excited to welcome you.
We are committed to incorporating diversity, accessibility, academic freedom, and an atmosphere of mutual respect in this year’s conference. This conference guide provides our statements on these values.
If you have any questions about the information in this guide, or have any accommodation requests you’d like to make, please contact Conference Director Jenn Sloggie (jsloggie@odu.edu).
Land Acknowledgement
When the Lumbee, Chesapeake, and Nansemond peoples of the Powhatan Confederacy spoke of this land, they said Tsenacommacah [jeh-nuh-ka-muh-kuh]. Today, we say ODU’s main campus is in Norfolk, VA. We would like to recognize and acknowledge the Indigenous people of the Tsenacommacah land.
While a land acknowledgment is not enough, it is an important social justice and decolonial practice that promotes indigenous visibility and is a reminder that we are on settled indigenous land. To recognize the Tsenacommacah land expresses gratitude to those whose territory we occupy and bears witness to the centuries-long colonial violence that continues today.
Statement on Diversity
We embrace our diversity and ensure that we strive toward creating an inclusive and welcoming community. We continue to learn from our differences and demonstrate a richer understanding of fellow Monarchs as well as the world around us.
As leaders of diversity, we share a commitment to provide opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to share life experiences and build awareness through active engagement in conversations that will systematically build and maintain a culture of inclusive excellence.
ODU implements initiatives that foster an inclusive and supportive environment that values diversity. Read more about our goals at Diversity at ODU.
Statement on Accessibility
Old Dominion University is committed to ensuring equal access to all with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Old Dominion University works collaboratively with students, faculty, and staff to ensure that individuals who experience disabilities are able to successfully access and participate in all aspects of University life.
Note to Presenters: We can all be access advocates! Before the conference, please ensure that your presentation is as accessible as possible to a wide range of bodies and minds. Consider passing out access scripts of your talk, describing the images in your PowerPoint presentations aloud, and using common language throughout–such simple moves can powerfully expand the reach of your work to people who see, hear, and express in different ways. Composing Access provides several resources for developing accessible presentations and enacting access throughout your conference experience.
Statement on Academic Freedom
Decisions about curriculum and subject matter should be made by educators who have expertise in the subject. Under principles of academic freedom widely endorsed by the higher education community, college and university teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject (American Association of University Professors).
The Supreme Court has stated legal precedent for academic freedom in Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234 (1957):
“The essentiality of freedom in the community of American universities is almost self-evident. No one should underestimate the vital role in a democracy that is played by those who guide and train our youth. To impose any straitjacket upon the intellectual leaders in our colleges and universities would imperil the future of our Nation. . . . Teachers and students must always remain free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding; otherwise, our civilization will stagnate and die.”
Statement on Mutual Respect
The conference committee remains committed to facilitating an event where everyone may learn, network, and socialize in an environment of mutual respect. Thus, all faculty participants are expected to adhere to the Old Dominion University Faculty Code of Conduct and graduate students to the Code of Student Conduct while in attendance at the Spring Conference on the Teaching of Writing.
The conference committee reserves the right to dismiss any participant from the conference whose conduct is inconsistent with ODU policies. Therefore, some behaviors are expressly prohibited, such as harassment, intimidation, and sustained disruption of presentations.
We welcome participants’ differences of opinions with presenters; however, we prohibit inappropriate comments that use derogatory, harassing, intimidating, or threatening language.
Contact Conference Director jsloggie@odu.edu if you encounter or witness harassment during the conference. You may also directly message via Zoom chat any members of the Mod Team who are present in a session.
2022 Mod Team
- Kristi Costello
- Steffani Dambruch
- Priya Jayatillaka
- Kole Matheson
- Noah Renn
- Kellie Robertson
- Jenn Sloggie
