Constitution
of the
East Central Writing Centers Association

The East Central Writing Centers Association is an organization formed to address the concerns of the professional and tutorial staff working in college and high school writing centers. Because our needs differ from those of classroom composition teachers, and oftentimes these needs are not addressed directly during meetings of English faculty, we do hereby establish the East Central Writing Centers Association and constitute its membership.

I. The purpose of the East Central Writing Centers Association is to foster communication among colleagues in writing centers and to provide a forum for discussion of mutual concerns.

II. Membership in the East Central Writing Centers Association will include directors and staff members of writing centers and other concerned individuals.

III. Dues of the East Central Writing Centers Association will be assessed annually. Money will be used for communication as needed, for support for the annual conference, and for the support of research and scholarship pertaining to writing centers.

IV. The East Central Writing Centers Association will elect a ten-person Executive Board from the membership to serve staggered three-year terms. The emeritus chair will continue for one year and constitute an eleventh Board member. The Executive Treasurer shall be a permanent non-voting member of the Executive Board.

A. Members of the Executive Board shall be directors or professional staff of writing centers.

B. There shall be one voting undergraduate student board member to be selected by the Board chair to serve a one-year term. This student can remain as ex-officio for an additional year.

C. One member of the Executive Board will be elected by the Board as Chair, for the term of one year, to call and conduct Board meetings as necessary.

D. The Board will elect a vice chair from its membership to share the duties of the chair and to become chair at the end of the year's term.

E. The Board will elect a recording secretary from its membership to serve a minimum one-year term. For continuity, the secretary may serve in the office for more than one year, but not longer than the term of office of the Executive Board.

F. The Executive Board will have the following responsibilities:

  1. To plan the annual East Central Writing Centers Association conference and to select the program chair.

  2. To report to the East Central Writing Centers Association membership at the annual conference and to communicate with the membership other times as needed.

  3. To serve as liaison between the East Central Writing Centers Association and other regional and national organizations.

  4. To determine the disbursal of the treasury in support of research and scholarship related to writing centers.
G. The conference chair shall be an ex-officio member.

H. If a Board member misses two consecutive meetings without designating a substitute, a new member will be elected to fill the position.