September 8th Updates from the CCCC Transition Team

Hello colleagues,

I’m writing to in my role as chair of the CCCC Transition Team (CTT). You can read more about the responsibilities of this group at CCCC Transition Team updates (as well as find a copy of this current note). I want to provide some information about the group’s work during the time period for which we are charged (through June 30, 2027) as well as the internal and external (to NCTE) activities we will be engaged in. Having recently held our second meeting, we are working on the following activities this month:

College Composition and Communication and Studies in Writing and Rhetoric Series

The CTT is actively engaging in conversation with the NCTE Presidential Team and the current editors of these publications to identify next steps. We are working on a short-, medium-, and long-term timeline to plan for:

• Completing publication agreements for authors of those publications in a set timeline
• Making recommendations to NCTE about a future for the publications (for example, a new publisher for the journal and series)
• Making recommendations about the back catalog of these publications, including back issues and out-of-print titles, with input from editors

As the publisher of the journal and series, NCTE and its Executive Committee will make final decisions about CCC and SWR.

Position Statements, Awards and Grants, and Other Resources

The CTT and NCTE have prioritized the following short-, medium-, and long-term activities:

• Securing a home for archived versions of all the position statements and other documents that have been produced by CCCC committees, task forces, or groups
• Identifying which resources will remain within NCTE as it develops a new and more focused set of programming around the teaching of college writing
• Investigating the possible transfer of some position statements and names of awards to other organizational homes

This work is ongoing.

NCTE Resources and Programming

The CTT is engaging in activities both internal and external to NCTE. This fall, some members of the CTT will work with NCTE to develop new programming related to two priority issues. A cohort will create resources for teaching digital literacy as a foundation for generative AI literacy in college writing courses, with special attention to students from diverse educational and linguistic backgrounds. Another cohort will develop resources for supporting faculty and administrators who coordinate concurrent enrollment/dual credit programs in colleges and high schools. Future programming will build on this initial work to support high school concurrent enrollment instructors and college teachers who work with dual credit students. The College Section and TYCA have organized additional professional development activities for college writing teachers and other members.

To learn more about the activities that the CTT is engaged in, you can read the originating document, which documents the role the group has in preserving materials and resources from CCCC in archival or transferred forms. Additionally, I am pleased to share the [CCCC 2027 Organizing A]greement cosigned by NCTE President Antero Garcia, CCCC 2027 program chair Donnie Sackey, and me in my role as chair of the CTT. This shared understanding will guide the work as we plan for an event that is collegial, engaging, and inclusive.

The group has created the email address cccc.transition.team@gmail.com to gather and field issues as they emerge. We are addressing these items as we are able over the course of the year to best support CCCC members as they make plans for their professional futures.

On a personal note, I want to say that decisions about professional futures will be made by each individual educator according to their own values, priorities, and needs. Though the de-chartering of CCCC was as much of a surprise to me as it was to anyone, I am serving as chair of the Transition Team to support members of our profession and field as they determine next steps. As a writing educator, my own career has focused on writing classrooms, new teacher preparation, writing programs at access institutions, and pedagogical research. NCTE and whatever new programming and resources are developed remain a good fit for my professional needs. That may not be true for others; those decisions will likely be ongoing as disciplinary organizing work takes place, and as members of the profession weigh their own commitments and needs.

Finally, the goal of CCCC 2027, as the CTT understands it, will be to follow through on the commitments to individual teacher-scholars who have planned their professional funding and career progress this year around the event taking place. In addition, the CTT will plan a stream of events that will:

• Provide information about new work sponsored by NCTE around the teaching of college writing, including through TYCA and the College Section
• Host sessions or tables for organizations and groups external to the organization to inform, welcome, and invite engagement from attendees who are looking for new spaces for their professional work
• Provide space and time for CCCC member groups—SIGS, Caucuses, standing groups, and Committees—to gather and plan for work moving forward either internal or external to NCTE

Sincerely,
Holly Hassel
Chair, NCTE/CCCC Transition Team
Past Chair of CCCC, Past editor of Teaching English in the Two-Year College