Department and Marlboro Institute Committees

Department and Marlboro Institute Committees

Committees Common to All

Faculty Search

The committee chair: 

• writes the job ad/description with the area faculty and gets it approved by the chair and the dean;
• creates the recruitment plan with the committee;
• researches and generates a list of advertising targets;
• organizes and plans all meetings of the committee;
• meets with the dean and chair and assistant provost for faculty;
• deals with all application issues/seeks out missing materials;
• runs multiple meetings to determine short list;
• does all logistical planning of committee members’ schedules and the schedules of 12 or so short list names;
• communicates with internal candidates;
• does all email correspondence with all 12 or so short listed candidates;
• runs multiple hours of shortlist interviews;
• conducts phone calls/Zooms for finalist’s reference checks;
• organizes and collates all reference checks done by other members of the committee;
• does major logistical organizing of 3–4 on-campus visits (between the schedules of the candidates, committee members, department, available classes, etc.)
• does extensive work with program assistant on travel logistics, etc.;
• conducts all email correspondence with finalists;
• recruits classes/students for the on-campus visits;
• organizes all logistics of the candidate’s' teaching demos, if relevant;
• organizes all logistics of the candidate’s forums;
• extensively recruits faculty and students to attend the demos and forums;
• extensive recruits written feedback from faculty and students on the demos and forums;
• collates ALL feedback and reference checks on all finalists into a single document;
• candidates’ on-campus days are about 6 hours a day of work (teaching demo/forum/meeting with committee/dinner);
• writes final committee report on the committee’s rankings;
• does extensive troubleshooting when issues arise;
• communicates with candidates who didn’t make it;
• conducts concluding tasks in Workday;
• welcomes onboarding candidates.

Committee members (usually three):

• read through up to hundreds of applications;
• present to the committee an assessment report on each candidate for the purpose of discussion and then vote them forward or waitlist or eliminate;
• regarding the roster of candidates moved Forward: Request additional supporting materials: i.e., Teaching & Evaluations; Syllabi Examples; Creative/Profession Work portfolio;
• review, assess and discuss Forwarded candidate’s additional materials;
• based on additional supporting materials submitted: present to the committee an assessment report on each candidate for the purpose of voting on which candidates are moved to the next level, the Zoom interview;
• generate a list of questions for the Zoom interview;
• vote Forward the candidates who will be invited to the On-Campus Interviews and Presentation;
• attend and evaluate each candidate’s Teaching Presentation, if relevant;
• attend and evaluate each candidate’s Creative/Profession Work Presentation;
• attend candidate’s dinner with the committee member;
• vote to determine the final list of candidates, then present to the department for the approval or veto of each candidate profiled.

Department Promotion and Tenure (DPTC)

• Consists of tenured faculty who elect the chair.
• The chair forms a subcommittee of term faculty for term faculty reviews.
• Reviews tenure and promotion cases.
• Reviews term faculty up for contract renewal.
• Revises the department’s tenure and promotion guidelines (in consultation with area faculty).
• In consultation with the chair, area faculty, and, at times area specialists, maps out specific plans to ensure all incoming faculty have clear tenure standards that are appropriate to their creative work, and researches and documents some modifications to existing pathways that will allow new faculty clarity and knowledge of how to meet the standards in their area of the field.
• Mentors junior faculty.
• Helps organize peer reviews.

Curriculum Committee (CC)

The committee chair: 

• schedules monthly meetings;
• composes and sends meeting agenda and meeting minutes to committee members;
• runs monthly meetings;
• reviews all forms and syllabi prior to monthly meeting;
• sends all forms and syllabi to committee members prior to monthly meeting;
• consults and assists faculty wishing to submit New Courses and Changes to Existing Courses;
• contacts faculty who have submitted courses with committee suggestions/revisions when necessary;
• signs all approved forms and sends to the department chair;
• reviews all revisions/suggestions from committee for courses needing committee approval.

Committee members:

• attend monthly meetings;
• review all forms and accompanying supporting documents;
• make recommendations on proposals.

Note: The MILAIS CC includes faculty outside of the Marlboro Institute (currently 2 of its 5 members). It is headed by the director of curriculum and administration who, like all chairs of department curriculum committees, is also a member of the College-wide curriculum committee. Because of the unique positioning of the MILAIS CC, it can be considered departmental service for Marlboro Institute faculty and College-wide service for all other faculty.

Program Reviews

• Every 5–7 years, the department works with the chair and the assistant provost for faculty to prepare the department self-study.

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Committees Specific to Departments

Communication Studies (CS)

Program (Major and Minor) Specific Curriculum Groups

• Meets with colleagues teaching in specific programs on an as-needed basis to discuss development of new courses and curricular changes.
• Completes forms and submits to the department curriculum committee.

Southwick Recital Series

• The faculty member organizes a twice-yearly production including choosing a theme, soliciting talent, reserving space, organizing production staff, directing rehearsals, and preparing own material for performance.

Pizza and Politics 

• The chair organizes and conducts weekly (52 weeks) Tuesday Zoom dialogues and discussions on local, national, and global topics with guest speakers from all walks of life (health, politics, sports, arts, government, etc).  Audience includes: faculty, students, Trustees, and alums as well as guests from around the world. This includes coordinating invited guests, topics, PR, and feedback as well as maintaining an archive of the Pizza and Politics series.

Oscar Talks

This annual event is run by two faculty members and takes place at Emerson LA before the Oscars.

FACULTY ADVISORS TO STUDENT GROUPS (BARCELONA/LISBON SPRING BREAK,
PRSSA, COMMON COLLECTIVE, AND CPLA)

• Meet with student leaders to mentor organization's mission and activities.
• Coordinate all meetings with external partner institutions and Emerson administration and students.
• Plan, recruit, coordinate all events and trips, including accommodations and activities, and accompany students.

Barcelona/Lisbon Spring Break Trip

• Plan, recruit, coordinate all accommodations and activities.
• Publicize and accompany students from throughout the College during spring break.
• Coordinate all meetings with Blanquerna (Barcelona) and Communicacio Superior (Lisbon) faculty and administration and Emerson students.

Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD)

Comprehensive Exams

• Faculty at large collaborate (in-person meetings and via electronic documents) to prepare comps materials (cases and rubrics) for pediatric and adult cases.
• Faculty at large are assigned a number of student comps responses to read and evaluate using a rubric; faculty provide individual written feedback to students.
• Faculty at large complete in-person meetings with each student regarding their comps responses; they may also assign additional remedial work that needs to be evaluated.
• This process is done for the on-campus cohort twice each year.

Graduate Admission

• Admission faculty at large complete a training session on how to read and evaluate graduate applications.
• Faculty are assigned a series of graduate applications to review.
• Faculty participate in a 3-day-long interview weekend in February, where graduate applicants are invited to a Zoom-based interview with a dyad of faculty members.
• Approximately 400–500 paper applications for the on-campus modality are reviewed by faculty and clinical instructors (who reads the applications has changed over the years: sometimes a small subcommittee, sometimes everyone, sometimes a large subcommittee) and scored according to a rubric.
  • After the application review process, approximately 200–250 applicants are invited for the interview weekend.
  • Full-time faculty are asked to sign up for 2 (or more, as able) four-hour blocks of time during a Friday to Sunday weekend.
  • Faculty and clinical instructors (part of the staff) are paired in completing all interviews (two faculty per applicant).
  • Faculty have a series of interview questions to ask all candidates and a rubric for rating the candidates (e.g., on their communication clarity and pragmatic skills). Each interview is scheduled for 20 minutes.

Note: Speech@Emerson has a similar admission process but a different group of paid admission readers and interviewers.

Graduate Theses

• In the spring term of a graduate student’s first year of study, the student meets with various faculty to discuss their interest in completing a thesis and identifies three faculty members whose areas of expertise align with the research topic and who agree to serve on the student’s committee. One faculty member serves as the chair.
• The thesis chair is responsible for continuously guiding the design and implementation of the student’s research project through a 12-month period. It includes:
  • advising the student through an initial review of existing literature that helps the student strengthen their background knowledge of their topic of interest and identify gaps in the literature that they can address in their research;
  • guiding the student in completing the required forms and applications (to IRB and the College) by the end of the summer term. Once the student begins the fall term of their second year, they are prepared to begin recruitment efforts.
• The chair meets with their student regularly to ensure the student successfully completes each phase of the research (i.e., recruitment, data collection, data analysis and interpretation).
• The chair is actively involved in all phases of the research project (e.g., posts recruitment flyers on behalf of the student, reviews data, completes data analysis to teach the student analytical skills and to complete an informal inter-rater reliability check).
• The student is asked to begin writing the thesis through the fall term and completes the thesis in the spring. The chair reviews multiple iterations of the thesis paper through both terms to provide necessary feedback.
• The chair is also involved in logistical aspects, such as confirming a date for the student’s thesis defense and attending a thesis showcase with the student.
• In some cases, the chair may continue to work with a student past their official thesis submission.
• The two faculty readers of the committee read and comment on the final version of the thesis.

Annual October Speech and Hearing Event Coordinator (CSD)

The coordinator:

• communicates with the invited guest;
• sends initial invite and info about the event;
• communicates about the guest's proposed talk;
• attends and facilitates the actual event;
• attends a school-staff workshop following the Emerson event.

Interprofessional Clinical Case Rounds Event Coordinator and Co-facilitator (CSD)

The coordinator:

• hosts both fall and spring rounds (both adult and pediatric cases);
• develops a case with partnering school faculty (Simmons, Quinnipiac, Tufts Medical, and Kenyetta Universities);
• attends multiple meetings with Patti Nelson, the director of this event, and a co-facilitator;
• leads a discussion of the case during a two-hour presentation with an Interprofessional Educational (IPE) perspective with faculty and students from our partnering institutions.

ASL Emerson

Not currently active; when there is student interest and the group is active, a faculty member or clinical instructor serves as the advisor to the organization.

BLLING

• Bilingual Language & Literacy Investigative and Networking Group (BLLING) is a student organization with three goals:
  • Establish a welcoming community of practice and inquiry for bilingual and BIPOC students in CSD.
  • Conduct and discuss research in bilingualism, biliteracy, and culturally sustaining SLP practice.
  • Support the community through service and engagement related to bilingual and biliteracy issues and increasing diversity in the field of SLP.
• An executive board of students leads the organization, with a CSD faculty member serving as advisor.

NSSLHA

• NSSLHA is a professional organization; it's the local chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA).
• A faculty member serves as advisor to the student organization, meets regularly with the president, attends membership meetings and events, and supports fundraising efforts.
• Includes both undergraduate and graduate students.

Journalism (JR)

Awards & Events

• Works to upgrade departmental awards to better acknowledge journalism excellence of students.
• Organizes the departmental awards ceremony to better connect students, their parents, and alumni.
• Works with faculty, Journalism admin associate, and alumni for other informational events throughout the academic year.
• Organizes and promotes journalism-focused presentations to attract more students and include wider range of alumni, with the department awards being the culminating department event.

Internship 

• Works with the department internship coordinator and Career Development Center to:
  • review Handshake Journalism internship posts;
  • develop departmental guidance on internship work/sites acceptable for Journalism credit;
  • examine ways to better inform students in researching internship sites and expectations.

Marlboro Institute (MILAIS)

Honors Advisory (HAC)

• The chair is the Honors director.
• Meets 1–3 times  each semester to advise the Honors director on issues related to the Honors Program.
• Coordinates how the Honors Program functions in connection with other departments.
• Reviews and approves Honors Thesis Funding Requests (10–15 each semester).
• Discusses and implements curricular changes.
• Reviews and revises all Honors documentation (thesis guidelines; mentorship program guidelines; review by National Collegiate Honors Council including Self-Study, NCHC Report, and Emerson Honors Program Response to the NCHC Report; etc.).
• Communicates and works with Honors seminar instructors to update or improve the core courses of the Honors Program.

IDS Curriculum (IDSC)

• The chair is the Marlboro undergraduate curriculum coordinator.
• Meets weekly.
• Coordinates how the IDS major functions in connection with other departments.
• Reviews and approves IDS Major Plan Forms, Senior Capstone Applications, Requests to Amend, and Senior Capstone Funding Requests (15–20 of each Plan and Capstone forms each semester with feedback and potential re-review after revisions; funding applications are relatively fewer and shorter to review).
• Discusses and implements curricular changes.
• Reviews and revises all IDS documentation (applications, handbook, information for advisors, outside examiners, reader/viewers, prize and award documentation, etc.).
• Communicates and works with Marlboro Institute seminar instructors to update or improve the core course of the IDS major.

Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI) Advisory Council

• The director chairs and convenes monthly meetings, and sets agenda in consultation with assistant director and site director.
• Is responsible for reporting on EPI’s academic program, with leadership team responsible for implementing EPI as a full degree-granting campus of Emerson College at two state prisons, and reentry staff and volunteers responsible for case management of EPI students who transition to Boston campus.
• Organizes events like the EPI conference, guest speakers, etc.
• Reviews and consults on EPI budget decisions, academic planning, and faculty and tutor hiring.
• Council members’ roles change from month to month based on EPI’s needs. Snapshot of average duties includes:
  • mentorship and help on EPI within Emerson and how to think about aspects of academic program;
  • Pell (sit in on the many meetings in CIP community [average 4 per month]), take notes, and report back to AC about Pell status;
  • tech support (FullCity support) and Advancement involvement;
  • organize semesterly EPI 1-credit co-curricular course;
  • organize EPI volunteers from within Emerson and wider community;
  • library research protocol update for EPI students on how to connect to research materials.
• Writes, edits, collects, and publishes documents and essays on the work involved in EPI for EPI publications, which can include faculty and student handbooks, public-facing documents focused on communicating aspects of the program, and academic/creative publications.

Note: For faculty from departments teaching at EPI, it is College-wide service.

Equity and Justice 

• Dedicated to supporting inclusive pedagogies and developing curricula infused with diverse perspectives.
• Meets weekly.
• Organizes workshops/retreats for MILAIS and College-wide liberal arts faculty.
• Conceives of and plans a lecture series.
• Plays a role (interfacing with the MILAIS CC) in reviewing curricular proposals that involve the Diversity Perspectives as well as proposing changes to the perspectives.
• Plays a role in education and support of College colleagues and Perspectives-teaching faculty on the outcomes and implications of the Diversity Perspectives.
• Works on issues that overlap with the Emerson College DEIA initiatives and pertain to the Marlboro Institute or the LAC.
• Evaluates, updates, and/or takes up pertinent work from the existing Institute Diversity Action Plan.

Note: For faculty from departments outside the Institute, it is College-wide service.

Performing Arts (PA)

Undergraduate Admission

Acting Admission Auditions 

• Full-time Performance faculty members are required to conduct admission auditions:
  • 3 different sessions on weekend days 
  • 4 hours per session 

Portfolio Interviews: Design/Technology and Stage and Production Management

• During the academic year, all full-time faculty must:
  • interview prospective students and evaluate their portfolios and resumes;
  • conduct online interviews for five hours on four Fall Fridays for Early Action applicants;
  • conduct online interviews for five hours on five Spring Fridays for Early Action applicants;
  • conduct online Interviews for five hours on one Spring Friday for Transfer Action applicants;
  • run two info sessions a day on each interview day, describing the school and program to prospective students and answering questions.

Emerson Stage Standing Committee

• Composed of one faculty member from each program area, the PA chair, the general manager, the assistant general manager, and the production manager.
• The artistic director of Emerson Stage is the committee’s chair.
• Meets monthly, on the third Thursday of the month.

Responsibilities include:

• familiarizing themselves with Emerson Stage’s mission, values, and history;
• attending monthly Zoom meetings;
• reading every title that comes up from the summer subcommittees in a timely manner (around 30 titles every fall) and being prepared to discuss each title both in terms of its individual merit and how it aligns or does not align with the curricular needs of each area;
• representing their area’s curricular needs during season planning in a productive and collaborative manner;
• understanding the other areas’ curricular needs;
• understanding past Emerson Stage policy and playing an active role in updating outdated policies to bring them inline with current PA needs;
• reading the agenda when sent and bringing relevant upcoming topics to their program meetings for discussion;
• bringing pertinent information from Emerson Stage meetings back to their areas;
• forwarding and encouraging their areas to read meeting notes;
• troubleshooting issues as they come up, with sensitivity and appropriate urgency;
• recruiting students and faculty members for various opportunities and needs.

Emerson Stage Casting Liaison

• Composed of one full-time faculty member.
• This service opportunity corresponds with the Emerson Stage audition schedule, the April Audition for the four productions of the following fall semester, the September Audition for the first two productions of the spring semester, and the January Audition for the final three productions of the spring semester.

Responsibilities include:

• being present for all casting meetings (three per calendar year);
• being present for in-person callbacks;
• being familiar with student-submitted general auditions and providing feedback to any student actor who reaches out for feedback on their video audition submission;
• being familiar with the scripts and casting needs of each of the shows being cast;
• engaging in meaningful conversation about intentional and unintentional stories told through casting choices;
• offering suggestions for casting challenges and dilemmas, as they arise.

Ideally, this person also serves on the Emerson Stage Committee as part of their casting liaison responsibilities, in order to contribute casting consideration questions to the season selection process.

Summer Subcommittee Head

• Five faculty members (at any rank, including affiliated) serve as the head of one of the five subcommittees (made up of students) that read and vet the submitted plays over the summer. Work begins in mid-May and ends around August 30. This is the first step in Emerson Stage’s season selection process.
• The five subcommittees are collectively tasked with vetting all of the titles anonymously submitted for season consideration.
• All major administrative tasks associated with the summer subcommittees are completed by the Emerson Stage office and not by the summer subcommittee heads.

Subcommittee head tasks include:

• assigning out their subcommittee’s titles to subcommittee members, making sure that each title is being read by at least two subcommittee members;
• copying and pasting the directions of how and where to find the titles and sending them to subcommittee members;
• making sure subcommittee members have the correct subcommittee’s vetting form;
• sending reminders to subcommittee members about the due date for Round One and then Round Two;
• being familiar with all of the titles that subcommittee members (students) read and vet;
• gathering their subcommittee over Zoom once during Round One and once during Round Two to discuss the process;
• reminding subcommittee members about the July meeting (the halfway point between Round One and Round Two) for everyone involved in this process (including subcommittee heads) with the Emerson Stage artistic director and the Emerson Stage institutional dramaturg;
• identifying which student from their subcommittee will join the Emerson Stage Standing Committee as a student representative for the fall semester standing committee meetings;
• gathering their subcommittee and deciding collectively on the top titles (no more than five) that their subcommittee would like to send up to the Emerson Stage Standing Committee for further consideration.

Emerson Stage New Play Workshop Selections

• The committee is completely separate from serving on the Emerson Stage standing committee or as a summer subcommittee head.
• All major administrative tasks associated with the New Play Workshop are completed by the Emerson Stage artistic director and the Emerson Stage office, and not by the committee members.
• This committee helps select the script, playwright, and directing team that will receive the New Play Workshop (NPW) slot for that academic year.
• NPW is given to a playwright and directing team from outside of Emerson; it is an opportunity to workshop a new script (one that has not had its professional premiere and is not yet published) with the PA community.
• The pedagogy behind the NPW is that new work development is a major component of a professional career, one that carries different needs, processes, and approaches than published or licensed work. The NPW also serves as a major networking opportunity for PA students.
• The call for applications goes out May 1 and closes in late August.

Responsibilities include:

• reading assigned NPW applications and scripts by the given deadline. This happens twice: first to narrow down the applications into a short list of semifinalists, second to narrow the semifinalists down to five finalists.
• filling out the NPW vetting form, the application, and script by the given deadline. This happens twice: first to narrow down the applications into a short list of semifinalists, second to narrow the semifinalists down to five finalists.
• The five finalists (playwright and director pairs) are interviewed by the Emerson Stage artistic director and the student who will serve as the assistant director on the NPW slot. These interviews are over Zoom and recorded. The recordings are then sent to the committee members to review and for their response.

Performing Arts Committee on Equity (PACE)

Works to align department and College-wide equity initiatives and vision.

Visual and Media Arts (VMA)

Facilities & Equipment 

• Debates and prioritizes acquisition of new equipment and space.
• Determines equipment replacement timeline.
• Refurbishes space needs in dialogue with MTP and Facilities who are also charged with maintaining the existing equipment and spaces.
• Identifies needs and makes recommendations for all faculty teaching production.

Green Productions

• Promotes sustainable practices across all VMA productions.
• Oversees the VMA Green Production Seal Program.

Equity and Cultural Climate

• Addresses concerns and implements change within VMA to ensure the growth and success of our own cultural competency and awareness.
• Organizes the annual EC3 Town Hall event.

Foundations Curriculum

• Reviews VMA Foundations curriculum, makes recommendations to the VMA Curriculum Committee as needed.
• Supports and fosters collaborative teaching between VM 131 Approaches in Media Studies and VM 131L Foundations Practice classes.
• Assists Foundations program director in recruiting VM 133 Foundation Colloquium guest speakers.

BFA/BA Capstone

• Attends Information Sessions for students interested in applying to both the BFA and BA Capstone programs.
• Meets with interested students and assists them with BFA and BA Capstone application preparation.
• Reviews and writes notes on BFA and BA Capstone applications.
• Meets with students who were not accepted into the programs to offer developmental feedback.
• Attends end-of-semester screenings (BA Capstone in Fall; BFA and BA Capstone in Spring).
• Reviews applications for VMA Student Production Support Funds Applications (Montoni Award, Bright Film Fund) and nominations for VMA Honorary & Recognition Awards (Jeff Arch Screenwriting Award, Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Women in Film Production Award, Jonathan Hart Friedenberg Award, and Take Action Hollywood Award).

MFA in Film and Media Art 

• Reviews Film and Media Art MFA curriculum, thesis and portfolio review policies.
• Reads and evaluates applications to the program.
• Participates in portfolio reviews.
• Nominates students for departmental awards.

MFA in Writing for Film + TV

• Review Writing for Film & TV MFA curriculum, thesis and portfolio review policies.
• Reads and evaluates applications to the program.
• Nominates students for departmental awards.

It’s All True Coordinator 

Coordinates festival showcase for student documentaries (now in its 10th year).

Tasks:

• Find faculty judges and admin support.
• Secure budget from department and Arts.
• Secure screening facility from VP and ArtsEmerson.
• Post and promote call for entries.
• Secure guest filmmaker as host, arrange payment, travel, etc.
• Judge and curate entries.
• Create program, posters, and promos for 2 nights of screenings.
• Arrange awards from relevant vendors.
• Arrange for DCP (projection file) of student films and tech check.
• Screening director/producer, 2 nights of presentation to MFA Colloquium on selected topic (90 mins).
• Prepare presentation (60–90 mins).

Writing, Literature and Publishing (WLP)

Writing Studies 

• Consists of the Writing Studies full-time faculty, who work with the Writing Studies program director to:
  • mentor, manage, and review the curriculum of the Writing Studies Program;
  • interview and hire graduate student Writing Studies instructors and Writing Center consultants;
  • work with emersonWRITES director and Social Justice/HIVE in May to hire the graduate student teachers for emersonWRITES;
  • observe each new graduate instructor’s teaching at least once in their first semester;
  • organize and host multiple annual professional development workshops;
  • Read summer applications to the enhanced First-Year Writing course from incoming students.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Members work with the department chair and with the Social Justice Collaborative to communicate and help implement equity and social justice policy in the department.

Partnership with Random House Copyediting

• Meet with Random House program leaders a few times a year to check status of current cohort, plan for new cohort, and solve any problems as they arise. (Meetings about new cohort usually take place in the summer, since the new cohort begins in early fall.)
• Help draft legal agreement needed for each year's cohort. Ask Emerson lawyer to review agreement. Once agreement is finalized, collect the dean's signature and share signed agreement with Random House.
• Set up one-hour informational session with prospective applicants and Random House program leaders (early fall). Record session and share it with prospective applicants who couldn't attend.
• Manage the collection of student applications. Answer student questions about application and copyediting and proofreading tests. Send out email announcements about each step and deadlines.
• Attend new cohort meeting with student participants and Random House program leaders.
• Host 2 or 3 student participant forums each year, offering students a chance to meet each other, ask questions, and offer feedback.
• Share information and updates on the program with department chair and faculty in department.

Note: Our partner is Random House, not the parent company (Penguin Random House, or PRH).

WLP Reading Series Director

• Schedules reading series working within the established budget presented by the chair.
• Brings three or four (or more, if budget allows) writers and poets to campus to read their work and share their insights with students. 
• The goal is to bring a wide diversity of voices. In this case, diversity is defined not only as racial, ethnic, and gender diversity but also American and international diversity and diversity in terms of genre, style, and content.

The specific duties of the Reading Series director include:

• soliciting recommendations from the faculty;
• determining the list of potential candidates;
• contacting the writers and poets or their agents;
• negotiating fees with the writer/poet/agent;
• arranging dates between the WLP Department and the writer/poet/agent for the engagement;
• working with the administrative associate to schedule rooms, book travel, and handle paperwork for compensation/reimbursement;
• forwarding finalized information to the administrative associate so they can file information and update the WLP website; finalized information will be promoted on social media platforms;
• booking and conducting a one-hour Q&A with the writer/poet on the appointed day of the engagement;
• introducing (or arranging for a fellow faculty member to introduce) the writer/poet at the evening reading;
• escorting writer to various events and to dinner after reading.

Publishing Series Director

• Schedules a series of events within the established budget presented by the chair. The goal is four events per academic year, as the budget and campus schedule allow.
• The goal is to bring a wide range of voices and perspectives. Racial, ethnic, and gender diversity is a must.

The types of events typically include:

• panelist events that examine critical issues in book, magazine, and/or electronic publishing;
• single-speaker events for high-profile professionals such as editors or publishers;
• screenings of new movies relevant to the publishing industry, with a post-screening discussion (such as with the movie subject or screenwriter);
• career advice events for students interested in pursuing all aspects of publishing.

The specific duties of the Publishing Speaker Series director include:

• soliciting recommendations from the faculty;
• creating a list of potential events;
• contacting the speakers or their agents (and, when applicable, the film studios);
• negotiating fees and covered travel expenses with the speaker or agent;
• arranging dates between the WLP Department and the speaker/agent for the engagement;
• working with the administrative associate to the chair to schedule rooms, book travel, and handle paperwork for compensation/reimbursement;
• forwarding finalized information to the administrative associate to the chair so they will be able to promote the event on social media platforms;
• introducing and moderating the event (or arranging for a fellow faculty member to do this);
• escorting the speaker to various events and dinner afterward (or arranging for a fellow faculty member to do this).

Critical and Scholarly Lecture Series Director

• The series takes place throughout the year and is intended to provide an opportunity for the community to discuss and get feedback on works-in-progress in a friendly and informal environment.
• The director schedules a series of lectures working within the established budget presented by the chair.
• Brings three (or more, if budget allows) scholarly writers to campus to read their work and share their insights with students and to assist other scholars with drafts of their work. 
• The goal is to bring a wide diversity of voices. In this case, diversity is defined not only as racial, ethnic, and gender diversity but also American and international diversity and diversity in terms of genre, style, and content.

The specific duties of the director include:

• soliciting recommendations from the faculty;
• determining the list of potential candidates;
• contacting the writers or their agents;
• negotiating fees with the writer/agent;
• arranging dates between the WLP Department and the writer/agent for the engagement;
• working with the administrative associate to schedule rooms, book travel, and handle paperwork for compensation/reimbursement;
• forwarding finalized information to the administrative associate so they will be able to promote the event on social media platforms;
• introducing (or arranging for a fellow faculty member to introduce) the writer at the evening reading;
• escorting the writer to various events and to dinner after the reading.

Faculty/Alumni Series

Individual faculty work with WLP staff to organize readings and Q&A from alums they have taught whose work has just been published. Faculty introduce the alum and manage the discussion.