Enacting Partnerships: Writing Programs, Writing Centers, and the Collaboration Continuum

Abstract

This chapter introduces readers to the characteristics and theories of complex collaboration. It argues for the applicability of recent research on complex collaborative practices to the different forms of collaboration that are often enacted by writing programs and centers. Drawing on scholarship relevant to complex collaborations, the author connects the work of writing programs and centers to key dimensions put forth by Thomson (Collaboration: Meaning and measurement, 2001), an action framework proposed by organizational studies scholars Cohen and Mankin (Complex collaborations in the new global economy, 2002), the sharing rules of equity and equality put forth by Jap (Journal of Marketing Research 38(1):86–99, 2001), and the characteristics of successful academic collaborations identified by Eddy (Partnerships and collaborations in higher education, 2010), mapping such research to features audiences will find in their reading of the chapters in this collection.

Postscript from the Editors

In this chapter, Myatt summarizes foundational scholarship that undergirds collaborative practices presented in subsequent chapters of this volume. As Myatt explains, historically, writing center and program work has often been dismissed as water cooler lore, stories of oppression, or isolated tales of familiar practice. Truly original and daring WPA work sometimes gets lost or overlooked when not connected to rigorous scholarship or assessment research. While we are quick to praise and privilege programmatic innovations answering community exigencies and grounded in the kairotic moment, in this chapter, we find sources and resources for connecting local acts of collaborative writing program administration to theoretical tenets. The result is programmatic advances that can be replicated and easily justified to stakeholders and funding agencies, higher administration officials, and legislative bodies. We hope that as you read the following narratives of successes and failures, processes and products associated with crafting institutional and community partnerships, you will begin to see liminal spaces in your own institutions and communities where complex collaborations might be forged and enacted. Praxis—the practical application of theory—is our goal in this collection, suggesting a wide range of possible plans for building writing partnerships.