Pars in Charge: Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Program Leaders

This edited collection, the third in a series of books by editors Jessie Borgman and Casey McArdle, explores the complexity of administrative positions within writing programs and how online courses make administration even more complex. Drawing on the PARS framework (Personal, Accessible, Responsive, Strategic) used in the first two books, PARS in Charge provides insights and examples from administrators across the country focusing on how they have implemented the PARS framework to be successful online writing program leaders in their specific leadership positions.

Jessie Borgman, Ph.D. is an online writing instructor in the Writers’ Studio at Arizona State University and has taught both face-to-face and online since 2009. She has published several articles and book chapters and has presented at conferences such as the Conference on College Composition and Communications, Computers and Writing, and Two-Year College English Association. She has served on the CCCC OWI Standing Group in multiple capacities and currently serves as the chair. As the CCCC OWI Standing Group chair, she co-led a national survey on online writing instruction and collaborated with the research group to write The 2021 State of the Art of OWI Report. Her research interests include online writing instruction, instructional design, content strategy, user experience, two-year colleges, and writing program administration.

Casey McArdle is the associate chair for undergraduate studies in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures at Michigan State University, where he directs the Experience Architecture and Professional and Public Writing programs. He is an advocate for usability, accessibility, and sustainability in and out of the classroom and has been involved with OWI for many years via publications, presentations, and research teams that focus on distance education and learning experience design.