The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) is committed to supporting the agency, power, and potential of diverse communicators inside and outside of postsecondary classrooms. CCCC advocates for broad and evolving definitions of literacy, communication, rhetoric, and writing (including multimodal discourse, digital communication, and diverse language practices) that emphasize the value of these activities to empower individuals and communities. CCCC promotes intellectual and pedagogical freedom and ethical scholarship and communication. To this end, CCCC and its members
sponsor and conduct research that produces knowledge about language, literacy, communication, rhetoric, and the teaching, assessment, and technologies of writing;
create collaborative spaces (such as conferences, publications, and online spaces) that enable the production and exchange of research, knowledge, and pedagogical practices;
develop evidence- and practice-based resources for those invested in language, literacy, communication, rhetoric, and writing at the postsecondary level;
advocate for students, teachers, programs, and policies that support ethical and effective teaching and learning.
For professional growth
Since 1949, CCCC has provided a forum for all those responsible for teaching composition and communication skills at the college level, both in undergraduate and graduate programs. For over 50 years, CCCC members have charted new courses in the teaching and scholarship of composition and rhetoric, helping to shape our academic community and professional practices. As members, through the College Forum of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), of the American Council of Learned Societies, CCCC is the professional voice of composition and rhetoric studies.
Find your focus and share your interests
When you join CCCC, you will be welcomed into a community of scholars and teachers who share your concerns about important issues influencing the teaching of composition and rhetoric. You will be connected to current trends in scholarship and research, developments in teaching, national trends in higher education, and much more.
Eligibility to join a variety of CCCC member groups and be appointed to CCCC committees, which produce publications and position papers in the interest of the English and composition and rhetoric profession.
An opportunity to become affiliated with the Two-Year College English Association (TYCA), which responds to concerns of educators at two-year colleges and coordinates seven regional conferences.
With your CCCC membership, you will not only receive a subscription to the journal but also unlimited online access to all of the journal articles in PDF format!
CCCC sponsors a convention every spring where more than 3,000 higher education faculty from across the nation come to converse, share, network, and learn about issues that influence the scholarship and teaching of composition.
The program sessions cover such topics as the composing process; grading and assessment; issues of gender, race, and class; the use of contingent, adjunct, and part-time faculty; the tenure debate; intellectual property; and the way technologies are reshaping the teaching of rhetoric and composition – in other words, all aspects of the profession.
Membership in CCCC includes an annual subscription to CCC, access to online resources, discounts on NCTE and CCCC publications, voting rights in NCTE and CCCC, eligibility for group insurance, and discounts on all conference and convention registration fees. NCTE membership is required for membership in CCCC. To become a member, simply click here, or call NCTE’s Customer Service toll free at (877) 369-6283.
Submitted by Jason Dockter, Lincoln Land Community College
The example provided here addresses the following OWI Principles:
OWI Principle 1: “Online writing instruction should be universally inclusive and accessible.”
OWI Principle 10: “Students should be prepared by the institution and their teachers for the unique technological and pedagogical components of OWI.”
OWI Effective Practice 10.1: “Appropriate OWI preparation should begin with interface familiarization and experiential exercises that make clear the public (i.e., communication to/from the teacher and among all students in the course) and private (i.e., communication between the teacher and individual student) spaces. Students need to be introduced to the writing-course specific uses of the LMS. At a minimum, students need to know where to access their assignments and readings, where to post and retrieve formal writing, where to meet and write publicly with peers, and where to communicate privately with the teacher and peers.”
OWI Principle 11: “Online writing teachers and their institutions should develop personalized and interpersonal online communities to foster student success.”
OWI Effective Practice 11.3: “Instructors should set expectations about course objectives, assignments, and learning by communicating with students one-to-one and as a group, regularly and systematically, using both asynchronous and synchronous modalities.”
This class orientation module, which features video walk-throughs, is implemented in a community college first-year composition (first and second semester) asynchronous online course. This can be done in any LMS, with a variety of technologies. My institution uses Blackboard and SoftChalk. So I have embedded videos and captioning of the videos within a Softchalk presentation. However, I have published these teaching materials on the web (in a WordPress site) to demonstrate that neither Softchalk nor Blackboard is essential to presenting these materials (address provided below).
In an attempt to help all students access the online class and feel comfortable moving into the first module of the class, I created these videos. They’re purposefully brief, but each video aims to accomplish a specific aspect of orienting students to my particular online class, preparing them to begin the work of the course in a confident manner.
Explanation of effective practice
When students enter an online course, whether or not they have taken an online course before, they have to make sense of the digital space of that particular class. Because there is not a universal online course design template that all instructors follow, nor are students as familiar with being online students as they are with being face-to-face students (f2f), students have to learn the course layout and determine how a course operates (even just how to begin) each time they take a class.
Upon the initial course log-in, students may feel uncomfortable about how to proceed within the class. Potential confusion about basic online course navigation can exacerbate already existing feelings of uncertainty and isolation that many online students experience. Although many online instructors provide a welcome announcement to the class or even an email prior to the class about how to begin, in order to help ease students into the online class, written directions alone may not be enough to help ease students’ nerves regarding their new online class.
To help students transition more easily into my online course and to feel both more comfortable and more confident in the new digital environment of this specific course, I provide an orientation module to the class, which features video walk-throughs to help students feel comfortable with how the course is laid out and how its pieces connect.
When students enter the online class initially, they visit the orientation module, named EGL 101 Orientation, as the starting point for the course. This is the first item in the course menu within the LMS, as shown below.
Figure: Course Menu Showing Orientation Module
In this orientation module, I include three different videos that I have produced and provided written transcripts for, shown below. These are all collected in one space within our LMS. The first video I present is an introduction to the instructor (named General Welcome to Class). The next video provides students with an overview of the writing projects they’ll complete within this course (named Focus of Work to Be Done to EGL 101). The third video explains to students how to navigate this particular online course (this video is named How to Navigate EGL 101).
Figure: Menu of Orientation Module
After viewing the videos, my hope is that students feel confident about where to go in the class to accomplish the tasks required, the work they’ll do, and who the teacher is. Overall, I want to ensure that students are comfortable within the class, not left alone and uncertain about any aspect of the class. Since my course is an asynchronous online course, students are left to complete assignments and learning tasks on their own, with the activities being due at the beginning of the following week. I believe this effective practice helps make my online course more accessible than it otherwise would be if I relied upon a written ‘welcome announcement’ and assumed that students would know how to begin this online class.
This effective practice takes the idea of the ‘Welcome Announcement’ and enhances it to be an overview of the course, a navigational guide, and an introduction to the instructor. Effective practice 10.1 stresses the importance of helping students become familiar with the design of the online course, and specifically, identifying the difference between public and private writing spaces and where assignments can be located and completed.
The key is that these elements are presented through multimedia, emphasizing the visual, aural, and gestural modes to increase the potential for students to make meaning from these course elements. The benefit of conveying information through the video medium is that students are able to visualize the instructor and begin to form a sense of who that person is and what her personality is. Additionally, instead of having to attempt to imagine how to navigate a specific online course design, a video screen capture can replicate almost exactly what students see on their own screens and can more accurately demonstrate how to move throughout the various areas of the online course.
Challenge this practice addresses
One recurring problem for online students can be lack of certainty about course layout and basic navigation within a given class, which can result in student frustration (see Brickman 361; Hewett, Writing 38; Peterson 367). When taking a new online course, students enter the class and have to figure out where to go and what to click. Unlike a f2f class, where students likely have years of experience and are familiar with what to do and where to go when they enter the classroom, online students aren’t guaranteed to know this.
The effective example practice presented here is intended to minimize student frustration immediately in the course by helping to familiarize them with the class, the course design, and the instructor. Students are actually shown what they will see – and shown where to go to accomplish certain tasks unique to this specific online course.
Instead of assuming that students will figure out how to navigate the class on their own, I intentionally demonstrate to students how to navigate the course and introduce myself to the students in the class. Instead of believing that the online course design is easily navigable and makes good sense, I assume that students will struggle to understand where to go and what to do within my particular class. Orienting students to each specific online course will help students to begin more confidently and feel more assured about being a member of that online course.
How to implement this practice
My orientation for my online course is comprised of a general written explanation of what is included within this unit and the three distinct videos with separate transcriptions. (All three transcripts are collected together within a single text, located within the EGL 101 Orientation area of the course.) While the orientation module resides within the LMS, I have recreated the unit through WordPress, which can be seen here: https://onlineorientation.wordpress.com/ (see tabs at the top of the page to find videos and transcripts).
General Welcome to the Course Video
The introduction to the instructor video should feature the instructor speaking to a camera (rather than, say a static image or other screen capture). For me, I talk about my time teaching at my institution, the courses I teach, my enjoyment of those courses, educational experience – stressing that I am here to help students learn and that I am available to help them throughout the course. To capture this video, any sort of video recorder will work, as will any video capturing software. A smartphone, tablet, or a webcam on a computer will all work equally well to record the video, which can then be exported to a computer or directly to YouTube. I record these videos using the webcam on my computer and the Quicktime software. From there, I upload them to YouTube for later export and embedding in the LMS.
Course Navigation Video
The guided tour video is a screen capture video of the online course. I use Quicktime or Camtasia to capture what I see on my computer screen. I enter the course in the ‘student view’ and talk students through where they are in the class and precisely where they should go next to complete the initial course activities. From there I proceed to review the items in the course navigation menu, and to enter into each area to explain what students will find there and its purpose for the class.
The initial step to begin this effective practice is to ensure that the online course architecture is in place (e.g. the main course menu, units or modules, instructor contact information, etc.). This is not to say, though, that aspects of the course cannot be tweaked as the course unfolds. But because the orientation video will demonstrate to students how to navigate the online course, the video should replicate as much as possible what students will actually see when they log into the course. Any major discrepancies between the video and what students see upon their visit to the class may increase the potential for student confusion, leading to frustration.
Overview of the Writing Projects Video
The video of the overview of the writing projects could be done in a variety of ways, depending on the instructor’s objective for the video. My video is of me talking to the camera (rather than a screen capture); I talk about the general focus for the work students will compose within my writing class. I also discuss how smaller writer projects in the class lead into the larger ones and may be readily incorporated into those larger projects. Because I do not get into specifics about assignment requirements, for I don’t want to overwhelm students on the first day, I prefer the talking head style. My primary intention is to give them a general overview of the work, while again, sharing more of myself with my online students.
If an instructor is interested in the talking head style video and displaying an aspect of the class itself, a screen-capture software, such as Camtasia, would allow for the recording of both. In this case, it might be nice to show students, again, where these assignment directions are located (if the course design keeps these in one space within the course). This would provide an opportunity to preview the actual instructions for an upcoming assignment(s) if the instructor opted to do so.
Or, the instructor might elect to talk through a short slideshow presentation in which the slides help to supplement the discussion of the written projects for the course. The slideshow could be recorded using PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote. Then the recording could be exported directly to YouTube and embedded within the course.
This collection of videos and transcripts can be created in a variety of ways, using numerous technologies.
Hardware
Any sort of camera capable of recording video will work for the talking head videos. I use the webcam on my laptop, but could easily use a camera on a tablet, smartphone, or a digital camera. Aside from a computing device, through which the videos can be uploaded to a website, this is the only hardware required.
Software Recording Video
To record videos that follow the talking head style, a computer’s webcam can be used and if using a mobile device, this will most likely be done through the camera app on the device.
To record videos that involve a screen capture, such as the course navigation video, the following options can work well. Camtasia costs money, but the other options are free. Camtasia Quicktime Screencast-o-matic Screencastify (use with Google Chrome)
Aside from recording the videos, reviewing them for transcriptions requires a word processing program, from which the transcriptions can be written and then copied and pasted into the LMS.
Editing Once a video has been created, it can be edited, but it does not have to be. I prefer to use the raw video footage to preserve the miscues or mistakes that I might make in my delivery to demonstrate a little more of my own humanity for my online students. If you capture video and wish to edit it, some options would be: YouTube’s free video editor Camtasia iMovie, if you work on a Mac Windows Movie Maker, if you work on a PC
Hosting
After the videos have been created and edited (if you wish), each video needs to be uploaded to a hosting site. I opt to use free hosting sites, such as YouTube or Vimeo.
Embedding Video in LMS The embed code can be copied from the hosting site and loaded into the LMS (or wherever the instructor opts to place the videos). The video below demonstrates who to complete this process:
One of the challenges of current staffing practices for college writing courses in my institutions is the sometimes last-minute assignment of multiple course preparations, additional sections, or new preparations that instructors can receive due to fluctuation in enrollments or inaccurate curricular planning. On this page, we offer direction to some teaching and learning sources that provide models of syllabi and assignments as well as heuristics and guidelines that can help instructors with the planning process that goes into teaching college writing. We also include some open-access materials that can be assigned in courses as student reading or that support course development.
Syllabi and Assignment Models or Collections of First-Year Writing Materials
CORA: Community of Online Research Assignments: An Open Access Resource for Faculty and Librarians: A searchable bank of assignments for developing and assessing information literacy.
Effective Research Assignments, Oregon State University Libraries (audience, exploration and topic selection, reading and evaluation)
Sample Writing Assignments for first and second-semester writing courses (narrative, summary, rhetorical analysis, synthesis, literary analysis) from Stephen Austin University
Sample Writing Assignments (literacy narrative, ethnography, new media, visual analysis), Georgia State University
These are open-access educational materials that can be useful for instructors who are assigned courses with little time to advance order traditional textbooks.
Writing Spaces: An open-Textbook Project for college-level writing studies courses.
Writing Commons: Writing Commons is a free, online textbook. As outlined by the Site Map, Writing Common provides a comprehensive introduction to academic writing
FORUM: Issues about Part-Time and Contingent Faculty is a peer-reviewed publication concerning working conditions, professional life, activism, and perspectives of non-tenure-track faculty in college composition and communication. It is published twice annually (alternately in CCC and TETYC) and is sponsored by the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Faculty and scholars from all academic positions are welcome to contribute.
When you agree to accept the nomination for Secretary, you are making a four-year commitment to serve as an officer of the CCCC Executive Committee.
The Secretary is responsible for preparing appropriate and accurate minutes for all meetings (the Annual Business Meeting, Executive Committee meetings, and Officers Meetings), certifying the correctness of these minutes, and distributing these minutes to the CCCC Chair and NCTE Headquarters. A draft of the minutes, or at least a list of motions and action items, should be prepared within 30 days of each meeting. The completed minutes should be prepared for distribution within 60 days. Minutes shall include:
A record of all motions and results
A summary of the discussion of each item
Notification of approved expenditures
Enclosures that are publicly available
Additionally, the Secretary prepares a report of Executive Committee actions and Annual Business Meeting actions for publication in the December issue of CCC. The Secretary is a voting member of the NCTE Board of Directors.
1. Meetings
The Secretary is responsible for attending all of the following meetings:
Attend an online orientation following election and prior to/at the start of the four-year term.
CCCC Executive Committee Meeting (Monday, all day)
January
CCCC Officers’ Meeting (Arrive Friday afternoon, meet all day Saturday and a half day Sunday, return home on Sunday afternoon/evening)
March (at CCCC Annual Convention)
Officers’ Meeting (Tuesday afternoon)
Reception for new Executive Committee members and Local Arrangements Chairs (Wednesday evening)
CCCC Executive Committee Meeting (Wednesday, all day)
Opening General Session (Thursday morning)
Annual Business Meeting (Friday evening)
Awards Presentation (Friday evening)
Regular CCCC Officers’ virtual meetings—typically monthly or every two months.
2. Reimbursements
The Secretary receives travel, lodging, and meal reimbursement for CCCC and NCTE Conventions starting on the first day of duties and ending on the last day. All expenses in connection to the January Officers’ meeting are reimbursed.
Candidates agree not to campaign during the election process.
The Executive Committee of CCCC is the primary governing body of the organization.
Membership
Executive Committee membership is described in the CCCC Constitution.
Responsibilities
Reviews and approves the annual CCCC budget.
Reviews, and either acts on or files reports presented to the Executive Committee by member groups, standing committees, or special committees.
Responds to items of current or public interest to the organization and its members in the form of position statements or other documents.
Contributes members to the committee reviewing the CCCC research initiative proposals.
Nominates and/or approves nominees to Standing Committees, Special Committees, and/or Task Forces as they are convened and charged.
Serves on one subcommittee of the Executive Committee as needed with priorities developed by the Officers’ Committee.
Serves on working groups, special committees, task forces, or as a liaison to CCCC committees as needed.
Reviews and recommends revisions as needed to CCCC position statements on a five-year cycle.
Attends designated sessions or events at the Annual Convention, including the Annual Business Meeting, as communicated by the CCCC liaison and determined by the CCCC Leadership.
Time Commitments
Make a commitment to serve on the CCCC Executive Committee through the length of the specified term.
Attend an online orientation following election and prior to/at the start of the specified term.
Attend two (2) annual meetings of the Executive Committee (required). Remote participation is available as necessary.
At CCCC Annual Convention, all day Wednesday before Convention starts
NCTE Annual Convention, (takes place the week before Thanksgiving)
Attend 2–3 virtual meetings annually of the Executive Committee (required).
Conduct business on email, including voting, which requires a timely response.
Serve on subcommittees of Executive Committee, which are appointed by Chair of CCCC.
Please note: Executive Committee members receive $60.00 per diems for each meeting, but CCCC does not provide regular funds for Committee members to attend the conventions.
Candidates agree not to campaign during the election process.
The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), a conference within the National Council of Teachers of English, is the world’s largest professional organization for researching and teaching composition, from writing to new media.
CCCC calls for the new Secretary of Education to reaffirm the Department of Education’s commitments to
departments and policies within the Department of Education that ensure that all students have access to high-quality, equitable educational opportunities based in research and practice.
postsecondary accountability processes that are mission-specific, discipline-appropriate, and driven by professionals who understand student learning.
support for regional accreditation.
the appointment of qualified educational professionals to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity.
programs that support, promote, and publish educational research and student success such as the Institute for Education Sciences and the Fund for Improvement in Postsecondary Education.
implementation of federal policies as directed by Congress.
Within the structures of postsecondary education policy and practice, CCCC and its members also reaffirm its commitments to engaging in valid, research-based writing instruction and assessment practices that engage students in appropriate development of literacy abilities.
The 2026 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Nominating Committee invites you to submit nominations for the positions of Assistant Chair and Executive Committee Members on the Executive Committee, the 2027 Nominating Committee, Accountability for Equity and Inclusion Committee (AEIC), and the Committee on Disability Issues in College Composition (CDICC). We seek to identify CCCC members who are committed to the organization and willing to do its work.
The post of Assistant Chair involves a four-year commitment, beginning in December of 2026. During the first year of the term, the Assistant Chair also serves as the Program Chair for the 2028 CCCC Annual Convention. The Assistant Chair becomes Associate Chair in December of 2027, then Chair in December of 2028, and Immediate Past Chair in December of 2029.
Members of the Executive Committee, as outlined below, make a commitment to serve on the committee through the length of the specified term, starting 30 days after the NCTE Annual Convention and following the election.
Standing Group Representatives (three-year term)
At-Large Members (three-year term)
Members of the Accountability for Equity and Inclusion Committee (AEIC) make a two-year commitment to serve on the committee, starting 30 days after the NCTE Annual Convention and following the election.
Members of the Committee on Disability Issues in College Composition (CDICC) make a three-year commitment to serve on the committee, commencing 30 days after the NCTE Annual Convention and following the election.
Members of the Nominating Committee are expected to make a one-year commitment to serving CCCC, beginning in September of 2026.
Nominees are balloted by current members of the Nominating Committee to represent a combination of institutions, levels of professional work, regions (US and abroad), and intersectional identities. The election is held in the summer.
CCCC members and previous candidates are encouraged to nominate themselves. In addition, nominations can be made during an open meeting taking place during the 2026 CCCC Annual Convention. After collecting all nominations, the Nominating Committee will finalize the slate of candidates at a closed meeting during the Convention. This meeting takes place behind closed doors to maintain the privacy of nominees and to ensure that personal information remains confidential. Selected candidates are then contacted to obtain their consent to run.
2026 CCCC Nominating Committee
RAsheda Young, Chair, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Estee Beck, University of California Merced
Christina M. LaVecchia, University of Cincinnati
Todd Ruecker, Colorado State University
Jennifer Sano-Franchini, West Virginia University (CCCC Past Chair)
Ja’La J. Wourman, Howard University
Joanne Baird Giordano, Salt Lake Community College (TYCA Past Chair)
CCCC elects its leaders through a ballot mailed to the entire CCCC membership. The CCCC Nominating Committee (click here for a listing of Nominating Committee members from 1994 to the present) is elected annually through this process and serves for one year. The elected Nominating Committee members (as well as the Immediate and Senior Past Chairs of CCCC, who also serve on the nominating committee) select a slate of candidates from nominations, which may be made by any CCCC member. This slate of candidates is contacted, their consent to run obtained, and an election held during the summer to determine who will replace the Assistant Chair(for a four-year term, ascending to Associate Chair, Chair, and Past Chair), the outgoing members of the CCCC Executive Committee, the CCCC Nominating Committee, and the CCCC Secretary (every four years).
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