About the Conference

Conference Purpose:
The purpose of the “Write to Work” Conference is to facilitate an ongoing professional dialogue between North Texas Community College Consortium teaching colleagues and administrators to prepare students

• to graduate,
• find meaningful jobs,
• and begin their chosen careers.

Through these annual conversations we hope to assist community college teachers in exploring how we may better align what and how we teach across disciplines with the present and on-going employment needs of our respective college service areas.

Conference Context:
This effort supports plans like the DCCCD’s “You're Hired” emphasis, “Guided Pathways” and similar degree planning approaches, and the four goals of the Texas 60x30TX strategic plan.

The first and primary goal of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 60x30TX strategic plan is for 60% of Texas citizens between 25-34 years old to hold a college degree or certificate in the year 2030. However, the latest data published in the 2016-17 THECB 60x30TX report suggests that trends in college degree completion rates between 2005 and 2015 pose serious challenges to meeting this goal. Failure to meet 60x30TX goals will mean that fewer and fewer people entering the burgeoning Texas population will be able to secure long-term gainful employment, and, according to former Texas state demographer Steve Murdock, the overall quality of life in Texas will decline proportionately.

Lorena Knight, of the Texas Workforce Commission, has identified 20 soft skill failures that restrict or threaten people’s opportunities to find and maintain better-than-entry-level jobs. According to Knight, the most significant inhibiting factor is inability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Conference Program:

Morning Session:
Opening plenary speakers will present challenging information that provides a broad context for addressing “writing to work.”

Our morning keynote speaker is one of the nation’s foremost consultants on college writing and composition instruction:

• Dr. Chris Anson, Director of the Campus Writing and Speaking Program at North Carolina State University

Other morning speakers will provide insights and information that reflect current trends in the workforce, local and regional educational/ workforce partnerships currently facilitated by NTCCC-member colleges, projections for workforce requirements in North Texas, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s 60x30TX strategic plan aimed at increasing the numbers of college and certificate completers over the next decade and beyond.

• Dr. Robert Garza, President, Mountain View College
• Dr. Christine Hubbard, President, North Texas Community College Consortium
• Lorena (Lori) Knight, Education Specialist, Texas Workforce Commission

Luncheon Speaker:

• Norman Beck, Author and magazine columnist, humorist, story teller, magician, Vice President for Claims and Security—SCA Corporation in Dallas, and brain surgery survivor

Afternoon Session:
The objective of the afternoon breakout sessions is, in part, to introduce strategies for teaching writing that can help lead to gainful employment upon graduation. While the principles of good writing and critical thinking are fundamental to all clear communication, in many ways “writing to work” suggests that there are alternative approaches and strategies to teaching composition apart from how we typically prepare students for traditional, discipline-oriented academic writing activities.

Who should attend the “Write to Work” Conference:

• Discipline-centered community college professors teaching courses across the curriculum
• Directors of “Guided Pathways” initiatives at local campuses
• Directors of Writing Centers
• Composition and technical writing instructors
• Journalism instructors and student newspaper advisors
• Writing Center specialists and tutors
• Regional and statewide administrators addressing local and regional workforce needs
• Representatives of businesses and corporations who are pairing with area colleges and universities to support certificate programs related to their workforce needs
• Experienced writers and communicators in the workforce who are willing to mentor initiatives in our colleges to help prepare our students to become better writers
• Career and Workforce college counselors
• College and university academic advisors
• Institutional research and instructional assessment professionals

This conference is funded by Mountain View College and facilitated by members of the Mountain View College Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP): “The Pen is Our Power.” This conference is only one of many initiatives serving our goal “to nurture a culture of writing” and helps us to fulfill our mission “to empower people and to transform communities.

Click Here to Register

• $90 Consortium Members
• $0 Mountain View College Employees

Note:  Mountain View College employees must also register for the conference in eConnect in order to earn professional development credit.