CARMEN WERDER
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA 98225-9093
Office: (360) 650-7329
FAX: (360) 650-4329
3109 Blanchard Road
Bow, WA 98232
Home: (360) 766-6239
E-mail: carmen.werder@wwu.edu
EDUCATION
1994
Ph.D. in English, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. Concentration:
Language with an emphasis in Rhetoric and Composition. Dissertation: Expressed
Silence: A Metaphorics of Word in Selected Nineteenth-Century American Texts.
Examination areas: History of Rhetoric, Theories of Composition, Critical Theory,
Language Philosophy, and American Literature (19th C.). Degree: First class standing.
Dissertation: Pass with Distinction.
1986
M.A. in English, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA. Rhetoric and
Composition. GPA: 4.0.
1981
Standard Teaching Certificate (K-12), Western Washington University, Bellingham,
WA. Concentration: Language Arts and Elementary Education.
1968
B.A. in English, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA. Concentration:
Secondary Education.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Western Washington University, Bellingham WA:
2002-present Director, Teaching-Learning Academy (TLA), coordinating and developing a
university-wide forum for the scholarship of teaching and learning. Director, Writing
Instruction Support, coordinating and facilitating curricular and pedagogical support
for faculty teaching writing across the disciplines. Affiliated Faculty, Department of
Communication, teaching “Civil Discourse as Interactive Learning” linked with the
Teaching-Learning Academy, as well as other courses in rhetoric.
2003-present Cluster Facilitator for Institutional Leadership Program on “Sustaining Student
Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Carnegie Academy for the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, leading faculty and student representatives from
six U.S. institutions working on integrating student voices in the study of teaching and
learning.
2005-2006
Carnegie Scholar, Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
(CASTL), conducting research in the scholarship of teaching and learning, including
three residencies at the Carnegie Foundation, Palo Alto, CA.
Werder CV – 2
2002-2005
Director, First-year Interest Group (FIG) Program, overseeing curriculum,
pedagogy, and assessment for a learning community program for entering students.
2000-2004
Faculty, First-year Interest Group (FIG) Program, teaching introductory seminar
“Perspectives on Learning,” linked with discipline-based general education courses.
1999-2001
Director of Interdisciplinary Curriculum and Assessment, Center for Instructional
Innovation, coordinating curriculum and assessment for cross disciplinary programs,
including the First-Year Interest Group seminar emphasizing critical literacy; teaching a
graduate course on “Communication Pedagogy for College Educators,” conducting
faculty development workshops on such topics as the course portfolio and writing; cofacilitating a course on self-reflection and participating in the Teaching and Learning
Academy; coordinating campus writing assessment efforts, and serving as a support
resource on developing student learning outcomes, with a focus on writing.
Summer 1999 Scholarship of Teaching Fellow, developing Phase II of the Carnegie Campus
Conversation Program on the scholarship of teaching and learning.
1994-1999
Associate Director of the University Writing Center Program, overseeing staff,
policy, and pedagogy including training writing assistants; developing online writing
center models; providing writing support in the general education curriculum;
conducting TA and faculty development in writing across the curriculum; coordinating
and teaching interdisciplinary writing links/clusters, and serving as a liaison for writing
assessment.
1992-1999
Lecturer in the Department of English, teaching Intermediate Expository Writing
(linked sections), Introduction to Technical Writing, Introduction to the Study of the
English Language, and various independent study courses in writing/writing pedagogy.
1994-1995
Research Assistant to the Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Education (part-time),
surveying current higher education trends in general education reform.
1992-1994
Assistant Director of the Writing Center, overseeing the daily operations of the
Writing Center, including hiring, instruction, and supervision of student staff,
facilitating writing support services across the disciplines, and assisting with
intermediate writing assessment.
1989-1990
Acting Director of Composition, Department of English, supervising English 101
teaching assistants, including team-teaching the Seminar in Teaching College
Composition, as well as mentoring, supervising, and assessing twenty-five graduate
TAs.
Werder CV – 3
1984-1990
Lecturer in the Department of English, teaching a range of courses at the 100 through
300 levels including Introduction to College Composition, Beginning Composition,
Intermediate Expository Writing, Introduction to American Literature, and Introduction
to Creative Non-fiction.
1984-1989
Academic Counselor and Summer Instructor in the Upward Bound Program
advising high school seniors on financial aid and college curriculum planning; teaching
Etymology to high school sophomores and juniors and Introduction to College
Composition to first-quarter college students.
Whatcom Community College, Bellingham, WA:
Fall 1987
Part-time instructor teaching College Composition.
1985-1986
Assistant in the Reading and Study Skills Lab providing individual tutoring and
small group instruction in a lab setting.
Skagit Valley College, Mount Vernon, WA:
1986-1988
Part-time instructor teaching Creative Writing to senior citizens.
Immaculate Conception Regional School, Mount Vernon, WA:
1979-1983
Classroom instructor teaching grades three, six, and kindergarten.
Paul Luvera Jr. and Associates, Mount Vernon, WA:
1977-1979
Paralegal preparing complex, personal injury litigation for trial.
Anacortes High School, Anacortes, WA:
1968-1970
English teacher teaching literature and composition in grades ten, eleven, and twelve.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS
Pacific Northwest Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Conference. “From the Ground Up:
Students in Partnership: a Conference in the Making – Wrinkles and All” and “Dialogue as
Assessment,” co-presentations with students from WWU Teaching-Learning Academy. Vancouver,
WA, 3-4 May 2007.
Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence at the University of Alaska. “Conversational
Scholarship: Opening Our Senses to Student Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.”
Invited talk and workshop, co-presented with students from WWU Teaching-Learning Academy.
Anchorage, 29-30 March 2007.
Conference on College Composition and Communication. “What Our Artifacts Tell us About Who we
Are.” New York, 23 March 2007.
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference. Washington, D.C.
Dialogue, Student Voices, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” 17 November 2006.
Werder CV – 4
Annual International Conference on Service-Learning Resarch, From Passion to Objectivity:
International and Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives on Service-Learning Research. “Service-Learning
as Gendered Pedagogy? So What”? Portland, OR. 13-16 October 2006.
Carnegie Colloquium for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. “Inviting Students Into a
Learning Commons: Dialogue and Co-Inquiry in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,”
Madison, WI, 1 April 2006.
Conference on College Composition and Communication. “What We Want/They Want: Negotiating
What Counts as Good Writing in An Age of Accountability,” Chicago, IL, 24 March 2006.
Second International Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference. “Student Voices in the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: So What?” Vancouver, B.C., 16 October 2005.
Conference on College Composition and Communication on “Opening the Golden Gates: Access,
Affirmative Action and Student Success.” Two sessions: “Moving Beyond Contact: Conversation as
Inquiry, Invention, and Initiative in WAC and Beyond” and Bringing Student Voices into Writing
Assessment and Development Activities,” San Francisco, CA, 18-19 March 2005.
Leading for Learning: Advancing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Institute. “Implementing
Interactive Structures for Organizational Change,” St. Martin’s College, Lacey, WA. 21 January 2005.
International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, Bloomington, IN,
“Student Voices: Why do They Matter in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning? And What Kinds
of Learning Matter to Them?” 23 October 2004.
Washington Center for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education Institute, The Evergreen State
College, Olympia, WA, “Student Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Co-Inquiry at
Western Washington University,” 26-27 July 2004.
Carnegie Foundation/American Association of Higher Education Summer Academy, Stowe, VT,
“Student Participation in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,” workshop co-presented with
cluster institutional partners, 13 July 2004.
Fifth Colloquium on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Building Knowledge, Improving
Learning, San Diego, CA, “Sustaining Student Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,”
cluster poster presentation, 31 March 2004.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, San Antonio, TX, “Turning Mandated
Assessment into Development Opportunities: Assessment as the Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning, 26 March 2004.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, New York, NY, “Dovetailing the
Assessment of Writing with Other Core Competencies,” 20 March 2003.
Werder CV – 5
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, “Statewide Assessment Initiatives:
State of Washington Senior Writing Study and Faculty Development,”22 March 2002.
Washington Center Conference on the Improvement of Undergraduate Education, The Evergreen State
College, Olympia, WA, “Students Engaging Students,” 23 February 2002.
Writing Across the Curriculum National Conference, Bloomington, IN, “LIT: Literacy, Inquiry, and
Technology in a First-Year Interest Group,” 1 June 2001.
Pacific Northwest Higher Education Assessment Conference, Spokane, WA, “The Course Portfolio,” 3
May 2001.
Northwest Regional Writing Center Conference, Bellingham, WA, “Avoiding the Big ‘But’ in Writing
Conferences,” 7 April 2001.
American Association of Higher Education Conference, Carnegie Campus Conversations Colloquium,
Washington, D.C., “When the Going Gets Public, the Students Get Going,” 24 March 2001.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Denver, CO, workshop on “Learning
Communities as New Institutional Contexts for Writing Instruction” and special interest group
presentation on “Statewide Writing Assessment Initiatives,” 15 March 2001.
Washington Center for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education Conference, Seattle, WA,
“Toward a Culture of Learning: Ideas for Initiating, Sustaining, and Assessing a Campus Change
Project,” 23 February 2001.
American Association of Higher Education Summer Academy, Snowbird, UT, “Integrating the Student
Voice in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Western Washington University,” 20 July 2000.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Minneapolis, MN, “Revamping Mandated
Writing Assessment,” 15 April 2000.
Carnegie Campus Conversations Colloquium, American Association of Higher Education, Annaheim,
CA, “Integrating a Student Voice in the Campus Conversations,” 28 March 2000.
Feminist Rhetoric(s) Conference, Minneapolis, MI, “The Rhetoric and Reality of (Wo)mentoring:
Extending the Conversation,” 8 October 1999.
Washington State Higher Education Conference on Assessment, Spokane, WA, “Trying Out A
Discipline-Based Writing Rubric,” 6 May 1999.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Atlanta, GA, “A Writing Teacher’s
Influence in Cluster Courses,” 26 March 1999.
Werder CV – 6
Conference for the Improvement of Graduate Education in the Sciences, National Science Foundation,
Washington, D.C., “Using Writing to Teach Introductory Lab Courses in the Sciences,” 30 June 1998.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, IL, “A Rhetorical Stance Toward
WAC or the Ethics of it all,” 4 April 1998.
Washington Center Conference on Embracing Contraries in Learning Communities, Seattle, WA, “A
Confab on Linked Courses,” 28 Feb. 1998.
Faculty Development Series, Western Washington University, “Using Writing to Enhance Teaching
and Learning,” 5 Feb. 1998.
Third National Writing Center Association Conference, Park City, UT, “Assuming Authority in
Concentric Rings of Influence: Conference, Course, and Campus,” 20 Sept. 1997.
Washington State Higher Education Conference on Assessment, Spokane, WA, “Call Waiting on
Writing Assessment: Voices of Writing Teachers,” 9 May 1997.
Third National Writing Across the Curriculum Conference, Charleston, SC, “The Cluster Course: A
WAC Model in the Works,” 3 Feb. 1997.
Pacific Coast Writing Center Association Conference, Portland, OR, “Using Curriculum-based Group
Conferences in the Writing Center,” 2 Nov. 1996.
Washington State Higher Education Conference on Assessment, Seattle, WA, “Versions and Visions
of Writing Assessment Around the State,” 16 May 1996.
Conference on College Composition and Communication, Milwaukee, WI, “Using Writing in General
Ed Classes—No Matter What the Size,” 28 March 1996.
Pacific Coast Writing Center Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, “Faculty Expectations of
the Writing Center,” 21 Oct. 1995.
Second Annual Celebrating Learning Symposium, Western Washington University, “Writing as
Learning in the GURs,” 21 Sept. 1995.
First National Writing Center Association Conference, New Orleans, LA, “An In-formative Method
For Tutor Assessment,” 16 April 1994.
American Association of University Professors Workshop, Western Washington University, “Writeto-Learn Strategies Across the Curriculum,” 12 Feb. 1990.
National Conference on Student-Centered Learning, Bellingham, WA, “Using Pretense to Get to
Reality in the Teaching of Writing,” 11 Oct. 1988.
Werder CV – 7
SELECTED CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION
Annual Summer Academy, American Association of Higher Education, Snowbird, VT, “Enhancing
General Education Through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,” 17-21 July 2002.
Writing Pedagogy Forum, UW, Bothell, WA, “Making Assessment Work For Us,” 25 May 2001.
Learning Community Coordinator Conference, sponsored by the Washington Center for the
Improvement of Undergraduate Education, Tacoma, WA, “Designing Quality Learning Communities,”
20 October 2000.
National Learning Communities Conference, Washington Center for Undergraduate Education,
Seattle, WA, “Transforming Learning,” Seattle, WA, 20-22 May 1999.
State Assessment Coordinators’ Symposium on Improving Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum
Through Assessment, “Assessing Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression,” Leavenworth,
WA, 1-2 Nov. 1998.
“Critical Thinking: Basic Theory and Instructional Structures,” Bellingham, WA, facilitated by Dr.
Jerry Nosich, Center for Critical Thinking, Sonoma State University, 17 Sept.1998.
State Assessment Coordinators’ Symposium on Improving Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum
Through Assessment, “Assessing Collaborative Learning,” Leavenworth, WA, 1-2 Nov. 1997.
National Gathering: Invisible College Conference on Service-Learning, as representative for the
Provost, Denver, CO, 13-16 June 1997.
Washington Center Conference, “Technology on a Human Scale: Teaching and Learning in the
Information Age,” Seattle, WA, 14-5 Feb.1997.
State Assessment Coordinators’ Symposium on Improving Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum
Through Assessment, “Becoming a Self-Reflective Learner,” Ellensburg, WA, 14-5 Nov.1996.
Washington State University Colloquium on Assessment, “Improving Teaching and Learning Through
Assessment,” Pullman, WA, 11-3 Sept. 1996.
PUBLICATIONS
Werder, Carmen. “Telling Metaphors: Self-Authorship in Dialogue” (chapter manuscript) as part of a
co-authored volume on teaching citizenship across the curriculum.
Werder, Carmen. “Conversational Scholarship and Student Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning.” International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL)
newletter, January, 2007.
Werder CV – 8
Sustaining Student Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Cluster CD-Rom, April 2006:
http://www.wwu.edu/depts/tla/Sustaining%20Student%20Voices/Student%20Voices.html
Werder, Carmen. Sustaining Student Voices in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Cluster
Snapshot, June 2006. http://sakai.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=84705804274143
Werder, Carmen, co-authored with Angela Harwood, et al. “Communities for Growth: Cultivating and
Sustaining Service-Learning Teaching and Scholarship in a Faculty Fellows Program,” Michigan
Journal of Community Service Learning. Fall 2005.
Werder, Carmen. “What Matters Over Time: Documenting Student Learning” in Campus Progress:
Supporting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Barbara Cambridge, editor, AAHE, 2004.
Werder, Carmen, Redmond, PJ, Purdue, Jeff, and Patrick, K. “Creating a Reflective Space: The
Teaching-Learning Academy at Western Washington University.” Washington Center for Improving
the Queality of Undergraduate Education Newsletter, Fall 2003, 38-40.
Bulcroft, Kris, Werder, Carmen, and Glenn Gilliam. “Student Voices in the Campus Conversation,”
Inventio: Creative Thinking About Learning and Teaching. http://www.doit.gmu.edu/inventio/ George
Mason University, Fairfax, VA, June 2002.
Werder, Carmen. “Rhetorical Agency: Seeing the Ethics of It All,” Writing Program Administration:
Journal of the Council of Writing Program Administrators, (Fall/Winter 2001) 24.1/2
Sullivan, John and Carmen Werder. “Going Public: Elon College and Western Washington
University,” AAHE Bulletin: A Publication of the American Association for Higher Education (Nov.
2000) 53.3: 13-14
Werder, Carmen. Review of Writing Analytically by David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen, paid
review for Harcourt Brace & Company, May 1998.
Werder, Carmen and Donna Qualley. “Assessing Writing at Western,” Dialogue, newsletter of the
Office of Institutional Assessment and Testing, Western Washington University, December 1998.
Werder, Carmen. “We Whined; We Went; We Wonder: Reflections on a Writing Assessment Pilot
Project,” WAG, newsletter of the Washington Assessment Group, November 1998.
Werder, Carmen and Roberta Buck. “Assessing Writing Conference Talk: An Ethnographic
Method,” Writing Center Perspectives, Byron Stay, Christina Murphy, and Eric Hobson, eds, National
Writing Center Association Press, 1995.
Werder, Carmen. “Cultivating Commitment: The Source of Writing Energy,” Minnesota English
Journal, Winter-Spring 1985-86.
Werder CV – 9
CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS
Metaphors in Teaching and Learning: ongoing research into the role of articulating personal
metaphors in developing rhetorical agency and self-understanding. Extension of Carnegie Scholar
study.
June 2006 progress report, see http://sakai.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=76099457942042
Creating a Culture of Reflection: ongoing investigation of the role of reflective practices in improving
student learning and in advancing institutional change initiatives.
Service-Learning as Gendered Pedagogy: part of a collaborative research project interviewing faculty
at Western Washington University regarding their use of service-learning.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
“Student Participation in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” – leading Carnegie Leadership
Program national cluster of five institutions working partner with students in this initiative sponsored
by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL
Consultant to Wooding College of Education, Western Washington University, on their initiative to
integrate the scholarship of teaching and learning college-wide.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Workshops – developing and facilitating workshops for faculty
across the disciplines on the “Course Portfolio” with a focus on the relationship between course design
and learning results.
Interdisciplinary Writing – studying models for integrating writing in the general education program,
developing interdisciplinary writing pedagogy with a focus on assignments and assessment; assisting
with portfolio pilot for general studies major; working with statewide Senior Writing Study.
SERVICE
Western Washington University:
Writing Accountability Group, Chair, January 2002-present
Communication and Critical Literacy Dialogue Group, Facilitator, September 2001-June 2002
Summer Start, faculty adviser, 2001, 1999, and 1994; Transitions, faculty adviser, 1995-97
Committee on the Assessment of Teaching and Learning, Chair, 1999-present
Faculty Senate and Executive Council, Appointments and Elections Chair, May 1998-2000
Service-Learning Advisory Board, May 1998-present
Committee on the Assessment of Teaching and Learning, 1995-present
First Year Experience Task Force, 1998; Transfer Year Experience Task Force, 1999
Interdisciplinary Writing Program Task Force, 1998-1999
Writing Accountability Steering Committee, 1998-1999
Technology and Teaching Committee, February 1997-1998
Provost’s Committee on Writing, January 1997-June 1998
General University Requirements Committee (consultant), 1994-1998
Werder CV – 10
Expository Writing Committee, 1992-1998
Master thesis committees (English and Adult and Higher Education) and Fairhaven Concentration
committees: various in 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
Service Learning Task Force, Chair, November 1996-June 1997
Minority Achievement Program, faculty mentor, 1994-97, 1987-89
English Department Composition Committee, 1995-96, 1992-93, 1989-90
Composition Textbook Committee, 1988-90
University of British Columbia:
Thesis committee (Language Education), 1995
State of Washington:
College Readiness for English Expert Review Team, June, 2006-present.
Statewide Senior Writing Study, WWU representative, December 1997-present.
Admissions Competency Project, Committee for English, Higher Education Coordinating Board,
1999-2001.
Washington State Freshmen Competency Project, Committee for English, 1989-90.
AWARDS
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Carnegie Scholar, Certificate of Excellence, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching, June 2006.
Teaching-Learning Academy Student Choice Award, Western Washington University. 2003-2006.
Service-Learning Faculty Fellowship, Western Washington University, Center for ServiceLearning, 2004-2006.
First Presidential Scholarship of Teaching Award, Western Washington University, 1999.
Faculty Development Award, Western Washington University, 1994.
Graduate Fellowships (based on academic merit), University of British Columbia, 1991-1993
Pass with Distinction on written and oral candidacy exams, University of British Columbia, 1992.
Best Journal Article for 1985-86, Minnesota English Journal, Minnesota Council of Teachers of
English, cash award.
Outstanding Teacher, Western Washington University, Upward Bound Program, 1987.
President’s List, WWU, 1966-68; Kappa Delta Pi, 1967-68; Educational Opportunity Grants,
tuition waivers, entry scholarships, 1964-68.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Conference on College Composition and Communication
Modern Language Association
National Council of Teachers of English
Rhetoric Review Association of America
Rhetoric Society of America
Writing Program Administrators
3 September 2007