Kathryn Tucker
Education
- Ph.D., Comparative Literature, University of California, Los Angeles
- B.A., English and Comparative Literary Studies, French, Occidental College
Professional Background
Kathryn Tucker is a writing studies scholar whose work focuses on composition studies (the study of writing instruction and how writers learn to write) and writing center studies. Her teaching and research centers antiracist and inclusive practices in writing classrooms, assessments, and feedback. She is especially interested in alternatives to traditional assessment and grading models, such as contract grading and ungrading, and in the role peer support programs play in student and faculty success.
As the John and Linda Seiter Endowed Chair of Writing, Kathryn directs writing across the curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences. She supports all faculty who use writing in their courses. In Fall and May terms, she facilitates the Seminar in Teaching Writing to invite faculty into the writing studies discourse community and to support their teaching with current knowledge from her field.
Current Projects
- Linguistic Justice Resource Site: Kathryn and the students in her Spring 2021 Writing and Linguistic Justice conceptualized and began generating and curating content for a website providing resources for folks, especially members of the U of R and surrounding community, interested in raising awareness and reducing linguistic bias in academic spaces, health care, professional spaces, and social interactions.
- Writing at Redlands: In collaboration with writing colleagues across the university, Kathryn is developing a network of information and resources about writing at U of R.
- Guided Self-Placement: After the College of Arts and Sciences adopted test-optional admissions, Kathryn developed and implemented a guided self-placement process for first year writing. With support from the Writing Advisory and a team of full- and part-time writing faculty, the entering class of 2025 shared their experiences with reading and writing, set their own goals, and identified the courses that would best support those goals in their first year. Kathryn is gathering data to write about this project.
- Conference (Un)grading: This project studies the use of conferencing for feedback that includes a grade or other “final” assessment of work.
Experience
- Nevada State College, Assistant Professor of English Rhetoric and Composition and Writing Center Director (2014-2020)
- Occidental College, Adjunct Faculty, Cultural Studies Program, Writing and Rhetoric Department (2009-2014); Faculty Writing Specialist, Center for Academic Excellence (2010-2014)
- Scripps College, Adjunct Lecturer, Writing Program (2007-2013)
- California State University, Fullerton, Adjunct Lecturer, Liberal Studies (2011-2013)
- University of California, Los Angeles, Lecturer, Comparative Literature (2008-2009)
Affiliations
- International Writing Centers Association
- Southern California Writing Centers Association
- National Council of Teachers of English
- Conference on College Composition and Communication
- Council of Writing Program Administrators
Areas of Expertise
- Composition studies
- Writing center studies
- Antiracist and inclusive writing assessment
- Critical pedagogy
- Writing programs
- Peer support programs
Publications
“Fostering Historically Underserved Students’ Success: An Embedded Peer Support Model that Merges Non-Cognitive Principles with Proven Academic Support Practices.” Kathryn Tucker, Gwen Sharp, Tony Scinta, Qingmin Shi, and Sandip Thanki. The Review of Higher Education Vol. 43, no. 3, Spring 2020, pp. 861-885.
“Integrated Intervention: The Case for Intentionally Interwoven Learning Supports in Gateway Course Improvement Efforts.” Invited co-authored chapter with Johanna J. Dvorak for Gateway Courses: Transforming Barriers to Retention and Completion into Pathways to Equity and Promise. Editor: Andrew K. Koch. New Directions for Higher Education no. 180, Winter 2017.
Awards and service
- Nevada State College Teaching Excellence Award (2017)
- Nevada State College Be Bold Award, with Danette Barber (2017)
- International Writing Centers Association Summer Institute Lodging Grant (2015)
- Southern California Writing Centers Association Travel Grant, IWCA Summer Institute (2015)
- Honored for contributions to National Awards Program, Occidental College (2014)
- Marie McSpadden Sands Teaching Award, Scripps College (2013)
- UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship (2006-2007)
- UCLA Summer Research Mentorship (2003)
- Phi Beta Kappa (Inducted 1998)
- Occidental President’s Scholarship (1996-2000)
- Uhlmann Scholarship (1996-2000)
- Presentations and Workshops
-
Seminar in Teaching Writing: October-November 2020, May 2021, October-November 2021.
DoBetterUR University Faculty Retreat Workshop: “Disrupting Writing Conventions,” with Allison Fraiberg, University of Redlands, October 2020.
Hunsaker Teaching Excellence Conversation: Grading and Assessing Student Work (invited to speak about alternatives to traditional grading). May 2021.
Seiter Endowed Chair Workshop Series Fall 2021: Assessing Writing; Encouraging Revision; Conferencing and Conference Grading. October 2020.
Hunsaker Teaching Excellence Conversation: Inclusivity In and Out of the Classroom (panelist with Christopher Jones). September 2020.
Active Learning Retreat Facilitator, Nevada State College. June 2018.
By Invitation. “Peer Assisted Academic Support.” Concurrent workshop. John N. Gardner Institute Student Retention Symposium. Charleston, SC. April 2017.
“Facilitating Transfer Between Writing Center Studies and Composition Studies.” Panel presentation, with Tyler Kaplan and Sierra Lomprey. Conference on College Composition and Communication, Portland, OR. March 2017.
By Invitation. “Promoting student success through embedded peer support: A user’s manual for everyone.” Pre-conference Workshop with Danette Barber and Tony Scinta. John N. Gardner Gateway Course Experience Conference. Las Vegas, NV. February 2017.
By Invitation. “Building Student Confidence, Sense of Belonging, and Growth Mindset.” With Danette Barber. Faculty development workshop. Nevada State College. February 2017.
“Faculty Outcomes in Gateway Course Peer Support Programs.” Roundtable discussion, with Danette Barber. John N. Gardner Institute Gateway Course Experience Conference, Las Vegas, NV. February 2017.
“Metacognition in Action: First-Year Composition, Writing About Writing, and Writing Program Development.” Conference on College Composition and Communication, Houston, TX. April 2016.
“Writing Center Research in the First-year Composition Classroom: First-year Composition Students Talk to the Center.” National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing, Salt Lake City, UT. November 2015.
“Mutually Beneficial Coevolution in FYC and Tutor Training.” International Writing Centers Association Conference, Pittsburgh, PA. October 2015.
“Keeping Students in the Conversation: Using Intro to Writing Studies in FYC to Improve Student Persistence Rates and Shape Writing Culture.” In collaboration with Gregory Robinson. Council of Writing Program Administrators Conference, Boise, ID. July 2015.