We're excited to share the news that NIU and Waubonsee Community College will be sponsoring a pre-conference event, the First-Year Composition Articulation Workshop, prior to the Spring 2008 English Articulation Conference at the University of Illinois, April 16 and 17. This one-day workshop will be held at the Allerton Park and Retreat Center in Monticello, Illinois, on Tuesday, April 15. Since we'll focus on community-building and know that most attendees will want to take advantage of the Allerton Park's natural beauty, activities will last into the evening. Therefore, we expect that most attendees will want to stay overnight in the Retreat Center's guest rooms, although the main conference is on the UIUC campus To that end, we will be offering early workshop registration (by February 15, 2008) for a fee of $175, which includes the conference fee, three meals, and an overnight stay. Those who wish to stay at the Retreat Center a second night, during the UIUC conference, may do so for an added $150, which includes breakfast on April 17. Those who wish to come for just the day of the 15th may do so for $75, which includes lunch and snacks. After February 15, all registration fees go up by $25. Our theme will be community college/city college/university articulation of first-year composition classes. We are planning a brief welcome session to set the agenda, lunch, eight roundtable discussions in two concurrent sessions, followed by a wrap-up, cocktail hour, dinner, hikes, and entertainment. We have enlisted teams of two, made up of one community/city college colleague and one university colleague per team, to organize and co-lead discussion in eight different areas. The topics and those who have already agreed to co-lead discussion are listed below. Topic Co-Leaders Assessment Alan Meyers (Truman College), Janice Neuleib (Illinois State) Developmental Composition Ellen Franklin (NIU), Rochelle Harden (Parkland CC) Diversity/Multicultural Issues Marcellus Leonard (UI Springfield), Patricia Rickett (NIU) English Language Learning Jack Haines (NIU), Hara Anast (Wright College) Learning Communities and Collaboration Jeanne Jakubowski (NIU), John Bennett (Lakeland CC) Researched Writing Stephanie Kummerer (NIU), Jeanne McDonald (Waubonsee CC) Teacher and Tutor Training Suzanne Coffield (NIU), Jim Nagle (Columbia College Chicago) Technology Michael Day (NIU), Sarah Quirk (Waubonsee CC) We hope you'll join us for convivial, productive conversation as we make our return to Allerton House. Also, if you know of colleagues at your school who might help us shape these discussions, we would be grateful if you would pass this invitation on to them. As you will note, the registration link allows you to view the schedule and indicate your topic preferences, which will be accommodated as closely as we are able, considering the need for balanced group sizes. If you need to be listed as a presenter in order to receive travel funding, please send us a title and one paragraph abstract of your short (5 minute) presentation to the roundtable on the state of first year composition at your institution in relation to your chosen topic. So that we can continue fine-tuning our preparations for the workshop, please let us know if you plan to attend. Thanks, and looking forward to seeing you at Allerton House in April! Your First-Year Composition Articulation Workshop Planning Committee, Suzanne Coffield Michael Day Ellen Franklin Jeanne Jakubowski Sarah Quirk Kathy Wright