Allerton Beneficial to Instructors,
Teaching Assistants
The Reavis Newsletter
Number 38
Winter 2003-2004
Each spring, professors, instructors, and teaching assistants
(TAs) from across the state of Illinois gather at the The Allerton Articulation
Conference to meet their peers and discuss issues in teaching composition.
For NIU’s instructors and teaching assistants, Allerton provides
the perfect opportunity to present their teaching strategies and solutions
to a professional audience.
“Graduate teaching assistants need to go to at least one conference
per year for professional development,” says Professor Michael
Day, Director of First-Year Composition. “Allerton is the most
accessible conference for our TAs.”
The Allerton Conference gives instructors and teaching assistants the
chance to add a new line to their curriculum vitae, network
with teachers from other institutions, and show off their knowledge of
the field. “Both grad students and instructors are clamoring for
this type of professional development,” says Day. “They want
it, and they deserve it.”
The Allerton Conference provides benefits far beyond the individual
attendees. Not only does it make for better teaching in individual composition
classrooms, but it makes NIU as a whole look good. According to Day, “other
schools don’t usually think about the professional development
of their TAs and instructors. This is one way that we can show that we
are superior to other schools at providing this kind of development.”
In the past, NIU has been able to provide funds for instructors and
teaching assistants who wished to attend the Allerton Conference, but
recent budget cuts are making it increasingly difficult for the department
to fund Allerton attendance at a significant level. “TAs and instructors,
though not impoverished, are historically a population that doesn’t
make much money,” says Day, “and a lot of people who would
benefit greatly from this conference aren’t able to attend because
they cannot afford to go. But we don’t want anyone to miss out
on this important opportunity.”
“We will do the best we can to keep sending people to Allerton,” he
continues, “but with outside funding, we could ensure that many
more deserving teachers could attend and represent NIU at an important
statewide conference.”
If you are interested in making a contribution to our Allerton fund,
contact Jan Vander Meer at jvander@niu.edu.
Please use the subject line of “Allerton.”
http://www.engl.niu.edu/rnlonline/ArticlesW2003/Allerton.htm
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