Karen Moroski-Rigney has been appointed Interim Director of Projects and Education for the Writing Center in the College of Arts & Letters. Her appointment runs from June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Trixie Smith, who currently is on sabbatical, will return to her position as the Writing Center Director in January 2021.
As the Interim Director of Projects and Education, Moroski-Rigney will oversee the educational programming and professional development that stems from the Writing Center. She formed and will chair the Accessibility Task Force, including the Writing Center’s grant-funded Writing Centers and Access Speaker Series as well as curating bi-weekly professional development for the staff. The Accessibility Task Force also will audit existing Writing Center services and plans in order to improve services in the center and to support the university at large. Additionally, she will teach the brand new Advanced Topics in Writing Centers (WRA495) course themed on accessibility in writing center work in Fall 2020.
Moroski-Rigney also leads the Writing Center’s professional development programs for faculty teaching (with) writing in the disciplines, and consults with faculty on writing assignment and assessment practices. She served as an inaugural CAL Faculty Accessibility Fellow (AY 2019-2020) and as a CAL Leadership Fellow (AY 2019-2020); during this time, she and graduate student Andrew Appleton Pine authored a peer-reviewed article on accessibility in writing centers that will be published in Fall 2020.
“I’m honored to oversee the projects and programming of our Writing Center for the next several months,” Moroski-Rigney said. “What sets The Writing Center at MSU apart from its peers in the field is our relentless commitment to community and access oriented work that fosters inclusion, celebration, and empowerment of varied and previously underrepresented voices. As we continue to push the boundaries of our field and to expand its welcome to more writers and readers alike, we are grateful for the chance to share the fruits of that work with the MSU writing community – and I, myself, am particularly lucky to help lead that charge.”
What sets The Writing Center at MSU apart from its peers in the field is our relentless commitment to community and access oriented work that fosters inclusion, celebration, and empowerment of varied and previously underrepresented voices.
Moroski-Rigney began serving as the Associate Director of the Writing Center in August 2019. She is the Managing Editor of The Peer Review, a peer-reviewed writing center journal, and is an Associate Editor forWAC Clearinghouse. Moroski-Rigney serves on the board of the International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) as an at large member and on theMichigan Writing Center Association board as Secretary. She currently chairs the Outstanding Article Award committee for IWCA (2020) and has previously chaired the Scholarships and Grants Committee for the 2018 IWCA Conference in Atlanta. Before arriving in Michigan, Moroski-Rigney had served on the Executive Board of the Mid-Atlantic Writing Center Association as Secretary.
Prior to MSU, Moroski-Rigney worked at Penn State University, the University Park Campus, as the Coordinator of the Undergraduate Writing Center and she also taught courses in English, Curriculum and Instruction, and Women’s Studies.
Moroski-Rigney received her Ph.D. and M.A., both in Critical Theory from Binghamton University. She also has a B.A. in English from Penn State University.
