Writers’ Workshop and McGregor: Forging a lasting collaboration

2009 Writers' Workshop participants chatting in the AUM lobby
(Photo by Wendy Hart Beckman)

As nonprofits around the village are looking to collaborate with one another as a way to deal with the shrinking volunteer pool and add more muscle to their fundraising capabilities, especially for grants and federal stimulus money, partnerships and other kinds of mergers are beginning to pop up everywhere. The best collaborations, of course, are those that happen naturally, because they are the marriages that are most likely to last. About as natural-a-fit as one could hope for was the partnership between the Antioch Writers' Workshop (AWW) and Antioch University McGregor (AUM) that put on this year's successful 24^th edition of the Antioch Writers' Workshop that ran from July 11 - 19. In a recent joint interview with AWW Director Sharon Short and AWW Trustee/AUM Dean of Professional and Liberal Studies Iris Weisman, the Blog learned that their intent to forge a long-term relationship has been formalized in a letter of agreement.

AUM has the facilities and the desire to use them for collaborations with village programmers. According to Weisman, joint efforts with village nonprofits provide service learning opportunities for AUM students that are consistent with the school's mission of the application of education to the betterment of communities and society.

"We have a built-in volunteer pool," Weisman said.

In a Blog interview in May with new AUM President Michael Fishbein, who at the time had not yet officially started in that position, he seemed predisposed to promoting these kinds of joint efforts. At a chance meeting at this year's keynote address, after he had a chance to get his feet on the ground, he indicated that he was very pleased with the way things were working out with the Workshop.

From its inception and throughout the 1990s, the Writers' Workshop was held entirely on the Antioch College campus, including the use of dormitory rooms to lodge participants. In 2001 and 2002, when the college was unwilling to commit its facilities far enough in advance for AWW scheduling, the Workshop was moved into the village as a whole, with Center Stage as ground zero for operations, morning lectures and evening programs, and whatever space could be conjured up around the village for the afternoon intensive sessions. The keynote was held on campus in Kelly Hall and the college's dining facilities were available for participants. A village host program was started to provide lodging. Starting in 2003, and for the next five years, the Glen Helen Building was AWW ground zero and the site of the open-to-the-public evening programs. What might have been perceived as an inconvenience to participants, their being scattered around the village in the afternoons, turned out to be part of the Workshop's charm, according to participant surveys. So, it has been retained as part of the program to this day.

With the closing of the Antioch campus, for its 2007 and 2008 programs, AWW turned to McGregor for the use of its large lecture hall to hold its keynote address. AUM had already underwritten the keynote speech for the past five years. Ground zero, however, continued to be the Glen Helen Building. This year all morning activities and the evening programs were moved to the AUM building. According to Short, whose involvement with the workshop started in 1990 as a participant and continued on and off as a speaker and faculty member to her present position as Director, this year's evening programs were more popular with the public than ever before.

"We were concerned about the distance from downtown," Short said of participants shuttling back and forth for their afternoon seminars. "But, as it turned out, it was not an issue."

In 2003, the position of AWW Director was expanded to a year-round job. Prior to that, it had been seasonal. Jordis Ruhl was the first full-time director. She served in the capacity for one year. Thereafter, villager Laura Carlson was the director for the next five years. Even though the position was full-time, it had no permanent office. The director worked from home. This year, for the first time, AWW has a year-round office in the McGregor building.

Other perks to AWW from its alliance with AUM include the opportunity to provide breakfast for its participants in the all purpose room, space for early morning meditation, and meeting rooms for one-on-one sessions between participants and agents, editors and faculty.

What's in it for McGregor? According to Weisman, who has been at AUM both on the faculty and as a Dean for the past 11 years, the AUM faculty had been talking about how to collaborate with AWW for some 18 months before this year's effort. The arrangement is mutually beneficial, Weisman said, pointing to such things as joint programming, marketing, and book sales at the McGregor book store. AUM creative writing students, both graduate and undergraduate, participated in this year's workshop for partial credit in an arrangement where Workshop and AUM tuition fees were prorated. There were seven undergraduate and two graduate students out of 70 participants overall.

"It was seamless for the [AWW] participants, and no extra effort for the [AWW] faculty," Weisman said. "The AUM students will continue their work post workshop on-line with faculty member Rebecca Kuder"

"The fact that there were those who participated for personal development along with students who were there for credit, only enriched the discussion," Short said.

AWW Director Sharon Short (L) with
AUM Dean and AWW Trustee Iris Weisman

Future programming may include year-round offerings, such as one-day workshops or speakers. The McGregor Board is about to have its first ever meeting on Aug. 22, but will be concerned with other matters for some time. According to Short, the AWW Board hasn't had a chance to review participant surveys and debrief about going forward. Their next meeting is in September. She will be drafting a plan for board discussion on how to go forward with the relationship, Short said.

"We already have the infrastructure for weekend learning," Weisman said of the possibility of additional off-season programs.

Weisman was happy to be invited to join the AWW Board this year, she said. There were three aspects of Yellow Springs that attracted her to take a position at McGregor in the first place: Antioch College; AUM's commitment to life-long learning; and the fact that the Antioch Writers' Workshop was here.

As an example of AUM's commitment to working with AWW, Weisman pointed out that they rescheduled this year's AUM graduation by a week, because it conflicted with the Workshop schedule.

"It was phenomenal how successful this was," Weisman said.

"…especially, since both Iris and I were new at our jobs," Short added.

"We would love to be the 'official site' of the Antioch Writers' Workshop," Weisman said.

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Disclosure: The writer served as Assistant Director of the Antioch Writers' Workshop during its Center Stage years (2001 - 2002). During that time, Mindy Carpenter was the director.