The East Central Writing Centers Association (ECWCA) Executive Board invites all current members to participate in the election process for our 2026 Executive Board. The election will run from November 11 through November 22, 2026. Members will receive an email inviting them to complete a poll.  

The following board roles are up for election, and at this time, the nomination period has closed.

• At-Large Representative
• Undergraduate Representative
• Two Year / Community College Representative

A description of all Board positions and a list of the responsibilities for each role can be found here in the ECWCA Constitution.  

To learn more about the nominees for this election cycle, please see the biographies below!

Candidate Biographies

Mary Helen Truglia, At-Large Representative

Thank you for considering my nomination! I’ve worked in writing centers and writing tutoring broadly since 6th grade, but most directly beginning during my undergraduate experience at Whittier College (a SLAC). I then helped to create a new Writing Centre at L-Universita ta’ Malta when I taught abroad, and have been a graduate tutor, writing group lead facilitator, grad assistant director and now Director of Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana University, Bloomington. I am excited about the possibility of serving on the Board to assist with sharing programming and best practices across our region, to learn with and from other WCs, and to contend with new opportunities and challenges (including Generative AI and other digital innovations) that affect our WC work with students and instructors. I find it particularly important to continue our work on interdisciplinary programming/Writing Across the Curriculum and to focus on how to increase support for historically underserved students (first-generation, multilingual, students of color, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, etc.). I hope to also raise discussions about organizationally pushing for institutional support and funding amidst administrative change, strategic planning, a push for career readiness, and budgeting cuts (topics pertinent to many in our region).

Beth Sabo, At-Large Representative

I have so enjoyed being on the ECWCA Board as an at-large rep since 2020 and would happily continue serving in this role for another term. The Board work I have most found joy in has involved working with the Outreach Committee to offer free programming, such as the Book Club, Article of the Month Club, and workshops that support those proposing for the annual conference. Speaking of which, I was the 2025 conference host, achieving a record number of conference attendees and presentations. I have worked in writing centers at three different 4-year institutions for a total of 16 years, and while I bring a reflective practice related to that experience to the work I do, I also find that I learn every day (and value learning every day) from the experiences of other practitioners. If granted the opportunity to extend my time on the Board, I would love to continue designing and facilitating free or low-cost programming that writing center practitioners in our region express desire for and supporting our region’s short and long-term goals. 

Eugene Oswald, Two Year / Community College Representative

My education background is in studying language/linguistics and working with speakers of other languages. Empowering students whose first language is not English is a passion of mine. I have worked at Sinclair Community College's Tutoring and Learning Center since 2018, first as a professional tutor and now as the supervisor. I also teach in the ESOL program at Sinclair. Additionally, I spent the last two years in the role of Community College Representative on the ECWCA board. It's rewarding to be a part of an association that not only helps with networking and professional development related to the writing center field, but that also provides insightful and meaningful opportunities for training, discussions, and new ideas. In March 2024, my department co-hosted the ECWCA conference with Wright State. This was a great opportunity to welcome other writing center professionals to our region to engage in important conversations related to our work. Additionally, in my role on the board, I worked on ECWCA's Outreach Committee helping develop and lead book club, article club, and other member-facing events. It is an honor to represent community college voices in our association, and I would be excited to continue that work.

Baran Arslan, Undergraduate Student Representative

Being an international undergraduate student that is currently majoring in Biochemistry and molecular biology, I had never heard of a writing center before my first ever writing class in college. I had that general prejudice that all stem majors have against writing majors and writing centers. I know there is a lot of undergraduates like me. I want to be the voice for undergraduates that knows what it means to be a part of this community. Make them have more connections to this conference meanwhile understanding their needs and expectations. I started working at MSU’s Writing Center just this year and it has improved me as a person in so many ways, giving me different opportunities such as taking part in other conferences, doing research to improve our community in any way, leading a project working on starting a new location to our campus that will improve how STEM majors perceive us meanwhile creating an environment for all instead of specific majors, being a liaison that collaborates with another organization that tutors and lets our immigrant community members practice english. I do believe that I have enough experience for this and I would be a great candidate.

Thank you for voting!

Our region benefits greatly from the guidance and support of an Executive Board that is assembled of volunteers from schools in our region. We hope you will help select our board by voting! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ECWCA President, Grace Pregent, at pregentg@msu.edu.

Thank you for your support of writing centers in our region.