NWP Annual Review . . . It's That Time of Year Again

By: NWP Staff
Publication: The Voice, Vol. 6, No. 5
Date: November-December 2001

Summary: The annual process of reviewing proposals from NWP's 167 sites ensures sites are healthy and following the NWP model, while also providing an excellent professional development opportunity for reviewers, who are site leaders themselves. This year's review takes place February 2-3, 2002, in Atlanta, Georgia.

"That time of year, that thou mayest . . . behold" the approach of the National Writing Project Annual Review. Although the site proposals it generates may not rival the flowery prose of a Shakespearean sonnet, the site review represents a significant amount of work—for both the sites and the reviewers. The review, which takes place the first week in February, is a two-day process during which members of the NWP Task Force and other site leaders review proposals for continuation of federal funding from every one of the NWP's 167 sites.

The annual review not only ensures that sites are healthy and building their capacity while they follow the NWP model, it also provides an excellent professional development opportunity for reviewers, who are site leaders themselves. To ensure the success of this process, the National Writing Project continues to scrutinize the review process, implementing changes to make the entire process more efficient and effective.

In a memo sent to writing project site directors and co-directors earlier this year, NWP Executive Director Richard Sterling outlined some of the changes that the organization is putting in place for the coming review process. These changes include:

• Profile: The site profile (formerly known as the NWP survey) has been redesigned to make the categories more in keeping with site programs. Sites can fill out the profile—due November 13, 2001—entirely online at http://nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/nwpsites/management.csp
• Budget: As was the case last year, budget forms are to be filed electronically. Final budget forms for 2000-2001 were due October 1, 2001. Proposed budgets for 2002-2003 are due January 4, 2002.
• Narrative: A design team for the review has been examining ways to create more opportunities for analysis and reflection in the narrative sections of the proposal. The narrative form can be found online. The narratives are also due January 4, 2002.

The annual review process is intensive for directors and co-directors, both in terms of the preparation of their own site report and as reviewers.

"With that in mind," Sterling notes in his memo, "we have incorporated suggestions by the NWP Task Force and by a smaller group of site directors who have been advising us on improvements to the annual review. We intend the new process to feel like a refinement of the process that has been used over the past several years."

The 2002 annual review, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, February 2–3, will be held in Atlanta, Georgia.

"NWP Annual Review Unearths Gems," The Voice, March-April 2001.

"Annual Site Review 2001 Takes a New Approach," by Joye Alberts, The Voice, May-June 2001.