NCPTW at 40:

Where are we now?

Though many things have changed in the forty years since the first National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing in 1984, key issues and questions from the concurrent sessions at the very first NCPTW conference would be familiar to an attendee in 2024. In 2024, we’re still considering how to engage with students in the complexity of their lived experiences and we’re still thinking about how technology is part of our work, but our specific concerns have changed somewhat over time. The concept of peer tutoring has grown, not only in writing centers but also in what is now known as student support services more broadly and that has affected our work. Specific aspects of identity have come to the forefront of our work in new ways. We’re more likely to be thinking about the effects of AI on our work than on whether students are using a personal computer to do their composing for class. And, of course, we are continuing to evolve from a pandemic that challenged the work of peer tutoring and of our institutions themselves. What hasn’t changed is the belief that peer tutors have much to offer to each other and that there is great benefit in offering a conference that enables these important connections.