The central mission of SLAC-WPA is to support the teaching of writing at small liberal arts colleges where curricular histories, size, residentiality, and faculty structure present unique opportunities for teaching writing that accords with the intellectual, academic, and civic values often associated with liberal education. Because liberal arts curricula often aim to shape the whole intellectual person by inviting students to experience the traditions of knowledge-making across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and arts and because many liberal arts colleges aim to prepare their students for lives of leadership, these colleges value writers who can adapt their discourses to various deliberative, persuasive, and innovational occasions. SLAC-WPA welcomes information and discussion about administrative and scholarly practices, and supports research on the theories, histories, and cultures associated with writing in the liberal arts. In addition, SLAC-WPA meets annually to address issues that emerge in administering writing programs and writing centers, to share research on teaching writing in the liberal arts, and to foster a nationally-inflected collective identity.