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Teaching Professor

Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies / College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences / UNC Charlotte

Research Interests

  • Technical and Professional Writing
  • Online Privacy and Ethics
  • Accessibility
  • Online Literacy Instruction (OLI)
  • Online Writing Instruction (OWI)
  • Rhetoric and New Media

Education

PhD in Technical Communication and Rhetoric | Texas Tech University, 2021

Service

President (2022-2024). Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE).

QM Scholar (2022-2024). Center for Teaching and Learning at UNC Charlotte.

Vice President (2020-2022). Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE).

Associate Chair. (2019-2022) Online Writing Instruction (OWI) Standing Group. Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC).

Quality Matters Associate Faculty Fellow (2017-2022). Center for Teaching and Learning at UNC Charlotte.

Treasurer (2018-2020). Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE).

First-Year Writing Administrator (2013-2019). University Writing Program at UNC Charlotte. (now the WRDS Department)

Professional Presentations

TEDx Talks. (2023, March 15). Take Back the Internet | TEDxCharlotte [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMiS2i9tIOQ

Selected Publications

Mahaffey, C., & Walden, A. (2025). ACCESS: Accessible Course Construction for Every Student’s Success. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/ACCESS-Accessible-Course-Construction-for-Every-Students-Success/Mahaffey-Walden/p/book/9781032777597 

Evans, T., DePew, K. E., Cicchino, A., & Mahaffey, C. (2025). Living Our Principles: Designing an Accessible and Inclusive Virtual Conference. Composition Studies, 53(1), 182–188. https://compstudiesjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/evans-depew-cicchino-mahaffey.pdf

Robledo, D., & Mahaffey, C. (2025). Critical and Creative Quantum Literacies. Technical Communication Quarterly, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2025.2570168

Harris, H. S., Mahaffey, C., & Beavers, M. (2022). What the COVID pandemic taught us about creating inclusive, anti-racist, and accessible online writing classes and programs. Computers and Composition, 66, Article 102739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2022.102739

CCCC OWI Standing Group. (2022) Report of the CCCC Standing Group for Best Practice In Online Writing Instruction: 2021 State of the Art of OWI Report. NCTE. https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/2021-state-of-the-art-of-online-writing-instruction/

With McClure, C. (2020). Finding the Sweet Spot: Strategic Course Design Using Videos. In J. Borgman & C. McArdle (Eds.) PARS in Practice: More Resources and Strategies for Online Writing Instructors. WAC Clearinghouse. https://share.google/LlBHfx69pszn3TEUo 

Mahaffey, C. & Walden, A. (2019). “#teachingbydesign: Complicating Accessibility in the Tech-Mediated Classroom.” Emerging Technologies in Virtual Learning Environments. Ed. Kim Becnel. IGI Global.

Mahaffey, C. & Rieman, J. (2019). “Developing a Writing About Writing Curriculum.” Next Steps: New Directions for/in Writing About Writing. Ed. Barbara Bird, Doug Downs, I. Moriah McCracken, Jan Rieman. Utah State UP.

Mahaffey, C. (2018) Review of Teaching, Learning, Literacy in our High-Risk High-Tech World: A Framework for Being Human. James Paul Gee. (2017). Research in Online Literacy Education (ROLE), 1.2. 

Mahaffey. C. (2017) “The Age of Impetus or My Life as a Blogger.” RE :Composing: A Journal for Writers by Writers. Ed. Julie Cook, Ashlyn Walden. Fountainhead Press.

Mahaffey, C. (2015) “Writer’s Portfolios: Instructor Goals v. Program Assessment.” The Writing Campus. Sponsored by George Mason University.

Selected Presentations

“From Quills to Quantum: AI and the New Digital Divide.” (2024). Plenary. Visions & Sites of Online Literacy Education: Online Conference of Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE). Online.

“Data-driven AI Ethics and Pedagogy: Piloting ChatGPT in Writing Courses.” (2024). UNC Charlotte Digital Humanities Symposium.

“PowerNotes Pilot: Responsible AI Usage and the Future of Writing Pedagogy.” (2024). UNC Charlotte AI Institute. 

“Teaching, Enacting, Acknowledging, and Modeling (TEAM): Expanding Definitions of Access in the Classroom” (2022). Practicing Digital Activisms. Computers and Writing Conference. East Carolina University.

“One Step Forward and Two Steps Back: Accessibility and Conflicting Implications of Remote Learning Triage During COVID-19.” (2022). CCCC Virtual Annual Convention. Conference on College Composition and Communication. Roundtable.

“Online Parlors: Meaning-Making Online Asynchronous Writing Courses.” (2021). OWI Symposium 2021. Online Writing Instruction Community (owicommunity.org). Online.

“Rethinking Accessibility in OWI.” (2020). OWI Symposium 2020. Online Writing Instruction Community (owicommunity.org). Online.

“TLDR: What Do Those Privacy Statements REALLY Say?” (2019). Mission Critical: Centering Ethical Challenges in Computers and Writing. Computers and Writing Conference. East Lansing, Michigan.

“#teachingbydesign: Cultivating Critical Digital Literacy.” (2019). 8th Annual International Critical Media Literacy (ICML) Conference. Savannah, Georgia.

“The Cart Before the Horse: One Program’s Missteps in Shifting to OWI.” (2019). Visions & Sites of Online Literacy Education: Online Conference of Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE). Online.

“Pathways and Corridors: Finding Your Path as an NTT (Online) Writing Studies Scholar and WPA.” (2018) What if We Tried This? Innovating Writing Programs. Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA) Conference. Sacramento, California.

“Pedagogy of the (Dis)Enfranchised: Redefining the Terms for Contingent Communities of Practice.” (2018) Languaging, Laboring, and Transforming. Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) 69th Annual Convention. Kansas City, Missouri.

“Developing GSOLE Principles and Guidelines for Online Literacy Instruction.” (2018) First International Online Conference of Global Society of Online Literacy Educators (GSOLE). Online.

“Design Once, Teach Twice: Flexible Course Design for Online and Onsite Teaching.” (2017) Cultivating Capacity, Creating Change. Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) 68th Annual Convention. Portland, Oregon.

“Reading is Research: Approaches to Teaching Critical Reading and Inquiry.” (2016). Transcendent Literacies. University Writing Program 3rd Annual Conference, UNC Charlotte.

“There and Back Again: How Designing an Online Course Changed the Way I Teach Writing.” (2016). Writing Strategies for Action. Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) 67th Annual Convention. Houston, Texas.

Courses Taught 

  • Online Writing Instruction (Faculty Development Course)
  • LBST 2301 Access and the Rhetoric of Digital Texts
  • WRDS 1103 Writing and Inquiry in Academic Contexts I and II
  • WRDS 1104 Writing and Inquiry with Studio (blended course)
  • WRDS 2011 Advanced Writing & Critical Analysis
  • WRDS 3214 Information Literacy and Digital Composing
  • WRDS 4011 Topics in Writing Technologies: Digital Design Theory and Practice