The word "idea" assumed special meaning in composition studies when Stephen M. North, in "The Idea of a Writing Center," showed how an idea can evoke and ignite intense expectations and aversions surrounding literacy instruction. In particular, North lamented the "false sense of knowing" that made getting a message through (in this case, about what a writing center really does) so difficult. In another seminal essay, "Inventing the University," David Bartholomae argues that the idea of the university that student writers invent when they "sit down to write for us" creates a set of expectations that deeply influences those students' writing performance. In both cases, the "idea" precedes and deeply influences the perceptions, interactions, and performances of those involved in the activity--either interacting with a writing center or writing a placement essay. By offering an annotated image of a half-dozen two-year college writing "programs," this essay seeks to raise awareness of the challenges facing those who promote, work in, work toward, or participate in the development of two-year college writing programs and to consider how the "idea" of a writing program plays out in shaping those challenges. They offer an annotated image of a half-dozen two-year college writing "programs"--however loosely defined. (Contains 1 note.)