Writing Center Consultant Application

Necessary Qualifications:

Applicants must be full time students at Concordia University who have demonstrated outstanding ability in written and oral communication and who display exceptional interpersonal skills, both with peers and faculty.

Desired Qualifications:

Past tutoring experience with native and/or non-native speakers of English is desired but not required. Once hired, Writing Center consultants will receive training in the skills and concepts they need to do their job well.

Application Check List – Your application should include the following items:

1. A completed application form.
2. A typewritten response of two to three pages to the writing topic enclosed (Literary Narrative).
3. A copy of one sample research paper that you have written for a college course at Concordia. It should be five or more pages and should include a works cited page.
4. Two confidential recommendations from Concordia faculty who can comment on your writing and interpersonal skills. Instructors can give Prof. Kristen Schmidt a print copy of the attached form or email the recommendation to Kristen.schmidt@cui.edu by Friday March 22, 2013.

After the above information has been received, you may be contacted for an interview (by phone or in person) with the Writing Center Director.

Consultant Job Description

The primary responsibility of a writing consultant in the Concordia Writing Center is to be an audience for work in progress. The writing consultant talks with students about writing, listening and responding to the students’ writing choices, but never making those choices for them.

Since a writing consultant is familiar with the conventions of good writing, it is appropriate for the writing consultant to offer advice on rhetorical and grammatical conventions, but never to proofread (i.e. “fix up” grammatical or mechanical problems) or revise the writer’s work for them. Neither does the writing consultant presume to take the place of the student’s professor. Rather, the goal is to encourage students who come to the Writing Center to do as much of the thinking, talking, and writing as possible during the appointment so that eventually they will achieve greater independence and confidence in their writing.

Writing consultants complete a brief conference summary form for each one-to-one conference. Conferences usually are one-half hour in length.

Writing consultants share responsibilities involved in running the Writing Center, taking on work related to publicity, data collection, maintaining supplies, training, etc. They may also design and hold workshops about writing during the academic year, as well as engage in writing related research.

All writing consultants are required to participate in a training seminar (usually one day) scheduled the week before fall semester begins and in regular staff meetings throughout the semester. They are paid for attending meetings.

Writing consultants in the Writing Center are under the direct supervision of the Writing Center Director, who is responsible for the training, advising and supervision of writing consultants. Work hours are flexible and scheduled around a consultant’s classes.