Writing 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 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:
- A completed application form.
- A copy of one sample research paper that you have written for a college course at Concordia. It should be at least four pages and should include a works-cited/references page.
Attach both of the above in an email to [email protected]. The subject line should read Writing Studio Job Application.
- Two confidential faculty recommendations from full-time Concordia faculty who can comment on your writing and interpersonal skills. Please inform your references that their recommendation must be completed and emailed to [email protected].
After the above information has been received, you may be contacted for an interview (by phone or in-person) with the Writing Studio Director.
Consultant Job Description
The primary responsibility of a writing consultant in the Concordia Writing Studio 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 Studio 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 Studio, 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 scheduled the week before the fall semester begins and in regular staff meetings throughout the semester. They are paid for attending meetings.
Writing consultants in the Writing Studio are under the direct supervision of the Writing Studio Director, who is responsible for the training, advising, and supervision of writing consultants. Work hours are flexible and scheduled around a consultant’s classes.
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