Do you love to write? Do you enjoy talking about writing and reading written material from a variety of disciplines? Are you a good listener? Do you enjoy helping others deepen and clarify their ideas?

If your answers to these questions are “yes!” then consider applying to work in the Writing Center. Writing Consultant applications for academic year 2024-2025 will be accepted beginning in January 2024.

Writing Consultant Position Description

Writing Consultants assist students primarily through individual consultations during which they mentor writers in deepening and clarifying their thoughts in writing. Careful to respect each author’s authority over his or her own writing, consultants help writers identify how their writing succeeds and in what ways it could be strengthened.

All of the day to day operations of the Writing Center are managed by its staff of consultants. Besides providing consultations to individual writers, consultants visit classes to talk about the Writing Center; facilitate writing workshops; keep detailed notes and records of their consultations; engage with larger campus conversations regarding language and learning; and maintain the Writing Center space.

Writing Consultants generally work 4-6 hours per week, with more hours in Fall and fewer in Winter and Spring. They also attend regular mandatory staff meetings. In order to prepare to work in the Writing Center, prospective consultants participate in a Spring Quarter partial-credit course which familiarizes them with writing center pedagogy and provides practical tools for working with a diversity of writers and writing projects. They will also need to be available for mandatory training and work during Orientation Week 2024.

How to Apply

Apply to work at the Writing Center through Handshake. Applications close on February 18, 2024.

You will need to submit a detailed cover letter describing your development as a writer and how this and other skills or experiences (such as teaching, tutoring, community-building, or administrating) have prepared you to work in the Writing Center. This letter should demonstrate your writing skills as well as explain why you would make a stellar Peer Writing Consultant. If you have never written a cover letter or resume before, we recommend that you review the Center for Career and Professional Development’s “Cover Letter Guide” and “Resume Guide“. You can find a hard copy of this guide in the CCPD and in the Writing Center.

Also include a writing sample of your best academic work (you are welcome to include a brief note about the assignment prompt if you feel that would be helpful for us in evaluating your writing), your resume, and the name of a faculty member who would be willing to provide a reference for you.

Fore more information, contact:

• Bela Agosa, Director of the Writing Center (email: Isabela.Agosa@kzoo.edu)
• Or make an appointment at the Writing Center to talk to current Writing Consultants.