Graduate Writing Center Consultant

Job Title Graduate Writing Center Consultant Appointment Type Student Employee Job Location Corvallis Position Appointment Percent 100 Appointment Basis 12 Pay Method Hourly Pay Period 16th – 15th of the following month Pay Date Last working day of the month Remote or Hybrid option? Min Hourly Rate $14.20 (Standard); $13.20 (Non-Urban); $15.45 (Portland Metro) Max Hourly Rate $21.00 (Standard); $18.50 (Non-Urban); $21.50 (Portland Metro) Position Summary

This recruitment will be used to fill five part-time (a maximum of 24 hours per week) Graduate Writing Center Consultant position for the Graduate Writing Center at Oregon State University (OSU).

The Graduate Writing Center (GWC) seeks graduate student applicants to become writing consultants who will support OSU grads in their academic writing across all disciplines. We hope to recruit consultants who are not only highly proficient writers but also friendly, collaborative, and supportive individuals who can talk with others about their ideas and their writing. Consultants meet with OSU grads throughout the year in online or face-to-face appointments to work through their writing problems.

The Graduate Writing Center plays an important role in supporting graduate students as they navigate the transition into graduate writing. Using both their own writing experience and the training they receive, consultants help their peers develop new and more effective approaches to communicating their scholarship. They can also serve as a neutral first audience for the writer’s work, helping the writer to identify when their writing is clear and when it is not. Frequently, consultants develop ongoing working relationships with grads as they progress through big writing projects like theses, capstones, dissertations, seminar papers, manuscripts and conference presentations and other graduate-level work.

Please note that, while students will generally choose to work with graduate peer mentors closest to their fields, mentors will be trained to work with graduate students from all disciplines. This training will include how to help graduate students identify and appropriately employ the characteristics of the kinds of writing used in their field.

Position Duties

Position Duties:

• Participating in preliminary orientation and ongoing professional development and training. Note: New peer mentors must be available for the orientation and training. Orientation and training is typically scheduled shortly the beginning of the academic year in collaboration with newly hired tutors. The orientation and training is paid time. This takes up about 3% of the tutor’s labor.
• Providing one-to-one 45-minute writing tutoring consultations with students. This makes up about 95% of the tutor’s labor.
• Documenting the work of each tutoring consultation. This takes up about 2% of the tutor’s labor.
• Maintaining a regular weekly schedule, tutoring an average of 2-4 hours/week during each quarter.*
• Graduate peer mentors are paid for consultation hours in which they meet with a student, not for all the hours for which they are scheduled. If an appointment is not booked, peer mentors are not required to come to the Center or an online zoom room.

Minimum Qualifications

Full Employment Eligibility Requirements can be found here: http://fa.oregonstate.edu/stu-manual/500-employment-eligibility-requirements

• Must be academically enrolled in a high school, community college, or university and pursuing a program or course of study
• Must meet Academic Standing Requirements; students on academic suspension are not eligible for employment
• Must meet the applicable minimal enrollment standard
• High School student: Regularly enrolled in a high school or participating in a home-schooling program
• Undergraduate and post-baccalaureate student: 6 credit hours per term
• Undergraduate international student: 12 credit hours per term*
• Graduate student officially admitted to Graduate School: 5 credit hours per term
• Graduate international student officially admitted to Graduate School: 9 credit hours per term*
• International students may be allowed to carry fewer hours than specified above and still be considered “full-time” by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). A reduced course load is approved by the Office of International Services (OIS), and must be provided to the Student Employment Center.

Additional Required Qualifications

Applicants must be fully enrolled graduate students in good standing at Oregon State University.

Preferred (Special) Qualifications

We are looking for someone who has:

• Strong writing and research skills in their own academic discipline
• Practical understanding of the characteristics and expectations of the different genres used in their own discipline (theses and dissertations, grant applications, conference paper proposals, journal articles, etc.)
• Previous tutoring, or mentoring experience, especially with second language writers of English.
• Excellent interpersonal skills that facilitate collaborative work.
• An ability to reflect on and evaluate their own writing processes and choices.
• An ability to help others reflect on their writing processes and identify strengths and challenges as well as appropriate strategies for improving their writing.

Working Conditions / Work Schedule

The Graduate Writing Consultant will work about 2-4 per week, though this may vary from week-to-week depending on the demand for tutoring. Writing peer tutors are paid $15 USD/hour for consultation hours and optional work on voluntary consultant pedagogical or research projects. They also receive payment for training. 

Posting Number P11349SE Number of Vacancies 5 Anticipated Appointment Begin Date 08/07/2024 Anticipated Appointment End Date 08/06/2025 Posting Date 08/07/2024 Full Consideration Date Closing Date 08/06/2025 Indicate how you intend to recruit for this search Competitive / Student – open to ALL qualified/eligible students Special Instructions to Applicants

When applying you will be required to attach the following electronic documents:

• A CV or Resume
• A short narrative of no more than 500 words, in which you (a) explain why you are interested in becoming a Graduate Writing Center Consultant, and; (b) give a brief example of how writing feedback (that you either received or gave to another writer) has contributed to your growth as a writer in your field.
• A writing sample representative of writing you do within your discipline. (Page Limit – 5 pages)

For additional information please contact: Tait Bergstrom at tait.bergstrom@oregonstate.edu

OSU commits to inclusive excellence by advancing equity and diversity in all that we do. We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, and particularly encourage applications from members of historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, LGBTQ community members, and others who demonstrate the ability to help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community.

OSU will conduct a review of the National Sex Offender Public website prior to hire.

Note: All job offers are contingent upon Human Resources final approval

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