Writing Specialist

Northeastern University•Boston, MA

About The Position

The College of Professional Studies (CPS) at Northeastern University invites applications for a part-time non-tenure track Writing Specialist in CPS Online Writing Laboratory (OWL). The CPS OWL functions as a 1-credit lab course attached to other CPS courses. Through sophisticated feedback that follows best practices in the teaching of writing and composition, OWL functions to give students individual coaching to improve their writing skills. OWL functions as a practicum where students can submit drafts, receive praise and strategies for improvement to revise and edit their writing, and then submit final drafts for grading to the accompanying course. OWL has the potential to expand into other programs to help students improve their writing skills. The Writing Specialist may be assigned to a OWL associated with undergraduate 1st year English courses or an intensive writing course associated with the graduate program in Organizational Communications.

Requirements

MFA in Creative Writing or Composition, or a MA in English, Communications, or a related field.
3-5 years of experience working with students in composition courses or other writing courses at the collegiate level.
Theories of writing as a process.
Responding to writing through an organized process that encompasses all writing skills, particularly higher order writing skills.
Theories which support student autonomy by asking students to respond to and assess their own writing.

Nice To Haves

Experience in writing centers strongly desired.
Professional writing experience is also desired.

Responsibilities

Teach OWL lab courses throughout the academic year.
Teach 1 Credit Laboratory courses connected to 5 ENGLISH courses and 1 ORG COMM course.
Participate in an extensive 6-week online training course for writing specialists prior to assignment to courses.
Respond to student writing by writing letters of analysis to each individual student who submits drafts to the OWL.
Assign a grade of U or S at the end of each term to participating students.
Collaborate and communicate with faculty assigned to the courses that the OWL labs accompany.
Maintain technological proficiency in Northeastern University’s online platform; i.e., Canvas and the OWL labs, and use this proficiency to communicate with students and faculty.
Keep up to date and in contact with academic director and faculty members regarding appropriateness of course/program content and student issues of concern; e.g., plagiarism.