Peer Tutoring Program
- Are you an undergraduate who is a good writer and student?
- Would you like the challenge and responsibility of being a tutor and helping other students with their writing?
- Are you interested in learning how to research and present scholarly projects?
If so, please consider our peer tutoring
program.
The peer tutoring program is an important part of our educational
mission as a university-based Writing Center. The program offers
undergraduates the opportunity to work closely over the long term
with Writing Center faculty and grad students who are deeply interested
in writing and teaching. The mentoring, support, and education peer
tutors receive can be a powerful part of their learning experience
in college. In addition, peer tutors get to interact with a range
of students who visit the Writing Center and they learn a lot about
their own writing process. They learn about effective teaching and
have the satisfaction of helping people who are usually very grateful.
Many of the peer tutors also value the experience they get as scholars
who develop research projects and then present them to the Writing
Center staff or at national conferences.
The first step in becoming
a peer tutor is to take Tutoring for Peer Writers, EngCmp 1210, which is
offered every fall.
Course Description: "This course prepares students to be effective tutors for peer writers by introducing them to issues and scholarship in teaching, writing, and working as a tutor. The course is appropriate for students from any discipline who are interested in careers in teaching or who recognize the importance and difficulty of responding well to drafts written by others. The course is a prerequisite for those students who wish to intern or work as peer tutors in the Writing Center."
Prerequisite: a B letter grade or higher in EngCmp 0200.
After students take EngCmp 1210, they may apply
to become peer interns. If accepted, they register for a one-term
A&S internship and get
three credits. They tutor five hours a week,
attend weekly meetings, read further scholarship on composition or
writing
center theory, and either substantially revise their research
paper from the course or draft a new research paper.
After the internship
and until they graduate, peer tutors may apply to work in the Writing
Center for 11 hours a week (10 hours of
tutoring, one hour meeting) at an hourly rate that exceeds minimum
wage.
Our peer tutors have contributed in significant ways to the
culture and effectiveness of the Writing Center. We welcome students
who
are interested in pursuing this opportunity.
If you have any
questions, please contact Jean
Grace,
who teaches the Tutoring Peer Writers class.
Her phone number is 412-624-5661.