Do you want to work with a unique and diverse Pan-African student body to improve their writing? Ashesi University is hiring a lead for its Writing Center to re-vamp and manage the Center. The Ashesi Writing Center primarily supports students in developing their writing skills, but also strategizes writing across the curriculum activities and training for faculty and staff.
The Writing Center Coordinator will manage student tutors to deliver individualized writing support directly to students, both in need of one-time guidance on an assignment or task, as well as students who need regular support and guidance. The Writing Center Coordinator will work with faculty to assist students needing extra support to build their English writing skills, and crafts individualized, multi-pronged and multi-semester plans for such students to build their skills. The Writing Center Coordinator will organize and in some cases deliver workshops and programs in support of student writing, as well as occasional programs aimed toward staff and faculty.
Report To: Dean of Arts & Sciences
Job Summary: Lead the Writing Center at Ashesi.
Duties:
- Manage and supervise undergraduate writing tutors to deliver appropriate guidance in the writing process to students in a coaching and collaborative manner as opposed to instructive or evaluative manner.
- Train writing tutors in appropriate, collaborative, positive, coaching methodologies to deliver support and guidance to students seeking help with their writing. This includes helping tutors learn how to diagnose common errors, suggest writing strategies, and coach students in ways that help them locate and correct their own writing problems and look at their own writing from a new perspective.
- Liaise with the faculty and faculty interns of writing intensive courses to plan for needs of the students in those courses.
- Organize and/or deliver workshops on grammar, writing mechanics, creative writing, scientific writing, and other appropriate topics.
- Track students who have been flagged by faculty or staff as needing extra support to build their English grammar skills, and develop individual plans for those students. Also develop writing programmes for students demonstrating high aptitude in writing and desiring to develop their skills beyond the classroom.
- Conduct research on useful on-line tools, courses, and material appropriate for use and dissemination on campus.
- Initiate ways to evaluate the Center and strive for continuous improvement for the Center.
This role requires:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Passion for transformative education.
- Strong understanding of English grammar rules and the mechanics of different forms of writing (e.g. creative, professional, persuasive, scientific, ...).
- Maturity and interpersonal skills to successfully manage undergraduate student writing tutors, and work successfully with faculty and faculty interns.
- Knowledge of relevant computerized software (Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Grammerly, etc.)
- Willingness to learn about new on-line and other resources for teaching and learning writing.
- Ability to make and manage schedules.
- Trustworthiness, responsibility, and the capability to work professionally with minimal supervision.
- Flexibility and the willingness to work towards constant improvement by trying new approaches and evaluating what works and what doesn’t.
- Ability to carry out administrative duties in support of the above.
- A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a related field is required for this role.
- Previous experience working in a writing center or working with any level of students with writing is a plus; previous experience working in an educational setting a plus.
- Knowledge of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL), Higher Order Concerns (HOC), English as a Second Language (L2) or other pedagogical methods is a plus.
Application:
Applicants should submit the following as part of their application to jobs@ashesi.edu.gh:
- A Curriculum Vitae
- Cover Letter
- A writing sample (academic article, creative writing piece, etc.)
- A one-page description on how you might help an English as a second language student struggling with writing academic English.