The Calhoun Honors College, the Pearce Center for Professional Communication, and the Writing Center are pleased to announce a pilot program in Clemson’s award-winning Writing Across the Curriculum initiative. We seek applications for the inaugural class of Clemson Writing Fellows, who will enroll in a Creative Inquiry course on the theory and practice of peer tutoring while simultaneously working as peer tutors in writing-intensive honors seminars and in the Honors Center in Holmes Hall.
Writing Fellows are much more than peer tutors: they are critical thinkers, engaged learners, and campus leaders. At schools such as Brown, Harvard, Michigan, Penn, Swarthmore, and Wisconsin, Writing Fellows programs enable undergraduate peer tutors to provide much needed instructional support for faculty and students and also to assume significant roles in the development of Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives.
WHAT DOES A WRITING FELLOW DO?
Faculty who request Writing Fellows will assign two major writing assignments a month in advance of the due date. Students will submit drafts of the assignments two weeks before the due date. Writing Fellows will read the drafts, provide extensive written feedback, and finally meet individually with students to discuss strategies for revision.
In addition, Writing Fellows will schedule two hours a week for drop-in appointments in the Honors Center. More than correcting grammatical errors or fixing punctuation, Writing Fellows are taught to focus on higher order concerns pertaining to argument, audience, organization, and evidence.
BENEFITS OF BEING A WRITING FELLOW
Successful applicants will enroll in a one-credit Creative Inquiry course in Fall 2012 that will train students to recognize the components of successful writing and to communicate strategies for revision. In addition, Writing Fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend for each semester they serve as peer tutors, working approximately 100 hours. Successful Writing Fellows will be invited to continue in the program both by conducting undergraduate research pertaining to writing instruction and by continuing to serve as peer tutors.
WHO SHOULD APPLY
We seek applications from Clemson’s best and brightest for this exciting program. Clemson undergraduates from all majors who have at least a 3.4 GPR and at least two semesters remaining on campus are encouraged to apply. Students need not have any prior tutoring experience nor be a member of the Calhoun Honors College to apply. We will teach smart, dedicated students how to become effective peer tutors, and in the process the Writing Fellows will become more accomplished and effective writers themselves!
HOW TO APPLY
By March 28, submit (in either digital or hard copy) a cover letter describing your interest in the program and any academic qualifications or relevant experience (including but not limited to work as a tutor, mentor, or counselor), a resume with the contact information for 1-2 faculty references, and a sample of academic writing to Angie Justice (ajstc@clemson.edu, 601 Strode Tower). Select applicants will be invited to interview. We anticipate inviting at least four and as many as ten Writing Fellows to join the inaugural class.
QUESTIONS?
Interested students are welcome to direct questions to William Lasser (lasser@clemson.edu), Director of the Calhoun Honors College; Michael LeMahieu (mlemahi@clemson.edu), Director of the Pearce Center for Professional Communication; or Scot Barnett (barnet6@clemson.edu), Director of the Writing Center.
