The Center for Communication Excellence of the Graduate College provides graduate students with advanced writing support, resources, and development opportunities. To expand the scope of their services in the upcoming academic year, they would like to train a new cohort of Graduate Peer Mentors – Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Writing Consultants.

Faculty and Program administrators are urged to nominate qualified students for this training by August 10, 2017. Successful candidates will receive specialized training and will be certified to provide face-to-face and online assistance on the writing conventions of various types of academic and professional genres (e.g., research proposal, thesis/dissertation, conference abstract/paper, journal manuscript, grant application, cover letter, teaching philosophy, research statement, etc.).

Here is more information on how to nominate someone for the Graduate Peer Mentor Program, Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Writing Consultants:

The Center for Communication Excellence of the Graduate College invites faculty and administrators to nominate qualified students for the Graduate Peer Mentor Program. Successful candidates will receive training and will be certified as Disciplinary or Interdisciplinary Writing Consultants, who will advise on the writing conventions of various types of academic and professional genres (e.g., research proposal, thesis/dissertation, conference abstract/paper, journal manuscript, grant application, cover letter, teaching philosophy, research statement, etc.).

Disciplinary Writing Consultants will provide discipline-specific writing consultations to graduate students in their program, department, or college.

Interdisciplinary Writing Consultants will provide writing consultations to graduate students in various disciplines.

All consultants will:

• Conduct face-to-face and online writing consultations
• Facilitate writing and peer review groups
• Deliver needs-based academic and professional writing workshops/seminars
• Facilitate students’ use of existing ISU resources and writing technologies
• Serve as ambassadors for graduate students as they navigate academic expectations.

Required Qualifications

• Enrolled in a PhD program (preferably no less than one year completed)
• Experience conducting research (individual and/or collaborative) in their discipline
• Demonstrated success in academic communication (e.g., publications, conferences)
• Course work in research methodologies
• Excellent interpersonal skills for working collaboratively with peers and supervisors

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience teaching or tutoring at a higher education institution (preferably with technology)
• Experience working with ELL (English Language Learner) students

Nomination

The nominator is invited to submit a nomination letter summarizing the candidate’s qualifications. Nominations of Disciplinary Writing Consultants should also indicate commitment for 1/4-time assistantship support.

Application

The nominee is required to submit the following documents:

• Letter of Application
• Curriculum Vitae
• Two writing samples
• Contact information for three references, including the nominator.

The nomination and application documents should be emailed to Dr. Sarah Huffman at shuffman@iastate.edu by August 10, 2017. Please specify “Graduate Peer Mentor Program - nomination or application” in the subject line.

For more information about this program, you may contact:

Elena Cotos

Director, Center for Communication Excellence Graduate College

1137 Pearson Hall

Assistant Professor, Applied Linguistics & Technology

Department of English

317 Ross Hall