The Office of the Provost seeks applications for the director of writing. The director of writing serves a three-year appointment with possibility of renewal. Tenured faculty interested in the position should send a letter of interest and CV to Renee Cramer, Deputy Provost, at renee.cramer@drake.edu by Oct. 20, 2021. The statement of interest should address why you want to serve as the director of writing and discuss your qualifications for the position. The position will begin June 2022.

Responsibilities of the director of writing:

Directing the Writing Workshop:

• Teaching two courses per academic year: one First-Year Seminar (or another writing-intensive course) in fall semester, and one section of “Teaching and Tutoring of Writing: Theory and Practice” in spring semester.
• Recruiting and training undergraduates to work as tutors in the Writing Workshop. Training primarily occurs through the spring “Teaching and Tutoring of Writing: Theory and Practice” course, but also entails ongoing mentorship and instruction as needed.
• Promoting the Writing Workshop to the university community, exploring new avenues for publicizing and promoting the Workshop, including establishing a more robust social media presence.
• Managing all aspects of the tutor program including supervision, scheduling, budget management and usage reports.
• Fielding inquiries and requests for information from university students, faculty, administrators, and staff, as well as the general public.
• Providing Workshop usage reports, including student evaluations of their tutoring appointments, to administrators.

Working with Drake University faculty, staff, and administrators:

• Leading Fall and Spring Writing Projects in collaboration with the Provost’s Office
• Collaborating with faculty to design writing assignments or projects for their courses.
• Encouraging faculty to send their students to the Writing Workshop.
• Leading the May “Writing Inside and Outside the Classroom” Workshop
• Organizing other workshops and events for faculty wishing to enhance their ability to teach writing for discipline-specific courses and/or general education classes.
• Serving as a resource for faculty with questions or concerns about student writing.
• Keeping up-to-date with scholarship in writing studies, possibly including attending conferences in the field and collaborating with Writing Center Directors at other institutions.

Resources

• $10,500 tutoring budget
• Four course reassignments funded through the Office of the Provost
• $4,000 in summer compensation from the Office of the Provost for work carried out over the summer including end of the year reports, finishing work with those in the Spring Writing Project and beginning work for those in the Fall Writing Project. This compensation comes from a Restricted and Endowed Account, not the University’s Operating Budget. This money will be paid in one $2000 installment in July and a second $2000 installment the following June.

— Renee Cramer, Deputy Provost