Apply to Work at the Writing Center
Are you a curious person who loves to help others? Are you eager to grow as a student of writing, tutoring, and, by way of conversation with a wide variety of students, all topics taught at Evergreen? You may be interested in interviewing to become a peer tutor at the Writing Center!
Peer Writing Tutor Positions
Tutoring responsibilities include:
- Meeting with student writers at appointed times and applying concepts and practices learned in Cultivating Voice in sessions
- Participating in conversations and activities that help the Writing Center cohere as a community of practice
- Supporting the Writing Center's work by completing independent and collaborative projects around publicity, editing, workshops, and research.
Qualifications
Students interested in becoming a peer tutor at the Writing Center are also required to take a two-credit course, Cultivating Voice: A Writing Tutor’s Craft, offered every Spring. Please refer to the Cultivating Voice course description in the current academic year's Evening and Weekend catalog.
Applicants should be welcoming, responsible, and community-minded. They should have strong attention to detail, be quick to ask clarifying questions, possess good (and growing) time management and task prioritization skills. We are an encouraging, supportive environment, and we take pride in each tutor's unique abilities as they relate to the work of the Writing Center.
Olympia and Tacoma Campus
Evergreen Olympia and Tacoma students take the spring course Cultivating Voice together online. Those hired continue to meet as a single staff online. As of Fall, 2022, Olympia student tutors are expected to tutor both in-person and online from campus. Tacoma student tutors work predominantly online, but there may be some in-person hours on the Tacoma campus.
Hours and Pay
During their first quarter, new tutors may work a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 14 hours per week. After that, tutors may work between 8 and 19 hours per week, depending on our budget. Tutors start at $15.50/hour.
Timeline
- Winter quarter of this academic year:
- Week 8. Apply to the 2-credit spring course. See application materials here: Cultivating Voice: A Writing Tutor's Craft.
- Upon receipt of an acceptance email, join the class (you will receive further instructions on how to do this in the acceptance email).
- Spring quarter of this academic year:
- Weeks 1-10, take the Cultivating Voice class. Complete the coursework over the quarter and learn about tutoring!
- Week 10 interviews. Interview for a tutoring position with the Writing Center admin team.
- Eval week: Offers sent. Respond to an offer for employment for the coming fall.
- Fall quarter of next academic year:
- Orientation week. Do your employee training with us at our mandatory (and sometimes fun) 1-3 day staff training retreat.
- Weeks 1-10: Begin your journey as a tutor!
If you are Hired
- We hire tutors in spring with the expectation that they will tutor for the whole year, but if you need to leave to Study Abroad or if you're graduating mid-year, we can usually accommodate that. There is continued training for tutors throughout the year. At the end of fall quarter, you have a brief interview to confirm that you will stay on to be a permanent tutor. When you leave the Writing Center, we hope that you are confident in your next career move and welcome your questions and ideas about how you can increase your skills while employed with us.
If you are not Hired
- There are a limited number of tutoring positions that we can hire for in any given year. We still wholeheartedly recommend that you take the Cultivating Course and apply if you have any interest at all in being a tutor! If you do not become a tutor this year, it may be possible for you to re-interview for the following year.
If you have any questions about working at the Writing Center, please email us at writingcenterstaff@evergreen.edu. We look forward to seeing you on the next step of your personal, professional, and academic journey!