Become a Tutor
We're Hiring!
Not only have students realized what a wonderful service the Writing Center tutors offer, they have also discovered that being a Writing Center tutor is the best job on campus.
Tutors gain valuable training and experience helping others with their writing and improve their own writing and communication skills along the way. The teaching and interpersonal skills tutors acquire are also highly valued by future employers and graduate schools.
Each spring, we invite faculty to nominate students to apply for the position of Writing Center tutor. (You may also request that we contact one of your professors for a nomination by completing the Writing Center Tutor Nomination Request form.) Once we receive a professor's nomination, we will contact you during our spring recruitment season with an invitation to apply. Tutors hired during our spring recruiting season begin working in the Writing Center the following fall semester.
Writing Center Tutor Application Process
Students nominated by a professor will receive an email from the Writing Center detailing the next steps in the hiring process. To apply, nominated students will:
- Complete a brief information form, providing basic data about your academic and extracurricular interests and commitments
- Submit a brief (one page) letter of application explaining your qualifications for and interest in serving as a Writing Center tutor
- Submit a prose writing sample that will give us an idea of your academic writing ability. The sample should be 2–5 pages in length.
From the applications we receive, we are only able to select a small pool of applicants to interview with a panel of Writing Center tutors and administrators. Interviews are an essential part of our process.
Based on nominations, applications, and interviews, we will make offers at the end of the spring semester for students to join the staff the following fall.
Students who accept the position should be prepared to:
- Enroll in a three-credit course in tutor training and writing pedagogy in the following Fall semester. This course, Writing Center Theory and Practice (ENGL 20023/ESS 30401), requires research and writing on tutoring and composition. The course meets on an irregular schedule of nights and some days during the fall semester. If you are studying abroad in the fall, you will have to wait to apply at a time when you can take the fall course. We will accept students who take the course in the fall but are studying abroad that spring.
- Participate in ongoing, full-staff training (four meetings per semester).
- Work roughly 4–10 hours per week in 1–3 hour blocks.
- Demonstrate engagement and growth in the position in order to maintain employment.
Timeline for Spring 2024 Application Process
- March 22: Tutor nominations due from faculty
- March 26, 6:30-7:00 pm: Prospective Tutor Information Session in the Writing Center (203 Coleman Morse Center)
- March 27, 8:30-9:00 pm: Prospective Tutor Information Session online (Zoom link will be provided to nominees.)
- April 5: Applications due (Application link will be provided to nominees.)
- April 10-April 24: Interviews
- May 6: Hiring offers made
Questions? Feel free to contact Dr. Matthew Capdevielle, Director of the Writing Center: matthew.capdevielle@nd.edu.