Writing Placement Coordinator

This position involves coordinating writing placements for all first-year and transfer students. Over the summer, the writing placement coordinator will administer the new online placement exam and solicit writing samples from incoming first-year students. He or she will recruit and train a team of graduate-student placement advisers to evaluate students’ writing samples according to the criteria.

The coordinator will work with Educational Technology during this time to make sure that all undergraduates, including transfer and mid-year January admits, have access to the test. During orientation, the coordinator administers the placement test for 105E candidates who did not take the online exam, and he or she oversees the advising of all 105 and 105E candidates. The coordinator should be available to give presentations about the primary writing requirement (PWR) to first-year and transfer students and to answer student and parent questions during orientation.

During the academic year, the coordinator's primary responsibility is to read petitions to determine whether students may use a course other than WRT 105 to satisfy the PWR. Transfer students petition to use courses previously taken at other institutions; the coordinator grants such a petition if the petitioner has earned a B or better in a course equivalent to WRT 105.

Equivalency is usually demonstrated by submitting a syllabus for the course. A non-transfer student may petition, usually in his or her first year of matriculation, to use a University of Rochester course other than WRT 105 to satisfy the PWR. To substitute a course for WRT 105, the petitioner must submit a portfolio that meets the criteria; in the case of a successful petition, the coordinator meets with the petitioner to discuss and approve a course that involves significant writing and may substitute for WRT 105.

Other responsibilities include answering students' questions by phone and email, meeting with students to explain denials and strategize solutions, using the placement database to find information about students, helping to revise placement processes and forms as needed, analyzing research on the effectiveness of placement advising, attending Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program (WSAP) staff meetings, and sitting on the College Writing Committee.

Following a training period in mid-April the start date for this position will be May 1.

Compensation

Salary: $5,000

Qualifications

• Prior experience teaching WRT 105
• Previous experience with the placement process preferred
• Open to all University of Rochester graduate students in any discipline and in any year in their program

Application 

Please submit the following:

• CV
• At least one letter of recommendation
• A statement of interest that identifies the experiences and/or abilities that make you a good fit for this position

Deadline: February 20, 2015

Please return your application to the WSAP at wsap@ur.rochester.edu. Hard copy applications may be submitted in the WSAP main office, Rush Rhees Library G-121.