Employment at RWIT

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for applications is February 1, 2008.

Who We Are

RWIT, the Student Center for Research, Writing, and Information Technology, is a free service dedicated to help students become better writers. RWIT's mission is to help members of the Dartmouth community develop more effective strategies for generating and organizing their ideas, finding and evaluating research sources, and presenting and revising compositions in a variety of media. To achieve these ends, RWIT houses two programs, the Peer Tutoring Program and the Writing Assistance Program.

Our staff offers assistance with academic and other types of writing. Increasingly, however, staff members also help students with multimedia compositions, such as websites and film projects. RWIT is designed for all writers, regardless of ability, from inexperienced writers to honors thesis candidates and other advanced writers. We service undergraduate and graduate students from all departments and programs. We also provide support for students whose first language is not English and for students with learning disabilities.

We at RWIT advocate the "process approach" to writing and composition, which acknowledges that writing and composing both involve the continuous discovery of ideas and require ongoing revision and editing. We believe that this process is greatly enhanced when students engage their peers in informal dialogue concerning their writing and compositions. Through these ongoing conversations, we hope to strengthen Dartmouth's writing culture.

Job Descriptions

Every student who works for RWIT gains experience working in two positions: Writing Assistant (WA) and Peer Tutor. Please note that RWIT does not hire applicants for a particular position. We simply hire the most qualified candidates and then assign them a position based on our needs and their stated preferences. A student who is a WA one term can be a peer tutor the next. Students who work for RWIT typically spend at least one term in each position during their time with the Center.

Peer Tutors
Peer Tutors work weekly shifts in the Student Center (Berry 183) to help clients on whatever projects they bring in. Although most clients bring in traditional writing assignments, tutors are trained to provide guidance and feedback for a variety of non-traditional composition mediums. They can assist clients with film projects, research assignments, Powerpoint presentations, image editing and even blogs. Furthermore, many tutors are trained by Career Services to review cover letters and résumés. A tutor's workload comes in consistent, weekly doses: he or she will work the same number of hours each week for the entirety of the term. Tutors are expected to work during reading period.

Writing Assistants
Writing Assistants (WAs) partner with professors in a variety of academic courses to provide personalized tutoring support. WAs are trained to improve their clients' writing through in-depth commentary on students' drafts. WAs also schedule individual conferences with students interested in extra support, hold open office hours, make classroom visits, and meet regularly with professors. A WA's workload often comes in bursts: he or she may work only five hours in the first three weeks of a term, then proceed to clock ten hours over a period of four days after receiving his or her first batch of drafts. Ultimately, WAs' hours depends on the number of papers, or pages of student text, that they must address. However, each WA has a maximum number of hours he or she can work, so their WA duties don't become overwhelming.

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Staff Qualifications

Successful tutors and writing assistants are good writers who demonstrate a sincere interest in talking with peers about their writing. They possess the interpersonal skills to work with writers from diverse backgrounds and with a wide-range of writing proficiencies. They know the rules of grammar and understand the conventions of academic writing. They are willing to extend the development of their tutoring skills to related domains, so that they can assist students not only with academic papers but also with academic research, multimedia projects, and cover letters/résumés. Successful tutors and WAs collaborate with their fellow employees by mentoring each other and cultivating a collegial spirit.

Staff Responsibilities

Applicants need not have prior experience in tutoring, as the Center will train all new staff in tutoring clients about writing, as well as about researching and composing in a variety of media. Students who work for RWIT are primarily responsible for being professional and effective tutors/WAs.

Every member of the staff is required to work for RWIT either as a tutor or a WA during each term that he is enrolled in classes on-campus. For each term during which they are working, RWIT staff members are also expected to do the following:

RWIT Hiring Schedule

  1. Round 1 (Winter 2008): Applicants submit written applications, which include a personal statement, two writing samples, and a resume.
  2. Round 2 (Early Spring 2008): Selected applicants are invited to take a grammar test, comment on a sample student essay, and respond to mock tutorial scenarios.
  3. Round 3 (Mid Spring 2008): Selected applicants are invited to a half-hour interview.
  4. Decision Letters Mailed (Late Spring 2008): Accepted applicants receive job offer letters. New hires have a week to return their signed employment contracts.
    5. Students who plan to be off-campus during Spring Term 2008 can and should complete Rounds 2 and 3 in Winter Term 2008.

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The Hiring Process

During the winter term, RWIT recruits on-campus and accepts applications from all Dartmouth undergraduates interested in working as tutors/WAs in the next academic year. During the spring term, RWIT completes the assessment process by inviting selected applicants to take a test and have a half-hour interview. Finally, near the end of the spring term, it makes hiring decisions and mails out offer letters to accepted candidates. Candidates offered a job must accept the position by returning a signed employment contract within a week.

Round 1: Application
During winter term, interested applicants must submit:

Applicants may only submit two writing samples, each of which must have already been submitted to a professor for evaluation and must be academic in nature. The total number of pages of text must not exceed twenty.

Applicants must submit at least one paper that incorporates secondary sources.

Application and recommendation forms can be downloaded from this site.

Round 2: Testing
After the initial screening of materials, RWIT invites selected applicants to complete a grammar test, to comment on a sample student essay, and to address a set of mock tutorial situations during spring term.

Round 3: Interview
After round 2, RWIT invites remaining applicants for a half-hour interview during spring term.

After applicants successfully complete rounds 1 through 3, the Center may offer them employment for the following academic year. New staff must accept the position by returning a signed employment contract within a week. For employees to remain in good standing, they must work every academic term that they are enrolled in classes on-campus until graduation.

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Application Forms

Please complete your application on the Writing Program database. Attach your writing samples, résumé, and personal statement as Word documents. You may download the recommendation form below and distribute it to your recommenders. Please ask them to forward their recommendations to Stephanie Boone (HB 6250) as hard copies or as electronic attachments.

If you experience any technical difficulties with uploading your files to the database, please email Susan.Simon@Dartmouth.edu. Be sure to include an explanation of the problem or error message you received.

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