Poster for recruiting UWAs

The Undergraduate Writing Assistant Program at Texas A&M University is directed by the University Writing Center (UWC) and supported by cooperating departments. The program is UWC’s latest front line support available to those teaching W courses, and it is a direct response to our mandate from the Faculty Senate to improve writing across campus.

If you want to hire or nominate a UWA, see: http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/content/view/223/119/.

Undergraduate Writing Assistants (UWAs) may be from any major in any college. They can be nominated by a faculty member or self-selected. To be hired, they must present a reference from a faculty member in their majors, have a 3.0 GPA or above in their majors, and demonstrate excellent communication skills by means of a writing sample, written application, and personal interview. Before assignment to work in a writing intensive course, UWAs will have accomplished the following:

• taken a one-credit-hour course designed specifically for them
• worked as a consultant in the UWC for one semester
• begun work on obtaining tutoring certification through the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA).

After this first semester of training, UWAs must attend a day-long training and a weekly training meeting at the UWC (Mondays at 8:15 - 9:00 am) and must complete a second one-credit training course. If individuals request it, independent study credit can be arranged for 1-3 credits.

In their third and subsequent semesters, UWAs will attend meetings and trainings at the UWC to sharpen their skills and keep them informed of the latest developments.

The UWC will serve as a clearinghouse for hiring UWAs as requested. Any time a UWA cannot find work with a hiring department, the UWC will attempt to find them a match; if the UWC cannot find a hiring department, we will provide work for a minimum of 5 hours per week in the UWC as a consultant.

Goals

The goals of the Undergraduate Writing Assistant Program mirror those for W courses at Texas A&M:

• To improve the writing skills of undergraduates at Texas A&M;
• To provide opportunities for Texas A&M students to practice the kinds of writing most commonly associated with their discipline;
• To increase the civic and professional effectiveness of Texas A&M students after they leave the university;
• To acquaint students with various means by which writers achieve their goals;
• To encourage students to actively participate in editing their papers in order to improve their revising skills.

The backbone of UWA training is that a good writing teacher is a coach, not an editor. A UWA will and should resist marking every error on a paper or fixing the students’ work for them. Their comments are more likely to take the form of asking probing questions that encourage clearer communication or better development of content than to identify an error. In other words, rather than mark “unclear syntax” in the margin, a UWA might mark “I can’t follow the meaning here.”

Cost

There is no cost to nominating and training UWAs. The UWC will pay $8 per hour for about 6 hours per week, one hour in class and the rest working as a consultant in the UWC.

In their second semester, UWAs are assured work in the UWC or with a hiring department, assuming they have performed satisfactorily and completed all requirements. They will be paid $8 an hour. They should be hired for a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 20 hours per week. (That amount can be averaged over a two-week pay period.) There is no limit on the number of UWAs a department may request.

In the third and subsequent semesters, pay depends on the level of College Reading and Learning Association certification. Level two UWAs will be paid $9 per hour; level three UWAs will be paid $10 per hour.

How a UWA can help you teach

UWAs are fully trained as peer writing consultants; they are able to assist fellow student writers at any stage of the writing process. This includes brainstorming and prewriting, outlining and organizing ideas, responding to rough drafts, helping students to learn to edit and proofread their own work, and helping students with documentation and the integration of source material.

Specifically, UWAs can:

• Meet with students individually at any stage of their writing;
• Meet with students in small groups;
• Lead workshops on writing issues;
• Supplement writing instruction;
• Organize and lead peer response sessions;
• Make written comments on drafts;
• Help an instructor see written assignments and evaluation criteria from a student perspective;
• Help students understand an instructor’s goals and expectations;
• Provide input on the syllabus to explain how writing fits into the course objectives;
• Help develop grading rubrics for assignments.

UWAs cannot:

• Grade papers;
• Take the place of the instructor in responding to student writing;
• Discuss grades on papers;
• Discuss instructor comments except to clarify those directly related to writing

Realistic Expectations

UWAs are in training, especially during their first year. They may not have all the answers, but we have instilled in them particularly useful skills for a writer: they know when to get help, when and where to look something up, or to ask for a second opinion. They are encouraged to send students back to you if they cannot answer a question, even about writing.

The “rules” of writing are quite complex and variable within different rhetorical contexts, so your UWA may not know all the ins and outs of grammar, punctuation, or documentation. Your UWA will, however, know about reference books and Web sites where help is available, and he or she also will be aware that many so-called rules are in flux. One person may consider something an error that another considers good usage.

Responsibilities

To ensure the best learning experience for students who act as UWAs and for those who take W courses in which UWAs serve, the University Writing Center, the hiring department and supervising faculty member, and the UWA must take on certain responsibilities, described below.

Responsibilities of the University Writing Center

The University Writing Center will hire and train UWAs for a full semester and match UWAs with appropriate departments. Every attempt will be made to match a UWA with a department in or related to his or her major, but this is not always possible. In addition to these responsibilities, the UWC will:

• Pay 100% of the UWA salary during the first semester of training.
• Process UWA time sheets through the hiring departments. Wages begin at $8 per hour and increase by $1 when the UWA completes Level 2 and Level 3 CRLA certification, to a maximum of $10 per hour.
• Maintain information on UWA records of activities, both for assessment and administrative purposes, and make those records available on request to hiring departments.
• Provide training opportunities beyond the first year so that UWAs may reach their certification goals and continue to refine their skills.
• Assess the UWA program and, if appropriate, seek funding to expand it.
• Monitor the UWAs’ performance and provide counseling, training, or disciplinary action as necessary, in consultation with the hiring department.
• Provide ongoing support for the UWAs, ensuring that resources for teaching W courses are readily available.

Responsibilities of Hiring Department/Supervising Faculty

Hiring departments will pay the UWA’s salary. UWAs will be required to turn time-sheets in to the hiring department. Wages begin at $8 per hour and increase by $1 when the UWA completes Level 2 and Level 3 certification by the College Reading and Learning Association, to a maximum of $10 per hour.

In addition, the hiring department will:

• Assign UWAs to no less than 5 and no more than 20 hours per week.
• Encourage UWAs to keep records of their activities, including records of one-on-one consultations with students, time spent in the classroom, and time spent responding to student writing. The UWA may share these records with the Director(s) of the UWC.
• Include a one-credit training course taught by the UWC in the weekly hours of the UWA. This course begins in the first semester of hire while the UWA works exclusively for the UWC. The course is designed to maximize training and ensure the UWA has access to writing instruction resources. The course includes instruction on responding to student writing; conducting writing workshops; helping non-native English speakers with writing; using Calibrated Peer Review; and teaching collaborative writing.
• Provide an appropriate space for the UWA to meet with students and appropriate resources such as computer access. The exact nature of the resources to be provided will depend on the type of work assigned to the UWA. The UWA will not meet students off campus and will work only in safe areas during reasonable hours.
• Allow the UWA to observe student holidays and breaks.
• Provide a brief assessment of their experience with the UWA by means of a questionnaire, survey, or interviews. There will be ample notification of any requests for assessment. Assessments will be used to improve training and service.
• Honor the UWC’s stipulation that UWAs will not do any grading of student papers. Although it is permissible for undergraduates to grade up to 10% of the portion of the final course grade based on writing, the UWC does not endorse this as good practice. However, UWAs can respond to written drafts of writing. The UWAs are talented writers who can offer helpful advice to their peers, but they are not experienced enough to take on the full responsibility of assessment.
• Report any problems with a UWA’s knowledge, skills, or behavior to the Director of the University Writing Center in a timely fashion.
• Monitor UWA's performance and provide counseling, training, or disciplinary action as necessary, in consultation with the University Writing Center Director.

Responsibilities of UWAs

UWAs are expected to:

• Meet as required by the department with instructors on a regular basis. Weekly meetings are suggested;
• Attend the class they assist if required by the instructor;
• Attend a one-credit training class for the first semester before assignment to a department and in their second semester (after assignment to a department) attend a fall day-long training and weekly meetings (8:15-9 am Mondays), and complete a one-credit training course. In subsequent semesters, UWAs will attend the weekly meeting and all announced trainings.
• Keep records of any one-on-one consultations and records of how their time has been spent;
• Report any suspected incidence of academic dishonesty to their supervising department or to a director of the UWC;
• Discharge their duties ethically and responsibly;
• Complete an evaluation of the UWA experience as requested by the UWC.

We would like to thank the following universities and acknowledge information gleaned from their Web sites: the University of Wisconsin/Madison, Brigham Young University, Boise State University, George Mason University, and Bridgewater State College.