Phone: 616-331-2922
Lisa Gullo
gullol@gvsu.edu

LOH 120
Allendale, MI 49401

What Are the Writing Consultants' Qualifications?

Because the Center's services are instructional support, we take the education and training of our consultants very seriously.

Consultants are undergraduate and graduate students studying in wide variety of fields: English, business, history, the health sciences, and engineering, to name a few. Consultants are chosen through an extensive application process. Students wishing to become consultants must fill out a long, written application and perform well during an hour-long interview. In addition, we only decide which consultants to hire after reading at least two samples of their writing. We want consultants who work with the Center to be good writers themselves but also able to work well with their peers and to respond appropriately--and helpfully--to student writing in a wide variety of situations.

After being hired, consultants receive quite a bit of training:

  • All consultants participate in an orientation held before fall classes begin.
  • New consultants complete a one-credit academic course called WRT 306: Seminar for New Consultants. In this course, consultants continue to hone their tutoring skills but also read research and theory related to composing processes, responding to writing, and writing center pedagogy.
  • New consultants meet in small mentoring groups twice monthly, led by experienced consultants.
  • All consultants attend a number of Continuing Education Seminars throughout the academic year. Each seminar is focused on a specific tutoring situation or topic and are a way of helping consultants learn new and more effective ways of doing their work.
  • New consultants are observed during their first semester of work in order that the Director and Lead Consultants can mentor them more effectively.

We hope you find the consultants to be professional and well-prepared to help with your writing needs!
  Last Modified Date: April 28, 2009
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