Writing and Communication Advisor

Overview:
**Term: 2 Years**

Reporting to the Manager, Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Programs, the Writing and Communication Advisor is responsible for performing a range of teaching, coaching, and development activities in order to develop graduate and undergraduate students’ writing, speaking, presenting, and visual communication competencies for academic work, research communication, and professionalization. These competencies are directly linked to undergraduate and graduate degree level expectations. Although they are focused on graduate student and postdoctoral fellow competencies, the incumbent also advises undergraduate students across all academic programs and all levels, and they must be familiar with a significant range of academic disciplinary genres and conventions, as well as with the general expectations for students at different levels of degree completion. Using a range of research-supported pedagogical strategies, the incumbent teaches, coaches, and supports students and postdoctoral fellows in individual appointments and in group appointments. Depending on what is required, they may develop, design, and facilitate workshops and other programs to target specific communication skills and strategies; they may collaborate with faculty to develop and deliver customized workshops for classes, research labs and institutes, and academic programs; and they may produce accessible synchronous and asynchronous virtual sessions, learning objects, and resources using various technologies and platforms. The incumbent works in a collaborative environment with responsibilities for information sharing and teamwork on projects, including taking the lead on organizational initiatives as required.

**This is a part time position working 14 hours per week.**

**Responsibilities**:
Support undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in developing academic and professional writing competencies, speaking and presentation competencies, language learning, and/or visual communication:

- Foster strong, respectful, and supportive advising relationships with people from a range of backgrounds, experience levels, language levels, learning experiences, and academic programs
- Develop trust with people one-on-one; attend to the values and needs of the person seeking service
- Cultivate an environment that supports the equitable development of resiliency, self-efficacy, and agency
- Support people in defining and articulating learning goals or outcomes, and with creating pathways to success in meeting those goals
- Assess people’s prior learning/knowledge/experiences; adapt teaching to and scaffold learning based on person’s current level/status
- Support and encourage reflexive, active, and self-directed learning
- Recommend relevant resources, tools, and other supports for the person based on their learning trajectory and goals
- Facilitate sessions using relevant and appropriate strategies for the person and situation: directive and non-directive teaching; inquiry/questioning; scaffolding; reflection; genre analysis; rhetorical analysis; etc.
- Ensure that principles of equity, specifically related to language and linguistic equity, are upheld in all aspects of teaching and support while promoting writers’ agency
- Address teaching to the relevant stage(s) of the composing process; help to identify and define challenging stages of people’s composing processes such as brainstorming/ideation, developing a research focus or question, reading research, taking notes, comparing evidence, planning and outlining, composing components or sections for discipline-specific genres, integrating evidence, signposting and transitioning, drafting and revising, creating data visualizations, integrating visuals, designing documents or presentations visually, editing and polishing, responding to and integrating feedback, practicing public speaking and presenting, etc.
- Provide expert advice on such topics and processes as writing productivity, academic publishing, professional communication, presentations, public scholarship, managing large writing projects, etc.
- Assist people with understanding and integrating feedback on their writing and communication
- Support people in determining future actions and planning next steps for their writing and communication tasks and projects, and for their overall progress and learning
- Develop familiarity with various online teaching and tutoring platforms as used by the WCC to support students in virtual remote sessions

Enhance the WCC’s reputation as source for writing and communication expertise and strengthen internal capacity to provide excellent, research-based programming
- Build and manage positive relationships with students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and campus partners
- Educate campus colleagues on referral processes, resources, and workshop/program opportunities
- Facilitate access to writing and communication resources that anticipate and