Apply to Become a Consultant

Apply to Become a Consultant Image

The Writing Center is staffed by an accomplished group of undergraduate and graduate student consultants. Graduate consultants are Graduate Teaching Assistants in the English MA and MFA programs; undergraduate ("peer") consultants come from majors across the university and may apply directly to work in the Writing Center.

Peer consultants in their first semester of consulting register for one credit of ENGH 389, a course that teaches theories and practice of writing, learning, and writing consulting. The course is taught in the spring, with course meetings taking place once a week. In addition, students are paired with an experienced consultant-mentor who guides them through observing consulting sessions, then co-consulting. Students begin consulting independently in week 9 or 10 of the semester.

Because peer consultants work with writers in disciplines across the university, they should have the following qualifications:

  • a grade of “A” or proficiency credit in Honors 110 or English 302
  • 60 completed credit hours
  • an overall GPA of at least 3.0

Peer consultants are selected through a competitive process that includes faculty recommendations and an interview. Interested students may apply directly or ask a faculty member in an English or Writing-Intensive course to recommend them.

To apply directly to be a peer consultant, students should provide a resume, a brief statement explaining why they want to work at the Writing Center; two faculty recommendations that address writing ability, interpersonal skills, and reliability; and two writing samples. If possible, the samples should be from different disciplines, and at least one should use and incorporate sources. Faculty may send their recommendations directly to the Writing Center director, Susan Lawrence, at slawrenb@gmu.edu.

To begin consulting in the spring term, students should send applications by November 1 of the preceding semester. Applications and questions should be addressed to the Writing Center director at slawrenb@gmu.edu.