Council of Writing Program Administrators

Bates College Director of Writing

Bates College, a highly competitive liberal arts college in Maine, seeks a Director of Writing to provide leadership and expertise in supporting student writing and faculty development around writing. Writing has long been a cornerstone of education at Bates. In fall 2007, 99% of the incoming first year class completed a voluntary First Year Seminar focusing on writing and taught by faculty across disciplines and programs. In addition, each Bates senior completes a senior thesis or capstone project. In fall 2008, the College launched a new mid-level writing requirement.

The Director of Writing is a full-time staff-faculty position with competitive salary. Opportunities exist for teaching in the First Year Seminar Program and for developing and teaching other courses. The Director will foster faculty discussion around writing and create faculty development opportunities associated with the College’s three-tiered writing requirement. The Director of Writing will assess and administer programs that support student writers, including the twenty-five year old Writing Workshop, which employs five part-time professional tutors, the Technical Writing Tutor Program, and the new Peer Writing Project, setting new directions where appropriate.

The position requires an energetic person able to create a vibrant teaching and learning environment around writing. The position requires proven leadership, effectiveness at working collaboratively with faculty, staff, and students, and excellent communications and organization skills. Experience with and knowledge of writing pedagogy required. The ideal candidate will have administrative experience in a writing center at a liberal arts college or university. The successful candidate will have a distinguished record of college-level teaching, knowledge of Writing Center pedagogy, and knowledge and experience with institution-wide assessment of student writing. Experience with instructional technology and computer-based resources and strategy expected. The Director of Writing will report to the Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the Faculty. A terminal degree is required.

Applications must be submitted through the Bates College online system at https://www.vscyberhosting.com/bates/ and should include a letter of interest, a curriculum vita, a brief statement of vision on leading a successful center for writing support, copies of transcripts (scanned in PDF format), and three letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation may be scanned and uploaded in PDF format or e-mailed directly to aparker2@bates.edu.

Applications submitted without the required materials will not be considered. Application materials must be submitted online by November 1, 2008.

Bates College values a diverse college community, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, age, or disability, in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its educational policies and programs, or in the recruitment and employment of its faculty and staff.