What additional opportunities does our program provide?
Students who apply to our program can also apply for English department teaching assistantships. First-year teaching assistants are assigned to teach WR 121, OSU’s first-year composition course. In their second year, TA’s may teach business writing, technical writing, or introduction to fiction writing. The opportunity to teach writing classes other than first-year writing varies from year to year and is based on departmental need.
Each year one or more second-year TA’s serve as the Associate Composition Coordinator and work with the Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator to train and supervise new TA’s. For information email Sara Jameson at sara.jameson@oregonstate.edu.
In addition to TA positions in the English department, other opportunities for support and for relevant disciplinary experience are available.
OSU’s Writing-Intensive-Curriculum (WIC) Program offers a TA position. The Teaching Assistant for the WIC program assists the director in the presentation of workshops and seminars for faculty on the teaching of writing, acts as assistant editor of the WIC newsletter Teaching with Writing, reviews course proposals and syllabi, and generally assists with administration of the program. The WIC TA has opportunities to learn about issues related to the teaching of writing in the disciplines and to help faculty in the disciplines find the best ways to teach writing to their particular students. For information email Vicki Tolar Burton at vicki.tolarburton@oregonstate.edu
OSU’s Center for Writing and Learning (CWL) offers a TA position in the Writing Center. The Writing Center GTA supports staff in the training and supervision of the writing assistants who work at the Writing Center. Central responsibilities include training and scheduling writing assistants; conducting weekly staff meetings; developing and revising online and print resources for the Writing Center; maintaining records, and compiling ad hoc, quarterly, and annual statistics and reports. The Writing Center GTA also assists in the day-to-day operations of Writing Desk at the Valley Library and with the Writing Center's online writing lab. For information email Lisa Ede, CWL Director, lisa.ede@oregonstate.edu or Dennis Bennett CWL Assistant Director at dennis.bennett@oregonstate.edu.
OSU’s Center for Writing and Learning houses a Writing Center, where graduate students can gain valuable experience working with students on writing. This experience is particularly helpful for students who wish to teach writing in community colleges. Students can work at the Center for credit or for pay. For information email Dennis Bennett at dennis.bennett@oregonstate.edu or Lisa Ede at lisa.ede@oregonstate.edu.
Students who complete a graduate degree in any area in English are eligible to apply for a one-year bridge appointment, which allows graduates to gain further experience teaching a variety of writing classes. For information email Evan Gottlieb at egottlieb@oregonstate.edu.
The Center for Writing and Learning Craft of Writing Series features talks by professional writers on aspect of the craft (recent guests have included James Welch, Primus St. John, and Judith Barrington)
The Writing Intensive Program (WIC) offers presentations on topics related writing-across the curriculum; it also brings such scholars as Peter Elbow, Susan McLeod, Tony Silva, and Kathleen Blake Yancey to campus.
OSU’s Visiting Writer’s Series offers presentation by nationally recognized writers in creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry.
English-department sponsored talks by nationally recognized scholars in composition and rhetoric have recently included talks by Jacqueline Jones Royster, Andrea Lunsford, Victor Villaneuva, Joe Harris, and Robert Ygelski.
In addition, OSU brings a range of speakers each year through established cross-disciplinary lecture programs such as The Horning Endowment Program and Lecture Series,the Ideas Matter Lecture Series, and the OSU Humanities Center.