CUNY Writing Fellows Program 2008-2009
CUNY Writing Fellowships are one-year Graduate Assistant A positions for CUNY doctoral students at Level III. For the 2008-09 competition, advanced Level II students who will advance to Level III by June 16, 2008 are invited to apply. Doctoral students who serve as CUNY Writing Fellows (CWFs) make an important contribution to improving the quality of writing instruction at CUNY and they are at the forefront of CUNY’s ongoing efforts to strengthen undergraduate education, to effect curricular change, and to provide professional development for graduate students and faculty.
CWF Program Background
On January 25, 1999, the CUNY Board of Trustees passed a resolution designed to enhance students' writing abilities. The resolution derived from the recognition that writing ability is essential to a college education, a significant learning tool, and an asset for students throughout their professional lives. The Board mandate calls for Writing Across the Curriculum to be a CUNY-wide responsibility—among colleges, disciplines, departments, and programs—and for writing proficiency to become nothing less than "a focus of the entire under-graduate curriculum."
To support this mandate, the University earmarked funding for faculty development and CUNY Writing Fellows— advanced Ph.D. students hired to assist and implement the WAC program under the supervision of a college faculty coordinator. Since 1999, more than 500 CUNY Writing Fellows across 18 CUNY campuses have worked with faculty, students and College WAC Coordinators to create and sustain ways of improving student learning by embedding writing throughout the curriculum.
The CUNY Writing Fellows Program, as a central component of WAC, is a unique collaborative initiative relying on the administration and academic cooperation of the entire University. CWF compensation and workload issues, as well as the application process, are coordinated jointly by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Human Resources at The Graduate Center. The academic and programmatic aspects of the program are coordinated by Dean Judith Summerfield in the Office of Undergraduate Education at the University’s Central Office. CWF Faculty Coordinators and Writing Fellows coordinate the WAC Program locally, at the colleges.
CUNY Writing Fellows Job Description
The role of CWFs is determined by the distinctive context of each individual college’s WAC program. For example, CWFs may partner with faculty to enhance assignments or curriculum, work closely with students in developing writing abilities, support student preparation for writing-related exams like the CPE or ACT, lead workshops for faculty development, and initiate and sustain inquiry into aspects of the program or of writing instruction on their campus. CWFs are hired as Graduate Assistant As (a PSC-CUNY contractual title). The PSC-CUNY contract stipulates that Graduate Assistant As are prevented from holding any teaching or non-teaching instructional position at CUNY.
In addition to their work supporting WAC, CWFs have an obligation to participate in local and University-wide professional education programs. These may take the form of University seminar meetings, conferences, meetings on the campuses, guest lectures, or workshops. These profes-sional development activities will link the Fellows’ future plans within the academy with their current work as CWFs.
Please consult the CUNY web site for more detailed descriptions of WAC programs at each of the 18 participating CUNY campuses. CWF job descriptions submitted by the individual colleges can be viewed on the Provost's Office web site. This information may also help you decide which colleges you wish to indicate as choices on your application.
Compensation and Workload Guidelines
The CUNY Writing Fellows Program was designed with a dual purpose: to assist in the development of Writing Across the Curriculum as a University-wide program and to provide solid support to full-time, registered, Level III students. Your primary commitments during the period of your fellowship are to your duties as a CWF and to your academic work. CUNY Writing Fellows are hired under the CUNY PSC/CUNY contract in the title of “Graduate Assistant A” (GAA). This is a non-teaching position. The workload regulations as defined by the CUNY-PSC/CUNY contract prohibit GAAs from accepting any additional teaching or non-teaching instruc-tional assignments within CUNY while employed in the title. Although GAAs are not prevented by contract from securing other work assignments outside CUNY, or through grants funded by the CUNY Research Foundation, in the spirit of the award we ask that you refrain from doing so. If it is finan-cially essential for you to seek additional funding, you must obtain written approvals from Acting Associate Provost Julia Wrigley and the CWF coordinator at your college of placement before accepting any other employment.
All CWFs are placed on the Graduate Center Payroll. The appointment period is September 1st of any given year through August 31st of the following year. Compensation is $27, 193 for this period. CWFs are under contract to work a total of 450 non-teaching hours per annual appointment (225 hours per semester). The CWF workload is monitored by The Graduate Center’s Office of Human Resources. The specific assignment has been set at 15 hours per week, although individual colleges may modify this assignment with the permission of the Office of Human Resources at The Graduate Center so long as they stay within the guideline of the 225 hours per semester.
Application Process
Applications are due March 5, 2008. Submit applications to Anne Ellis in the Office of the Provost, Graduate School, Room 8113, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016. After the February 28, 2007 closing date, applications will be forwarded to the applicants’ individual college choices for review by the faculty coordinators on the campuses. Finalists will be called in to interview. The selection process is expected to be completed by early May, 2008. If you have been selected as a CWF, you will be contacted by Anne Ellis, Associate Director of Graduate Assistant Programs.
Contacts
For information about the application process, compensation, or workload, please contact Ms. Anne Ellis, Associate Director of Graduate Assistant Programs, The Graduate School, Office of the Provost, Room 8113, at (212) 817-7284 or aellis@gc.cuny.edu.
For information about the academic or programmatic aspects of WAC, please contact Dr. Erin Martineau, CUNY Office for Undergraduate Education, at (212) 794-5337 or Erin.Martineau@domino1.cuny.edu.
