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Director of Writing and Academic Support (Eligible for Partial Remote)

Main Campus - Boston, MA
R08638

Located in Boston's historic Fenway area, Simmons has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons University was one of the first higher education institutions to prepare women to become leaders and has evolved into a university offering a women's undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all.

You'll find that people who work here are truly committed to our mission of preparing students to become champions of social justice and leaders in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace.

Job Summary

Simmons University invites applications for the Director of Writing and Academic Support. The Director will play a critical role in fostering academic excellence and student success at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Reporting to the Assistant Provost, the Director will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Writing and Tutoring Center. The Director will create, develop and implement academic support resources, especially as they relate to writing skills and disciplinary course content. We are looking for an innovative and strategic Director who has a strong background in writing, as well as the vision and expertise to grow the unit in partnership with faculty across the colleges and in accordance with university priorities. Responsibilities include:

Oversight of the Writing Center:

• Develop and coordinate both in person and remote/online support for writers of all levels, including undergraduates, graduate students, and doctoral candidates
• Create resources to support development of academic writing skills, offer regular workshops around key writing topics. Develop new programming opportunities to support writing skill development such as writing bootcamps
• Collaborate with the Dean of the Undergraduate Program to provide support for The Boston Course, a writing intensive first-year seminar which enables students to engage with the City of Boston and develop college writing skills, information literacy, and critical analysis. The Director will teach a course as part of their duties and will collaborate with other offices on campus to support the course more broadly
• Work with departments to identify the specific writing needs for their graduate students and collaborate with faculty and academic leadership to develop and implement initiatives to address these challenges
• Develop new programming and initiatives
• Recruit, hire, train and supervise writing tutors
• Supervise the day-to-day operations of the Writing Center, including scheduling, payroll and budgeting
• Maintain the online presence of the Writing Center (schedule, webpage on Simmons site, etc.)
• Evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the Writing Center by developing ongoing Writing Center assessment and data collection processes

The Director will supervise the Assistant Director of the Tutoring Center and will partner to:

• Manage the day-to-day operations of tutoring and coordinate both in person and remote/online tutoring and academic support services
• Provide overall leadership for the vision and structure of the Tutoring Center, drawing from best practices in the field
• Expand the scope of services to include support for graduate students
• Manage the hiring, training and scheduling of tutors and academic support personnel
• Provide training and regular professional development for tutors, including best practices to support diverse learners
• Provide workshops and develop materials to support student success, including best practices to promote inclusive learning
• Evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the Tutoring Center by developing ongoing assessment and data collection processes

Other Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the Center for Student Success (advising, accessibility services, global education, undergraduate research and career education), Student Affairs, and academic leadership to identify student challenges and deliver academic support resources as needed
• Offer academic coaching and resources to help students set goals, develop academic planning and time management skills and to improve study and classroom habits. Work closely with advising to support students who are not in good academic standing
• Serve on committees related to enrollment, retention and the academic success of students
• Additional duties as assigned by the supervisor

Minimum Qualifications

• MA in Rhetoric and Composition, Writing Studies, or closely related field
• Experience supervising staff including full time staff and/ or tutors
• Administrative experience with at least one year of experience as an assistant director in a writing center or academic support office
• Commitment to inclusive excellence and working with underrepresented populations
• Experience teaching writing at the college level

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctoral Degree (PhD or EdD) in Rhetoric, Composition, Writing Studies, or a closely related field
• Theoretical grounding in writing studies and/or rhetorical studies pedagogy
• Experience in working with undergraduate and graduate students, especially in the areas of nursing, health sciences, social work and library sciences
• Commitment to inclusive excellence and working with underrepresented populations
• Experience with planning and delivering professional development programs for faculty and/or students
• Significant experience teaching writing at the college level
• Familiarity with WCONLINE and/or other tutoring software
• An understanding of best practices in academic support centers more broadly and especially the fields of writing support and writing instruction
• Knowledge of assessment
• Familiarity with retention strategies, student success, and key areas such as: advising, career education, global education, and accessibility services
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders such as Deans/Vice Presidents, and the Center for Faculty Excellence
• Demonstrated ability to work in a complex environment
• Demonstrated commitment to student-centered service delivery approaches, access and equity

Required Application Materials:

• Resume
• Cover Letter

Salary Grade
S08

Instructions to Applicants: Please upload all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF).

Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual's community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.


To apply, visit https://simmons.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Simmons-Careers/job/Main-Campus---Boston-MA/Director-of-Writing-and-Academic-Support--Eligible-for-Partial-Remote-_R08638-2

Located in Bostons historic Fenway area, Simmons College is a small, private, non-sectarian College which has educated students for enriching careers and purposeful lives since 1899. Working at Simmons means joining a collaborative, diverse and mission-driven community of educators and professionals.

We prepare students to be leaders for themselves, their communities and the world. Our faculty and staff members lead by example - sharing a commitment to excellence and putting the students first.