Writing Center Teams help us achieve our mission and explore new and better ways to support writers and writing, increase the Writing Center's visibility, advance writing knowledge, and contribute to the profession.
Team Members
Team members utilize their diverse skill sets to contribute to various Writing Center teams and special projects. Team members are provided with exciting opportunities to collaborate, develop professionally, and contribute to conversations about writing at DePaul and beyond.
Each team has a limited number of spots for members based on the scope of each team's goals and initiatives. Writing Center tutors apply to join a team before the start of each quarter.
So that they may devote their time to learning about the Writing Center and working as peer writing tutors, tutors cannot join a team their first quarter of employment. New tutors, however, are encouraged to participate in team events to help them learn more about teams and to become more involved in Writing Center initiatives.
👏🏻 The Writing Center Teams
😎 Workshops
Workshops are customized, research-based, interactive events that focus on a variety of writing topics. The Workshop team works together with a coordinator to develop and facilitate Workshops for the Writing Center and the larger DePaul Community. Tutors who join the Workshops team support the team’s mission by proposing, developing, and conducting Professional Development Workshops for their colleagues at the Writing Center.
Mission
The Writing Center’s Workshops Coordinator works with specially trained graduate assistants and tutors who serve as facilitators to plan, develop, and conduct topic-specific workshops for the DePaul community.
We provide workshops to the DePaul community that focus on transferable writing skills and practices that apply beyond particular writing exigencies. All workshops emphasize hands-on learning about writing and communication so that participants learn new skills and build on their existing knowledge.
Team Works
The yearly Professional Development Workshops (PDWs) are an avenue for tutors to explore topics of interest in the field of tutoring and provide training on those topics for their co-workers. These workshops are presented tri-modally (in-person, Zoom, and recorded) during Spring Quarter and are usually 60 to 90 minutes long. They are based on a rigorous process of research, training, and collaboration.
PDWs differ from other writing center trainings because they are almost entirely tutor-initiated and tutor-led. PDWs are structured around the interests of team members, so there is freedom for tutors to explore topics related to their work that may not be covered in the mandatory all-staff trainings.
Joining the Team
The Workshops Team is perfect for tutors who are interested in developing their public speaking, classroom management, and lesson planning skills. Whether you hope to one day become a teacher or just want to become more comfortable speaking in front of a group, the Workshops Team offers plenty of professional development opportunities.
To find out more about our team, contact the Workshops & Digital Resources Coordinator or the Workshops Student Leaders.
👋🏻 Outreach
The Outreach Team organizes events and initiatives that support, promote, and celebrate the work of writers and tutors at the Writing Center, across the DePaul community, and beyond. This team also maintains a visible presence at the University to promote the Writing Center.
Mission
The Outreach team enables the Writing Center to partner with DePaul offices and local organizations and to participate in national and international celebrations of writing and tutoring. Outreach serves the University as a whole by organizing promotional events, service initiatives, and gatherings.
In forwarding the Writing Center’s core beliefs, practices, and values, Outreach collaborates with students, staff, instructors, alumni, offices, and departments at DePaul and with external community organizations. We partner with these entities to design and promote writing and tutoring centered events, and collaborate with them to assess their needs and develop programs and resources. We take a lead role in developing and organizing DePaul University’s annual Peer Tutor & Mentor Summit, an event that brings together tutors and mentors from all across DePaul.
Outreach allows the Writing Center to bring its message about the importance of written communication and the value of peer tutoring outside our walls.
Team Works
Outreach is always celebrating something by tabling and planning events! We form partnerships both in the university and in the community, advocating for writers and writing and the work done by writing centers. Our initiatives promote writing at DePaul and beyond, and we have an array of different types of events throughout the academic year, ranging from Banned Books Week and National Day on Writing in Autumn, to the Peer Tutor & Mentor Summit in Winter, and National Poetry Month in Spring. You’ll often find us tabling throughout the university, talking about the Writing Center to DePaul community members and looking for more awesome students to join our staff!
Joining the Team
If you join Outreach, you can learn all about promotion, Writing Center recruitment, and how to make the most out of writing-related events! There are opportunities for public speaking and doing Writing Center work outside of the Writing Center. You get to help plan events like the ones listed above and more. It’s also great to get to make new friends through our university and community partnerships!
If you’d like to learn more about Outreach, please talk to Jen Finstrom (Coordinator).