Other Assistantships

The English Department offers the following graduate assistantships for 2022-23. All of the assistantship positions will provide graduate students with administrative skills and valuable other professional experiences useful to careers inside and outside of the academy. Applications for these assistantships are due on February 11, 2022

To apply, please send a single pdf with an updated CV and a statement of interest of up to 500 words (plus a sample syllabus for applications for the Composition Program Assistant) to the department’s Associate Chair, Johanna Kramer, at kramerji@missouri.edu. The statement of interest should describe your qualifications and interests as relevant to the specific position for which you are applying, including potential contributions to the position and how it supports your professional goals. The applications will be reviewed by those faculty members with whom the student would primarily be working for the duration of the position.

Coordinator of the Visiting Writers Series (paid stipend position)

The Coordinator of the Visiting Writers Series will assist the Director of Creative Writing in implementing the Visiting Writers Series, including contacting authors, handling contracts, finding and securing a venue, event planning, and scheduling meals, travel, and hotel for each visiting author (5-7 authors per academic year). This paid position will require an average of five hours per week (less than five hours most weeks, but more than five hours during weeks with visiting authors). The stipend for the position is $2,000 per semester for fall and spring.

Composition Program Assistant (course release)

The Composition Program Assistantship is a 10-hour per week .25 FTE year-long position (1 course release per semester) that includes working closely with the Composition Program administration to provide intellectual leadership for the program and assist with various tasks related to program operations. There is also a possibility of compensation for summer work.

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Job Duties of Composition Program Assistant
  • Attending and helping to facilitate the August orientation for incoming instructors (week of August 8)
  • Helping to plan and deliver the pedagogical workshops for teachers throughout the year
  • Reserving time to act as a resource for other graduate instructors
  • Observing composition classes, conferencing with teachers following observations, and writing up observation and conference summaries for teacher and program record
  • Developing and managing resources for the Teaching Resources Canvas site 
  • Helping to plan and facilitate campus-wide, collaborative program initiatives such as the National Day on Writing 
  • Assisting with research to support program self-study, planning, and initiatives
  • Assisting with program assessment
  • Serving on the Composition Committee

The Composition Program Assistant must be a strong teacher of ENG 1000, using a curriculum that aligns with program values and outcomes, and a highly organized collaborator who is able to take initiative and proactively complete tasks, research, and projects independently. 

The graduate student appointed to this position can expect to gain substantial hands-on experience in the intellectual and managerial work of writing program administration and program management that will transfer to careers inside and outside of academia.

The statement of interest for this position should explain the applicant’s qualifications and interests in composition, rhetoric, and/or literacy, pedagogy, and/or program administration, including potential contributions to the position and how the position supports the applicant’s professional goals. After all applications have been reviewed, interviews will take place shortly thereafter.

Graduate Student Departmental Assistant (course release)

There will be one position for a Graduate Student Departmental Assistant in 2022-23, which comes with a 1-1 teaching load and will require an average of 10 hours of work per week during the semester. This position will help the graduate student build skills around recruitment and administration of departmental programs. The person in this position will assist with needs across the department, including:

  • Assisting the Director of Graduate Studies with recruiting graduate students and planning Welcome Day
  • Assisting the Director of Undergraduate Studies with undergraduate recruiting events and initiatives, such as the English Majors Fair, Meet the Major, Major Explorations, and the Peer Mentoring Program
  • Editing the English Department website, primarily building course pages for all semesters
  • Making flyers for department events and coordinating with the faculty running the social media accounts
  • Performing other tasks assigned by the Associate Chair, if there is time remaining

This position will require an average of 10 hours per week (less than 10 hours most weeks, but more hours, for example, during Welcome Day week). Hours can be banked to provide flexibility across weeks.