Mission, Vision, and Inclusive Language Statement
Mission
WTS supports students at all skill levels as they become more confident and knowledgeable writers in a variety of disciplinary contexts.
Vision
WTS will be nationally recognized for providing excellent tutoring services for diverse groups of students and for a commitment to cultivating a culture of written communication across the University. This culture of written communication is essential to ensuring that students learn the skills and habits of mind that are essential to college and career success.
Inclusive Language Statement
Writing Tutorial Services (WTS) at Indiana University Bloomington makes it a priority to assist writers at all levels, from first-year undergraduates just beginning their college journey, to students preparing for future careers, to graduate students getting ready to defend their dissertations, and to help with all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming ideas through revising a near-final draft.
Acknowledging the inherently intertwined nature of writing, education, identity, and language usage, we respect students’ right to their own language and ideas and aim to assist each student in becoming a better communicator, translating thought into written forms. We build on Indiana University’s Mission Statement as tutors and administrators who are “committed to full diversity, academic freedom, and meeting the changing educational and research needs of the state, the nation, and the world.” We view the many forms of academic English as varieties of English, predominantly used in the university context in which we work as well as in many places of employment, both domestic and international. In conjunction with IU instructors, we aim to support the learning of academic conventions and registers with attention to critical language awareness, and to assist students in expanding their rich linguistic repertoires in meaningful ways to allow students to move with volition between discourses, using their own plurilingual resources.
In our aim to fulfill this promise for all students, we provide guidance for writers who want to strengthen their skills and fluency in academic American English, as well as respecting and valuing all varieties of English used by our diverse student population. As members of both the writing center and university community, we will continue to educate ourselves, each other, and our students on ways we speak and write about issues of racism, oppression, and bias. To that end, we seek to respect the diversity of linguistic and cultural backgrounds students bring to IU, and we advocate for antiracist, bias-free, and bias-aware language practices in alignment with leading style guides.
Apply to be a tutor!
Writing Tutorial Services Peer Tutors work at the main location of WTS (in the Learning Commons on the first floor of the Wells Library) as well as at the Briscoe, Forest, and Teter Academic Support Centers (ASCs). The ASCs operate from 7pm to 11pm Sunday through Thursday. WTS also offers some online tutorials. All WTS tutors work a set schedule for the semester; that is, they are required to work the same days and hours each week for the duration of the semester.
Undergraduates may nominate themselves. WTS also solicits faculty nominations for peer tutor trainees each fall. Faculty members should watch their email each October for nomination requests, or they can submit nominations via email at any time in the semester, as described below. Feel free to contact WTS ([email protected] ) for further information.
Eligibility
Students who are freshmen/first-years, sophomores, or juniors in the current fall semester are eligible to become WTS peer tutors. Because training takes a full semester—and is offered only in the spring—seniors are ineligible.
If you are in a 4+1 or 3+2 program and wish to explain your unique situation and interest, please email [email protected] directly.
Training
Peer Tutors must complete a 14-week training practicum taught each spring semester by the WTS Director. Students who successfully complete this training in the spring then join the WTS staff the following fall.
The training practicum consists of a weekly, 2-hour meeting with other new Peer Tutors; an additional 1 to 2 hours a week for preparation; and 8 hours of tutoring (2 hours per week) during the month of April. Pay for the training is $12.30 per hour.
Applications
To apply to become a WTS peer tutor, submit the following via e-mail ([email protected] ) by the second Friday in November:
- a letter of application outlining your writing experience and your interest in tutoring; please include your home phone number, cell phone number, and IU email address
- a resume, if you have one
- a writing sample (a paper from an IU course—any length), and
- a short letter of recommendation from an IU faculty member—this can be in the form of an email message sent to [email protected]
Hours
Those who successfully complete the spring-semester training practicum will then tutor for WTS the following fall. They can expect to tutor between 6 and 10 hours per week, dividing these hours between WTS in the Wells Library and the Academic Support Centers.
WTS is open 10am to 8pm Monday through Thursday and 10am to 5pm Friday.
The ASCs in Briscoe, Forest, and Teter are open 7pm to 11pm, Sunday through Thursday.
All Peer Tutors are required to work at least one late-night ASC shift (that is, until 11pm) each week.
- training in spring semester: $12.30/hour
- tutoring at WTS in Wells Library: $13.00/hour
- tutoring at ASCs: $13.30/hour
The deadline for applications is the second Friday in November. After all application materials are reviewed, selected students will be invited to interview in late November or early December.
