Tenure/Tenure Track: Director of the Writing Center, English Department

Position Description

The Department of English at Fordham University invites applications for an open rank Tenure Track English Professor to serve as faculty Director of the University Writing Center beginning in Fall 2024. Tenured as well as tenure-track faculty are invited to apply. The standard faculty teaching load at Fordham is 3/2; the Writing Center Director will receive a 1/1 course release and teach a 2/1 load during the duration of the directorship appointment. 

We are open to any area of specialization within rhetoric and writing studies, but are particularly interested in candidates whose research and teaching interests and experiences equip them to lead innovative initiatives related to the administration of the Fordham Writing Center. Expertise in Writing Center Studies; WAC/WID; translingual/multilingual pedagogies; public, professional, and technical writing; digital and new media writing; and decolonial and antiracist pedagogies are particularly welcome, as are other areas of expertise that complement the strengths of our writing and rhetoric faculty as well as Fordham’s institutional mission and its strategic plan to educate for racial and social justice. 

Qualifications

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in rhetoric and writing or a closely related field. In addition to advocating for writing-related innovation across campus, the successful candidate will have a significant opportunity to shape curriculum in writing and rhetoric at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including by contributing courses to a new undergraduate minor in Public and Professional Writing and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Rhetoric and Writing. The finalist can also expect to work closely with faculty in and beyond English to support campus-wide efforts in program-building, professional development, student recruitment and retention, and more.

This position will be responsible for maintaining existing and developing future services, resources, programs, events, and outreach opportunities in the Writing Center, including providing leadership, direction, and strategic vision by consulting research-based best practices to select initiatives and priorities; overseeing personnel matters including recruiting, hiring, training, and mentoring graduate student coordinators, graduate student tutors, and external hourly hires; coordinating with campus units and partners to provide outreach and ensure that the WC supports a robust culture of writing and student success on campus; providing design and direction to assessment projects; collaborating with campus leaders to ensure fiscal management and strengthen the budgetary and institutional position of this essential campus resource; and more.

Home to a dynamic, diverse, collegial, and nationally and internationally recognized faculty, The English Department at Fordham University operates across two New York City campuses: Rose Hill in The Bronx and Lincoln Center in Manhattan. While we anticipate that our new colleague will be sited primarily at Rose Hill, the University Writing Center Director is a cross-campus position with expectations for teaching and administration at both locations. In accordance with the Jesuit pedagogical principle of cura personalis, Fordham commits itself to quality instruction in small writing classes (first-year writing courses are normally capped at 16; other writing-intensive core courses are capped at 19). For more information about the English Department, please visit our website.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition, or a Ph.D. in English with emphasis and/or significant coursework/research in rhetoric and composition
• Significant experience with teaching writing and rhetoric courses at first-year, upper-division undergraduate, and graduate levels
• Experience working successfully in classrooms of students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Writing Program and/or Writing Center Administration
• Experience with mentorship of new graduate teaching assistants as well as part-time faculty
• Familiarity with culturally responsive writing pedagogies, including pedagogical and programmatic initiatives to support developing writers and readers 

Application Instructions

Candidates should submit a CV as well as a letter of application that details how their research, teaching, and leadership interests will inform and direct their work as the Director of the Fordham Writing Center. Please direct letters as well as inquiries to Dr. Crystal Colombini and Dr. Catherine Chaput, Search Committee Co-Chairs.

Candidates selected for the next stage will be asked to provide additional materials as well as three confidential letters of recommendation via Interfolio.

We expect to conduct Zoom interviews in mid to late fall and bring finalists to campus in late fall or early spring. Review of applications will begin September 1st. For full consideration, please submit materials by September 30th.

Please email Crystal Colombini (ccolombini@fordham.edu) and Cathy Chaput (cchaput@fordham.edu) with questions.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Fordham University is committed to excellence through diversity and welcomes candidates of all backgrounds.
 
Fordham University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.