WID Graduate Assistants and Peer Writing Preceptors

Writing in the Disciplines employs graduate students as WID graduate assistants (GAs) and undergraduate students as peer writing preceptors (PWPs), who serve as peer coaches to fellow students.

WID Graduate Assistants

Each semester, the WID program provides funding for WID faculty to hire students to assist with the writing component of their WID courses. WID Graduate Assistants (WID GAs) are advanced master’s or doctoral students in the faculty member’s home department or a related department who are paid a salary to grade papers, read drafts and meet with students to discuss their writing.

Additional information on graduate assistants is provided on the CCAS website.

Duties of WID GAs

Faculty members and GAs together draw up a written agreement that lists duties, estimates labor per task and articulates expectations for classroom support.

WID GA duties may include:

• Assisting in evaluating and grading the writing in the course (Note: WID GAs are not primarily graders. Fifty percent or less of their time may be spent grading, and GAs will do less than 50 percent of the overall grading for the course.)
• Co-designing writing assignment staging, language and scaffolding materials
• Designing and directing peer review assignments and meetings
• Leading occasional writing/topic workshops during a lecture section
• Holding office hours to consult with individual students
• Locating and preparing materials or activities that are relevant to the writing assignments
• Leading writing/topic workshops in discussion sections (if the course is structured this way)

Qualifying Courses

To qualify for a WID GA, a course must enroll a minimum of 25 WID students, with no exceptions. For courses capped at 25, we suggest raising the cap to 27 or more to ensure enrollment meets the minimum 25.

Compensation

WID matches the salary bands for course-by-course GA hires set by the CCAS Office of Graduate Studies, based on the number of enrolled students in WID course sections.

A salary is payment for the work you provide to the university. All GAs will receive award letters from their awarding department, stating their salaries for the term of service. Salaries are paid monthly over the semester(s) of service.

GA Training

GW requires all GAs to complete all components of GTAP training in their first term teaching, including online orientation before the term starts (over summer or winter break) and the graduate assistant certification course by the end of the term. 

First-time WID GAs are required to participate in a mandatory 2-day WID Training in either August or January. Attendees will be compensated for successfully completing each day of reading assignments and participation.

How to Request a WID GA

If you are interested in requesting WID GA support for your WID course, fill out the online WID Graduate Assistant Request Form, which is updated twice a year, during the hiring windows.

Faculty may nominate specific graduate students with whom they wish to work. To do so, please provide the candidate’s name, email and GWID as part of the submission. Nominated students must also complete the WID Graduate Assistant Application. We require both forms to make a match.

 No emailed requests will be accepted.

Apply to Be a WID GA

If you are being nominated by a faculty member or are interested in applying for a WID GA position, please fill out the online WID Graduate Assistant Application Form, which is updated twice a year, during the hiring windows.

Please note that most WID GA positions are recruited through individual faculty, so we encourage you to reach out to faculty teaching WID courses you would be interested in working with. We are sometimes able to match WID GAs with faculty who have open requests, sometimes across departments. Please complete the form in either case.

No emailed applications will be accepted.

Peer Writing Preceptors

Peer writing preceptors (PWPs) are outstanding undergraduate students with a strong interest in writing and the ability to provide informal coaching and feedback to their fellow undergraduates. The position offers an opportunity for undergraduate students to work closely with a faculty mentor and gain teaching experience.

Duties of PWPs

• Work up to 10 hours per week (as established at time of appointment)
• Provide responses and suggestions for improvements on student writing
• Review outlines and rough drafts for coherence, clarity of purpose, argument, etc.
• Lead peer review meetings

Note: PWPs are not permitted to do any formal grading.

How to Request a PWP

Preceptors are nominated by their professor and serve in courses in which they themselves have excelled. WID faculty interested in appointing a PWP must fill out the online WID Peer Writing Preceptor Request Form, which is updated twice a year, during the hiring windows. 

Request Deadlines

• Fall semester: May 31
• Spring semester: November 8