The Center only recruits in order to replace existing peer tutors who are graduating, so we do not hire every year.
Peer Tutor applications for 2021 are now open! To apply, please fill out our online application. More information about the Peer Tutor position is available on our Recruitment Site. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Mandy Taylor at apheatwole@smcm.edu.
Applicants must be:
- current SMCM First-Years, Sophomores, or Juniors in any major,
- capable writers and thinkers, and
- responsible, reliable, flexible, and friendly individuals.
The application usually requires:
- contact information for two non-student references at SMCM,
- biographical information,
- a past writing sample, and
- a brief written response.
We consider GPA as a dimension of the application, but we do not have a strict minimum GPA requirement. The average cumulative GPA for our accepted applicants is 3.72.
About the Peer Tutor Training:
Peer tutor candidates selected in the fall will complete a one-credit practicum course in the spring before beginning paid work at the Center the following fall. The practicum is an upper-division English credit and is only open to students who have been selected through the peer tutor application process, so the students who take it add it to their schedules in the Spring instead of registering for it in advance in the Fall. The meeting time for the practicum is determined by the availability of the peer tutor candidates in order to ensure it suits all of their schedules.
The training course covers the history and methodology of writing centers, rhetorical awareness, basic sentencing, tutoring protocols, and key writing concepts. Activities include discussions, readings, brief writing exercises, tutorial observations, mock tutorials, and a proficiency exam. Peer tutor candidates who successfully complete the practicum and score 93% or higher on the proficiency exam are hired at the Center on a provisional basis starting in the fall semester.