Professional Tutor – Writing

Aurora University (AU) is committed to the transformative power of learning by creating a student-centered environment and an equity of experience and opportunity, to ensure that students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds feel welcome and included. Our culture of collaboration, generosity, and belonging make it a special place for students, faculty, and staff.

AU is grounded in the transformative opportunity it provides to a diverse student body. As a private university with a public mission and a commitment to making a difference in peoples’ lives, AU has a long history of resilience and of providing access to an education that values innovation, focuses on continuous improvement, and has a positive impact on the communities we serve. We are proud of our service to and economic impact on the state of Illinois, where over 80% of our students stay to live and work, where 90% of our students come from, and where we foster strong community partnerships to develop the workforce in areas such as nursing, education, business, technology, and social work.

We are looking for passionate and purposeful individuals who represent the full diversity of Aurora and who demonstrate a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, ability, identity, and ethnic backgrounds present in our community. When you join the team at AU, you can expect to be part of an inclusive, innovative, and equity-focused community that approaches higher education as a matter of social justice requiring broad collaboration among faculty, staff, students, and community partners.

At AU we believe that continuous learning is a fundamental part of working life, and our goal is for all colleagues on our campus to feel supported and equipped to realize their full potential. We actively support our community by providing all employees with opportunities to engage in professional development activities, as well as a range of tuition and employee benefits that can be found here.

Position Purpose:

The Professional Writing Tutor supports learning by assisting with academic strategies to support students’ academic success. As students strive to reach their academic goals, the main responsibility of a tutor is to help the student in becoming a more independent, engaged, and confident learner. Writing tutors provide individual tutoring to students for any course that requires a written assignment, and often help students with specific citation issues depending on the discipline’s particular citation guide (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, etc.). Tutors may also lead presentations on selected writing topics. Tutors meet with students at any stage in the writing process: breaking apart a prompt, brainstorming, outlining, building the essay, improving focus, incorporating research and textual evidence, and polishing a paper.

This is a 9-month position working approximately 10-20 hours per week. Applicants will be part of a pool of professional tutors from which the Academic Support Center will fill the needed Professional Writing Tutor positions. Applicants are encouraged to refresh their applications after 90 days with a resume that includes new education or work experience.

Additional tutoring opportunity: Writing tutors may elect to also serve as an Academic Coach. Academic Coaches work with students to optimize their learning through improved executive functioning, proven time management techniques, research-based study habits, discipline-specific notetaking and reading strategies, and development of effective test preparation activities. While fostering a growth mindset, students and their coaches work on the transferability of skills to new learning environments. Tutors may also lead presentations on college success/college skills.

Core Competencies:

• Represents Aurora University in the most positive manner with prospective, former and current students, clients, suppliers, and the community we serve. Interacts effectively with a diverse group of faculty, staff, students and other customers of our service, learns and uses operating practices of the department and Aurora University.
• Upholds the Mission Statement: Aurora University is an inclusive community dedicated to the transformative power of learning. As a teaching-centered institution, we encourage undergraduate and graduate students to discover what it takes to build meaningful and examined lives. We empower our students to achieve lasting personal and professional success.
• Handles all information with tact and discretion and recognizes the confidential nature of university business.
• Supports learning through performance of essential job functions and performing other duties and functions as necessary or as assigned.

Essential Job Functions:

• Provide support through scheduled appointments, recitations, and drop-in sessions.
• Utilize effective tutoring and listening strategies to empower student tutees to determine content and pace of tutoring.
• Explore students’ individual learning preferences and work to develop active learning and study strategies that are appropriate for their needs and optimize their learning.
• Follow the tutor cycle, utilize open-ended questions, and goal setting to diagnose student tutoring/skill development needs and monitor progress.
• Assist with outreach and follow-up with students who receive Academic Alerts to provide additional academic support.
• Communicate with faculty to ensure continuity for students related to specific course expectations and discussions during tutoring sessions.
• Collaborate with other faculty/staff to design and deliver recitations, exam reviews, and specialized group tutoring.
• Demonstrated sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds of students.
• Ability to effectively communicate information in a clear and understandable manner verbally and in writing to students and decipher comprehension during tutoring sessions.
• Participate in professional development activities to improve tutorial skills.

Essential Job Requirements:

Education:

• Master's degree or higher in English, English education, journalism, or other writing-intensive degree (e.g., law, philosophy, technical writing) required.

Experience:

• Experience in higher education strongly preferred.

Skills:

• Able to utilize excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to listen with empathy and respect, communicate clearly, and convey courtesy, patience, sincerity, and a desire to help.
• Able to establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff and faculty, characterized by cooperation, attention to detail, flexibility, reliability, efficiency, and personal responsibility.
• Able to interact with diverse personalities and populations with respect and sensitivity.
• Able to utilize technology effectively.

Physical Requirements:

• Sitting or standing at desk/worktable with student(s); moving about the office; moving about the campus.

Benefit-eligible positions offer excellent benefits including health, dental, life, vision, long term disability, a 403(b) retirement plan through TIAA, and tuition remission.

To apply, please send resume, cover letter, and contact information for three references including name, telephone, and email address.

If you were referred by a current employee of Aurora University please include the name of the employee in your submission.

Aurora University
Human Resources
347 South Gladstone Ave
Aurora, IL 60506
jobs@aurora.edu - email

Aurora University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.