{"id":35306,"date":"2025-01-30T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T16:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/?p=35306"},"modified":"2025-01-27T10:51:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T16:51:53","slug":"deans-writing-fellow-for-the-legal-methods-writing-center-call-for-applications-for-2025-2026-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/deans-writing-fellow-for-the-legal-methods-writing-center-call-for-applications-for-2025-2026-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean\u2019s Writing Fellow for the Legal Methods\u2019 Writing Center \u2013 Call for Applications for 2025-2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Dunham Smith, January 27, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Writing Center is seeking applications from rising second-year students and rising third-year students for one or more Dean\u2019s Writing Fellow positions for the 2025\u20132026 academic year.\u00a0 The application deadline is Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.\u00a0 To be eligible, candidates must also apply for a Law School Service Scholarship; Dean McClellan will provide information about the scholarship application process in the upcoming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

Dean\u2019s Writing Fellow: Position Description<\/u><\/p>\n

The Writing Center is a resource center open exclusively to students enrolled in Legal Methods.\u00a0 The primary responsibility of a Writing Fellow is to support the work of students enrolled in Legal Methods in accordance with instruction from the members of the Legal Methods faculty and as directed by Dr. Dunham Smith, Director of the Writing Center.\u00a0 The primary duty of a Writing Fellow is to hold writing conferences with first-year students who are working on research and writing assignments for Legal Methods.\u00a0 As set by the Legal Methods faculty, some writing conferences are mandatory for students enrolled in Legal Methods.\u00a0 During a writing conference, a Writing Fellow will listen to the writer\u2019s questions; critically read the writer\u2019s text or examine the writer\u2019s drafting plans; discuss the effectiveness of the text\u2019s structure and language; instruct the writer on correct citation form; identify errors in the text\u2019s grammar, punctuation, and mechanics; help the writer create a revision strategy; and address any remaining concerns the writer may convey.\u00a0 Writing conferences are held during the school week and on select weekends prior to the due date of a Legal Methods writing assignment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Additional responsibilities of a Writing Fellow include attending Writing Center training; attending meetings with the Legal Methods faculty throughout the year to learn about Legal Methods assignments and the faculty members\u2019 guidelines for assisting their students; participating in Orientation Week activities if available; writing a sample closed memorandum; updating materials for writing workshops; participating in the preparation and presentation of writing workshops; posting messages about Writing Center offerings; maintaining Writing Center records; completing Writing Center projects; and representing the Writing Center and Legal Methods program at select school functions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The successful candidate will be a strong writer who has excelled in Legal Methods and who demonstrated strong academic performance in completed academic courses, traditionally earning a minimum of a 3.0 GPA in the first semester of law school; will have used mandatory and nonmandatory services provided by the Writing Center staff during the first year of law school; will possess a solid understanding of English grammar, punctuation, and mechanics; will know how to correctly create citations for the different types of documents created in response to Legal Methods assignments; will be able to critically read student-written text and identify areas needing revision based on understanding of the English language and on specifications provided by the Legal Methods faculty; will demonstrate confidence and competence in written and oral communication; will be interested in improving personal writing abilities; and will be able to encourage and support student writers with kindly delivered recommendations.\u00a0 Additionally, the successful candidate will consistently respond promptly to communications from members of the law school community; will write professional e-mail messages; and will practice effective organization skills necessary to maintain a personal schedule and meet all commitments in a timely manner.\u00a0 Finally, the successful candidate will always respect others, holding the highest standards of conduct expected of students entering the profession of law and set for law students at The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dean\u2019s Writing Fellow: Application Procedure<\/u><\/p>\n

A Writing Fellow will be expected to work a total of 240 hours over the fall and spring semesters combined, usually working more of those hours during the fall semester than during the spring semester.\u00a0 For 2025-2026, a Writing Fellow\u2019s compensation will be $5,000; however, for a student who is receiving a Herff or Faculty Emeritus scholarship, working as a Writing Fellow will fulfill the service requirement for the scholarship.\u00a0 Such a student will not receive in addition the $5,000 compensation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Each applicant should submit electronically the following materials on or before 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 5, 2025:<\/p>\n

(i) a formal cover letter addressed to Dr. Dunham Smith, Writing Center Director, expressing \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0interest in the position;<\/p>\n

(ii) a formal r\u00e9sum\u00e9;<\/p>\n

(iii) a law school transcript (unofficial is sufficient); and<\/p>\n

(iv) a writing sample, such as an office memorandum written for Legal Methods.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All application material should be attached to a brief e-mail message sent to Dr. Dunham Smith and copied to Professor Kerley.<\/p>\n

Dr. Dunham Smith\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mdsmith2@memphis.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

Professor Kerley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 C.Kerley@memphis.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All applicants will receive an e-mail message from Dr. Dunham Smith upon receipt of application materials.\u00a0 Qualified applicants will be invited to participate in a formal interview.\u00a0 Qualified applicants will be interviewed by Dr. Dunham Smith; Writing Fellow Alex Nabity; and available members of the Legal Methods faculty.\u00a0 The 2025-2026 Writing Fellow Interviews are tentatively scheduled for Friday, February 7.\u00a0 If an applicant\u2019s schedule or the schedules of the interviewers require it, alternative interview times may be arranged.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Writing Fellow applicants with questions should contact Dr. Dunham Smith.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Dunham Smith, January 27, 2025 The Writing Center is seeking applications from rising second-year students and rising third-year students...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":520,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/520"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35308,"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35306\/revisions\/35308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/memphislawblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}