Writing Instructor

Date Posted: 07/02/2025
Req ID: 43990
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science
Department: New College
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Context:

New College is a large undergraduate college at the University of Toronto, with a strong focus on social justice and community engagement. Home to a culturally and linguistically diverse student body, New College also houses the highest percentage of international students of any U of T college. Our innovative, interdisciplinary academic programs—African Studies, Critical Solidarity and Equity Studies, and Buddhist Psychology and Mental Health—seek to promote social responsibility, diversity, critical equity and global awareness. 

The New College Writing Centre invites applications for up to eight writing instructor positions for the 2025/26 Fall/Winter Session. These positions will begin in September 2025 and continue through April 2026. Some positions may begin in late August (2025). The teaching schedule will depend on Writing Centre needs, and some positions could include weekend hours if desired. Applicants should be prepared to teach both in-person and online.

The New College Writing Centre offers skilled, sensitive and welcoming writing instruction designed to enable students to realize their full potential as learners and contributors to knowledge production—in their fields of study, in the wider community, and in professional life. Our approach to writing instruction emphasizes writing as a complex ability that is continuously learned and relearned in relation to changing contexts and purposes. We value the linguistic diversity that students bring to their writing. 

These writing instructor positions will involve providing one-to-one writing instruction to undergraduate students working in a variety of disciplines, including academic programs housed at New College (https://www.newcollege.utoronto.ca/academics/new-college-academic-programs-overview/); writing instruction in drop-in writing communities as well as writing workshops may also be included. Writing instructors teach critical analysis, critical reading, modes of argument, research skills, and methods for drafting and revising texts and for preparing oral presentations.  

The New College Writing Centre works with students enrolled in our academic programs in addition to students registered at New College who are taking Arts & Science courses more broadly. We encourage applicants who are reflective about the role of faculty in welcoming and mentoring a diverse range of students. 

Please Note—STEM Specialist Positions: Up to three of these positions will be given to applicants specializing in writing for STEM purposes. Ideally, these applicants should have completed some postsecondary education in STEM fields and have experience creating workshops and/or providing one-on-one writing instruction in these fields. Please indicate your interest in being considered for this position in your cover letter and share your related experience there as well. Candidates may apply for both the general writing instructor positions as well as the STEM specialist positions; they may indicate their interest in both if preferred.  

Please Note—Weekend Instruction Specialist Position(s): Up to two positions will be given to applicants who are available to be Weekend Instruction Specialists. A key area of growth in the writing centre is one-on-one weekend appointments. Instructors who can commit to working on at least one weekend (either Saturday or Sunday) twice per month are a good fit for this role. Ordinarily, writing instructors in the centre only work on weekends if they ask the director to do so; however, while the weekend specialist may be given some hours from Monday to Friday if they have the availability, they will also commit to teaching on either Saturday or Sunday twice per month. In addition, if an instructor is available for more weekend days and teaching sessions per month than this, this is welcome--please indicate this in the cover letter.  

Salary:

• Writing Instructor I: $55.46/hour + 4% vacation pay
• Writing Instructor I – Long Term: $59.62/hour + 6% vacation pay
• Writing Instructor II: $59.62/hour + 6% vacation pay
• Writing Instructor II – Long Term: $61.04/hour + 6% vacation pay
• Writing Instructor II (Priority): $61.38/hour + 6% vacation pay
• Writing Instructor II (Priority) – Long Term: $62.83/hour + 6% vacation pay

Please note that should rates stipulated in the collective agreement vary from rates stated in this posting, the rates stated in the collective agreement shall prevail.

Minimum Qualifications:

• At least a completed Masters degree
• Demonstrated ability to teach writing and communication skills to students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds
• Previous experience teaching writing at the university level, either in a university writing centre and/or in university level courses with significant writing components
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to teach academic writing and critical skills in a one-to-one mode and across a variety of disciplines and programs, including those of New College
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate interactive workshops
• Familiarity with forms of writing and oral communication in a broad range of disciplinary curricula
• Superior ability to work closely with the genre, rhetoric and grammar of student texts
• The ability to work cooperatively and effectively in a highly collaborative environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• A completed PhD or completed PhD coursework
• Familiarity with any of the following approaches to scholarship: anti-colonial, decolonizing, anti-racist, feminist, queer, disability, anti-homophobic, Indigenous and scientific.

Application Process:

Only applications submitted to the email address listed below will be considered. Please include the closing date of the posting in your email subject line. Applicants should submit the following documents in one consolidated package (e.g., PDF or Word Document) by July 23, 2025:

• A cover letter outlining suitability for the position (normally 1-2 pages)
• An updated curriculum vitae
• Sample instructional materials. These instructional materials should be a maximum of 15 pages, attached to the application email. Please note that we cannot search through online documents. Please only send curriculum materials related to the teaching of writing (rather than entire dossiers and general teaching philosophy statements). Sample instructional materials may include but are not limited to handouts, activities, assignment instructions, presentation slides, multi-modal curricula, and course outlines.
• A 3-10 page sample of academic writing
• Names and contact information for three referees
• An application form, available online at https://uoft.me/CUPE-3902-Unit-3-Application-Form

Applications should be sent to the following:

Dr. Marci Prescott-Brown, Director, New College Writing Centre

c/o Winston Tran, Program Administrator

newcollege.wcpositions@utoronto.ca

Applications must be submitted by email to the address listed above. Do not submit your application via the University of Toronto website, as we cannot access them.

Please include the posting closing date and position number in your email subject line.

Closing Date: 07/23/2025, 11:59PM EDT
**

This job is posted in accordance with the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 Collective Agreement. 

It is understood that some announcements of vacancies are tentative, pending final course determinations and enrolment. Should rates stipulated in the collective agreement vary from rates stated in this posting, the rates stated in the collective agreement shall prevail.  

Preference in hiring is given to qualified individuals advanced to the rank of Sessional Lecturer II or Sessional Lecturer III in accordance with Article 14:12 of the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 collective agreement.

Please note: Undergraduate or graduate students and postdoctoral fellows of the University of Toronto are covered by the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 collective agreement rather than the Unit 3 collective agreement, and should not apply for positions posted under the Unit 3 collective agreement.