Opportunities

Be a Tutor: Work on Writing and Presenting with International Graduate Students

For Writing & Presenting, tutors are mostly hired at the beginning of fall semester and sometimes at the beginning of spring semester. Occasionally, positions open during the semester. Contact Director Nathan Lindberg [nwl26@cornell.edu] to see if there are any current openings.

Time Commitment: flexible, but usually 5-8 hours a week

Compensation: $17 an hour

Cornell’s English Language Support Office (ELSO) offers one-on-one tutoring for international graduate students and postdocs from all fields. Our tutors work on any writing project, from class assignments to dissertations, and on all levels, from overall structure to the sentence-level. To a lesser extent, we also work with prepared speech, mostly presentations, and occasionally other genres, such as speeches. Tutors gain teaching experience working with students from other cultures and the opportunity to improve their own writing and communication skills. The pay is $17 an hour, and schedules are flexible. For more information, visit:  https://elso.as.cornell.edu/elso-tutoring#tutoring-on-writing-and-presentations

We only hire matriculated Cornell graduate students, and we prefer to hire those with two or more of the Qualifications Strongly Preferred listed below. However, we make exceptions if you demonstrate enthusiasm towards the Required Qualifications and Qualifications Preferred—also listed below. We provide about eight hours of face-to-face training and the chance to shadow experienced tutors before you start. We also provide on-going training at our weekly meetings. All training is paid. This fall, 2022, we are hiring up to five new tutors.

Graduate students from across the fields are encouraged to apply. We appreciate students with a strong English language background. We also appreciate applicants from diverse fields, particularly from STEM and professional fields.

Required Qualifications

• be a current Cornell graduate or professional student
• have strong interpersonal communication skills
• have experience and an interest in academic writing and presenting
• have a willingness to learn more about writing and language
• have an interest in engaging with people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines

Qualifications Preferred

• received training in teaching writing and/or tutoring (e.g., completed Cornell’s Knight Institute writing program)
• taught writing and/or speaking courses (e.g., first-year writing)
• have knowledge in grammar, punctuation, and other surface-level matters
• have experience giving presentations
• have experience using an additional language or additional languages
• traveled or lived abroad
• worked in EAL contexts

Qualifications Strongly Preferred

• have tutoring and/or teaching experience
• completed one or more years of graduate school
• have experience writing in various genres (e.g. grants, applications, research papers)
• have experience in Writing Studies or related fields (e.g. Rhetoric, Genre Studies)
• have experience providing feedback to writing

ELSO tutors will be responsible for:

• participating in paid, weekly tutor staff meetings that include training—some meetings will be face-to-face on Cornell campus
• creating and maintaining a schedule to meet with clients synchronously online, to respond to writing asynchronously through email, and, possibly, to meet face-to-face with clients
•  providing feedback on writing projects and presentations
•  keeping tutoring records of appointments

To apply, please email Dr. Nathan Lindberg (nwl26@cornell.edu) and attach a cover letter and resume. Note where you first learned of this position.

Fall 2022 Pronunciation Tutoring Positions Available in Cornell’s English Language Support Office

 Duration: Fall semester 2022 and beyond

Time Commitment: average 4-6 hours a week

Compensation: $17 an hour

Submission deadline: September 1, 2022 or until filled

 Cornell’s English Language Support Office (ELSO) offers one-on-one online pronunciation tutoring for multilingual graduate and professional students and postdocs. Tutors offer support on various aspects of spoken English to help improve clarity, communication, and intelligibility such as:

• identifying pronunciation areas of difficulty and what is affecting overall intelligibility
• practicing specific areas of pronunciation (sounds, intonation, fluency, word stress, linking, field terminology)
• determining pronunciation goals and making a plan for individualized practice
• locating resources that help support pronunciation needs

For more information about the ELSO tutoring programs, visit: https://elso.as.cornell.edu/elso-tutoring#tutoring-on-pronunciation

Online training for the tutoring positions will occur for the first two to three weeks of fall semester 2022. Following training, the tutor will offer 4-6 hours of weekly consultations. The tutors will also meet every other week with the program coordinator, Melissa Myers, and the other pronunciation tutors throughout the semester.

Essential to the job is an open mind toward working with diverse populations, a keen interested in language, and patience. Graduate students from across the fields are welcome to apply; preference will be given to those in fields related to international studies, linguistics, education, communication, and theater.

Required for the Position

• Current Cornell graduate or professional student
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• A willingness to learn more about English pronunciation and speech patterns
• An interest in engaging with people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines

Preferred for the Position

• Experience with tutoring
• Teaching experience
• Experience using an additional language or additional languages
• Traveling or living abroad
• Coursework in international studies, linguistics, education, communication, or theater

The pronunciation tutor will be responsible for:

• Participating in approximately 10-15 hours of (paid) training prior to tutoring
• Attending biweekly meetings with the instructor and other tutors
• Meeting online with scheduled multilingual graduate students to provide feedback on a variety of pronunciation skills
• Keeping tutoring records of appointments

To apply, send a letter of application, resume/CV, and three references to Melissa Myers (mm177@cornell.edu) and note where you learned of this position.

Volunteer to be a Discussion Facilitator and Meet International Graduate Students from Around the World! 

 Do you like working with international, multilingual students from different parts of the world? Are you interested in learning about other cultures? Join the English Language Support Office’s Speaking Groups Program (SGP) this spring as a Discussion Facilitator! It’s a great way to connect with new people on campus, meet graduate students, learn from others, make friends, and offer support to others. 

 FACILITATORS commit for 8-weeks of a semester to help lead and organize small weekly 1-hour discussions with multilingual graduate and professional students. This program brings together international graduate students and fluent English speakers for language support and conversations about culture, academic interests, and campus life. 

 For Fall 2022 groups will meet online, on campus, or a combination of both for 8-weeks beginning the week of September 25 and continue until the week of November 13. To be a facilitator, you need to be a Cornell undergraduate student, staff member, graduate student, post-doc, alumni, retiree or faculty, should be fluent in English and have knowledge of US culture. Facilitators determine the weekly hour they will meet (anytime!), add it to our sign-up system, and then participants self-select for a group. 

 For more information on the SGP, visit the website: https://elso.as.cornell.edu/sgp 

To register for the SGP, click here: Facilitator Registration Fall 2022 

For any questions or specific concerns, contact Melissa Myers at mm177@cornell.edu 

Read more about the Speaking Groups Program in the Cornell Chronicle: http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/05/international-speaking-groups-broaden-perspectives