Although I have worn many hats in the writing center, the aspect I find most fulfilling and that drives my work is in the professional development of staff. Even when I worked as a Graduate Consultant in the Miller Writing Center (MWC) at Auburn University before moving into administration, I was invested in being part of the recruitment and training of staff. One of the things I admired about the MWC is that the staff was able to be involved in the governance of the center, participating in leadership roles and committee work. I always volunteered to serve on the Hiring Committee each semester, which involved interviewing candidates and working with the MWC Director, James Truman, and the Hiring Committee to determine who should be hired. What I especially valued in this process was that the emphasis in selecting candidates was not on whether they already could do the job as they were (although that helped) but rather on could they be trained to do the job. This focus on training and development was an important factor for me as a took on more leadership positions in the MWC.

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As the Program Assistant, and later the Coordinator of Professional Development, I focused my energy primarily in continuing this focus on training and development. To that end, in addition to assisting the Director in overseeing staff recruitment, training, supervision, and professional development for nearly 70 staff (including Consultants, Front Desk, and Leads Consultants), I developed and led theory and praxis based “teaching” circles for consultants, and developed and directed an in-depth peer observation and assessment process. I also developed extensive materials for internal and external use, including handouts, workshops, templates, and an expanded and updated MWC Handbook. The materials included here reflect those efforts.