S. Rose

English 680 Writing Program Administration

Fall 2003

WPA Job Description and Analysis

Some Notes on Expectations for those of you doing a WPA Job Description (one of the projects options)

Types of WPA positions*:

Any kind of WPA position in any writing program can work for this. For example, at Purdue you could develop a job description for a director, assistant director, mentor, or coordinator in the Introductory Writing Program, professional writing, the Writing Lab, etc.

This assignment will probably require that you talk with the person currently holding the position, or, if the position does not yet exist, the person to whom the WPA would report. Be sure to factor in the time it will take to consult with the person before, during, and after your drafting of the description (and, of course, make sure the person has time to talk with you).

• What about positions that already have an official description? If you decide to write a job description for a position that already has one, make sure your analysis offers an explanation of your reasons for revising it—that is, analyze the problems with its current form.
• What about a position you currently hold or have held in the past? This will make a good choice if you can be objective about it; it might work best if you teamed up with someone else who could help you reflect on the job.
• What about a position that doesn’t exist, but should? Go for it—develop a job description that convinces the right people that the position needs to be created.

Types of Descriptions:

• A list of responsibilities—with subcategories if appropriate
• A paragraph or two of the sort that might appear in a letter of appointment

The description itself should not be longer than one page. Format should be appropriate to contexts in which the description is likely to be used.

Analysis

Include a discussion of the ways the job description is used or could be used. Discuss reasons for deciding what should be included and what should be left out; reasons for particular word choices; and reasons for the format and organization of the description’s elements. The analysis should be about 300-500 words.

For help with determining the difference between a WPA “position” and a “task,” see David Schwalm’s essay in Ward and Carpenter.