Applications for 2026-27 Undergraduates Peer Writing Tutors are now open.
Who are the Peer Writing Tutors?
The Peer Writing Tutors are a specially trained group of College students who provide expert writing support to students in the Humanities Core and other College courses. Every year, the Writing Program solicits applications and invites a small number of students to train in a special Spring section of Academic and Professional Writing. Successful trainees are invited to work as Peer Writing Tutors beginning in the Autumn quarter following their training.
Who is eligible to be a Peer Writing Tutor?
Second- and third-year undergraduate students are eligible to apply. Because tutors help undergrads working on papers in a wide variety of courses, we encourage students from any major at the University of Chicago to apply.
What do Peer Writing Tutors do?
In individual tutorial meetings like those offered by College Core Writing Tutors, Peer Writing Tutors provide writing support to undergraduate students enrolled in Common Core courses. Peer Writing Tutors are not copyeditors or proofreaders; instead, they help writers improve their skills in analyzing and revising academic writing.
Peer Writing Tutors can:
- Help students brainstorm how to get started on a paper or how to best approach a paper assignment or prompt, particularly in terms of how to construct an argument.
- Read a full or partial draft of a paper and comment on its overall argumentation (use of textual evidence, logical flow of argument, persuasive placement of points, etc.).
- Read a full or partial draft of a paper and comment on its organization, both globally and at the paragraph level.
- Spot patterns of mechanical errors in a student’s prose and teach the student how to identify and correct these patterns.
- Make suggestions for how to revise a paper for greater coherence, clarity, and persuasiveness of argument.
When and how often do Peer Writing Tutors work?
Peer Writing Tutors are assigned one, two, or three 4-hour tutoring shifts per week, according to their preferences and availability. Peer Writing Tutor positions are assigned quarterly and are renewable with good performance as long as tutors are enrolled in the College.
Currently, Peer Writing Tutors are compensated at $16.60/hr.
What kind of training is required?
Successful applicants will be awarded a seat in our quarter-long, credit-bearing training course: a dedicated Peer Writing Tutor section of WRIT 13000: Academic and Professional Writing (Little Red Schoolhouse), only offered in Spring Quarter. Satisfactory completion of the training course is required in order to begin working in the following academic year.
In the first quarter of work, Peer Writing Tutors will be supervised by a Writing Program Assistant Director and mentored by an advanced Writing Tutor. At the end of their first quarter, each Peer Writing Tutor will create and submit a teaching portfolio that includes student evaluations and a reflection on their pedagogical practices.
What is the timeline for applying, training, and working as a Peer Writing Tutor?
The Writing Program engages a rigorous process to identify and train exceptionally qualified undergraduate students as tutors for their peers in the College. That process takes two to three quarters of application, interviewing, and training before new tutors are assigned to work independently with student writers. The primary time commitment takes place in Spring, when successful applicants participate in a required training course twice a week.
- Mid-Autumn Quarter: Applications for the following school year are posted to Handshake and the Writing Program website.
- Mid-Autumn through Mid-Winter: Applications are reviewed by Writing Program staff.
- Late Winter: Selected applicants are invited to interview. Interviews take place in person in the Writing Program office.
- Spring: Accepted applicants enroll in or audit WRIT 13000, a tutor-only training section of Academic and Professional Writing (Little Red Schoolhouse).
- Autumn 2026: Tutors who have completed training begin working in Week 2 or 3 of the quarter.
All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.
We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. For further information, please read the University’s Statements on Diversity.
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information, please see the University’s Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-3988 or email equalopportunity@uchicago.edu with their request.
Questions? Email writing-program@uchicago.edu, or stop by Stuart 330A.