| About the University |
Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.
Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.
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| About the Department |
The English Department engages students in reflective reading, creative inquiry, critical analysis, and effective expression. The study of literature, writing, film, and visual media prepares graduates to pursue a variety of careers, including law, business, government, professional writing, publishing, and education. These students also prepare students for graduate programs.
The Department of English offers four major emphases: literature, literature with a teaching endorsement, creative writing, and creative writing with a teaching endorsement. All four programs lead to the Bachelor of Arts in English. English: Literature Emphasis focuses on the study of literature in historical and cultural contexts and includes course work in English language and literature, literary and rhetorical theory, creative writing and composition, technical writing, film, and visual medial. English: Creative Writing Emphasis focuses on writing in fiction, drama, poetry, and in nonfiction prose, and it is complemented by courses in language and literature. We also offer two parallel degrees that include a teaching endorsement, for those who wish to pursue teaching at the secondary level.
The Department of English provides a dynamic intellectual environment and learning community. Faculty members introduce new genres, fields and methods of critical inquiry, and technologies to provide our students with the best possible education. The department offers small, student-centered classes, innovative pedagogy, and close faculty-student interaction. English faculty members have earned numerous awards for excellence in teaching, research, and writing, they are nationally and internationally recognized in creative and critical fields. Our students have amassed an impressive record of placement in graduate programs and professional positions.
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the English Department support Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.
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| About the Position |
The English Department is hiring for an Interim Director of Composition. This is a part-time, one-year interim position for the 2026-2027 academic year, with potential for renewal.
WWU’s Interim Director of Composition (DoC) engages in three intersecting activities: 1. curriculum development; 2. ongoing teacher training; 3. the day-to-day oversight as it relates to our Graduate Programs.
These three intersecting activities require the Interim DoC to work in tandem with the First Year Writing Program Director (FYWPD) and closely with both Graduate Faculty Coordinators (GFCs) to ground and support our Graduate Student Teachers (GTAs) academically, professionally, and pedagogically.
The Interim DoC position requires and draws from specific disciplinary expertise and currency in multiple fields of study, including Rhetorical Theory and Writing Studies, Organizational Management, The Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, as well as Psychology and Sociology as they relate to habits of mind and the ways people learn. Such disciplinary expertise is precisely what gets bundled up into the field of First-Year Writing scholarship.
Curriculum Development
Each year, working from established research in the field and in collaboration with the FYWPD, the Interim DoC develops a full curriculum for ENG 101 instructors to teach. In this way, the curriculum maintains ENG 101 as a First Year Writing program rather than a collection of individual classes.
Building a coherent curriculum participates in the intellectual life of our overall graduate program, structuring the ways our graduate students experience their academic role within our department and the university.
Teacher Training
Training new and returning ENG 101 teachers is ongoing and dynamic. The ENG 101 curriculum cannot ‘stand on its own.’ The Interim DoC is responsible for training ENG 101 teachers to convert the program’s written curriculum into specific classroom practices that support our First Year Writing students.
The Interim DoC trains the GTAs in “Comp Camp” (our week-long orientation), weekly staff meetings, our gradual level practicum (ENG 513) on teaching college level writing classes, ENG 101 classroom observations, and intense one-and-one support. Such training supports our graduate students in their professional development as teacher-scholars in our department.
Oversight
Working closely with the First Year Writing Program Director, the Interim DoC monitors and supports the ways our graduate students engage in their teaching practice as MAs/MFAs in our program. This includes monitoring enrollments, updating university Advising materials, and engaging with university stakeholders such as the Registrar, Writing Instructional Support, First-Year Programs, and the CHSS Dean’s office. As problems and possibilities surface that affect our graduate students’ teaching and the ENG 101 program, the Interim DoC partners with the First Year Writing Program Director and GFCs to identify and quickly respond.
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