Grow as a communicator, mentor, and leader — apply to the UMB Writing Center Fellowship and support students across the University.
At the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), preparing students in graduate and professional programs for leadership in health sciences and human services professions calls attention to the ways disciplinary knowledge and communication practices intersect with one another. Supplementing disciplinary knowledge, communication practices further support interprofessional collaboration, foster strategic thinking, and promote cultural responsiveness. As students gain an understanding of and facility with these communication practices, they engage research and writing as interdependent forms of inquiry and discovery.
The teaching and learning of writing plays a key role in supporting students to develop flexible communication practices. As future leaders in health sciences and human services professions and research fields, UMB students must navigate complex rhetorical situations and communication scenarios. These range, for example, from direct patient or client communication and public health advocacy to navigating the complexities of legal discourse and research-based writing, such as grants and research manuscripts. Each of these communication contexts requires strategic approaches and an awareness of the needs of different audiences.
The UMB Writing Center Fellowship is an opportunity for students to integrate writing and communication practices into meaningful interprofessional education, an area the University has long prioritized. The fellowship is a paid, yearlong opportunity for students in the University’s graduate and professional programs to develop as writers, peer consultants, and future professionals. Fellows work with students across all seven schools, providing individualized feedback on a wide range of communication projects, including course assignments, dissertations, job documents, grant proposals, and more.
The Writing Center Fellowship is designed to prepare students not only to support their peers, but to carry forward communication practices that matter in every sector of the health sciences and human services landscape. Being a Writing Center Fellow is not only a professional development opportunity focused on strategic communication and rhetorical practice; it’s also a leadership role that fosters mentorship, collaboration, and the ability to guide others through complex learning processes. First-year fellows also participate in the Baltimore Writing Center Project (BWCP), a reflective initiative that connects their work with broader questions of access, justice, and public engagement. The Writing Center’s professional development program sets fellows up for success in working with other writers. Many describe the fellowship as a formative experience, one that builds not just their own understanding of writing conventions and practices, but their confidence, leadership, and a deeper understanding of their future professions.
As Writing Center Fellows, students build rhetorical awareness, reflection, interprofessional engagement, and cultural competence. In every consultation, fellows learn to ask thoughtful questions, offer feedback across disciplinary boundaries, and center each writer’s purpose and voice. They also participate in structured training that emphasizes research-based strategies and inclusive practices for writing and learning. As one fellow expressed in their reflection after their first year in the Writing Center: “Learning through the Writing Center and BWCP professional development and practice widened the range of literacies I operate in. The most important was seeing writing as a communication strategy instead of just a process or even a tool.”
The professional development in which writing fellows participate exposes them to various literacy practices. These practices are grounded in recognizing the diversity of experiences that student writers at UMB have had and continue to have due to their disciplinary training and conventions as well as other factors shaping their social identities. Most importantly, being a Writing Center Fellow complements and expands the curricular training that students receive in their educational programs. “The new literacy practices I have created through my involvement with the UMB Writing Center and BWCP,” as another fellow explained, “have influenced my thinking about my future career path. These experiences have given me a better understanding of the goals and values that guide my professional journey.”
Fellows can work flexible schedules, depending on their program commitments and schedules. Typically, most fellows work between three to 10 hours per week, of which most are spent meeting with fellow students, either in person at the Writing Center or in one-on-one online sessions, as well as by giving written feedback on their peers’ projects. All fellows also contribute to workshops, resources, and community programming that strengthen UMB’s culture of writing. Fellowship payments vary from semester to semester based on each fellow’s weekly consultation schedule. All fellows are required to attend professional development sessions at the beginning of the fall semester as well as regular cohort meetings throughout the academic year.
Ready to grow as a communicator, mentor, and future professional, all while supporting your peers at UMB? Consider applying if you are a student in a professional or graduate program at UMB (bachelor’s degree required). The Writing Center Fellowship is more than a campus job; it’s a leadership opportunity that fosters collaboration, reflection, and impact. Applications for the 2025–2026 cohort are open now through Sept. 5, and positions begin in fall 2025.
Learn more and apply today through the Writing Center’s website.
Isabell Cserno May, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Graduate Studies, where she directs and teaches in the Science Communication certificate program. May also directs the UMB Writing Center and is passionate about accessible and engaging pedagogies.