25-26 Facilitator | Amber C.

✍️ Position Summary

This role consists of facilitating the Writers Guild writing group, which meets once every week throughout each quarter. This writing group was developed over a decade ago for creative writers in the DePaul community, to provide a space to workshop their writing, share resources, build relationships, and more.

The group is typically run by two facilitators working in partnership to manage and balance responsibilities. The Writing Groups Student Leader supports the facilitators through regular check-ins and offers guidance and resources for facilitation, materials, and promotion. You can find more information about best practices for facilitators and attendees under “Writers Guild Community Guidelines” on the Guild webpage.

✨ Principle Duties & Responsibilities

Facilitate weekly Writers Guild meetings to support writers (70%)

• Invite writers via weekly email to submit pieces to the Writers Guild Google Form for each week’s meeting
• Review submissions in the Google Form, confirm receipt with respective writers via email, and prepare a master document of all works to be shared before each meeting
  • If pieces have sensitive content and require editing before they can be shared, communicate with the writer to find a solution that allows them to share work but will not take away from the group’s experience
• Collaboratively set an agenda for each meeting that takes into account the needs of the group (including rapport-building), the number of pieces to be shared, and the time available
  • Facilitators may also want to:
    • Incorporate creative writing-related discussions and/or freewriting activities
    • Include team-building activities for rapport building and community engagement
    • Provide a space for the group to exchange resources, personal stories, and ideas related to publication, professional options, and common creative writing-related challenges
• Foster constructive dialogue by asking writers questions about their work (via submission form and during meetings) and encouraging others to share feedback

Collaborate with Writers Guild co-facilitator, Writing Groups Student Leader, and other relevant people or organizations (20%)

• Connect with Writers Guild co-facilitator weekly to plan for meetings, reflect, and share responsibilities
• Communicate with Writing Groups Student Leader about group and facilitator needs
• Plan and facilitate the quarterly event Aloud!
  • Schedule date and create or work with Writing Groups Student Leader to create flyer
  • Promote the event (sharing on social media, hanging flyers, etc.)
  • Submit order requests for catering and supplies
  • act as emcees to facilitate open mic-style sharing
• Collaborate with relevant student leaders and writing group facilitators on in-house literary projects such as The Orange Couch

Perform other administrative and recordkeeping duties (10%)

• Send weekly emails to the Writers Guild email list
• Manage Writers Guild budget and order requests for supplies, snacks, and catering for weekly meetings and special events
• Enter participants for each meeting into WCOnline
• Keep track of new participants using the Airtable, taking down emails and creating accounts in WCOnline as needed

🧑‍🏫 Principal Learning Objectives

• Understand the vulnerability of sharing writing--especially creative work--with the opportunity for facilitators to share their own pieces and participate as peers with the rest of the group
• Learn to balance a group that may contain writers of many different experiences, such as writers who might have more professional or publishing experience and other writers who might be at the beginning stages of their creative journey
• Learn best practices for working with creative writers and managing large-group meetings
• Understand and utilize a variety of strategies to effectively lead a community and collaborate with multiple stakeholders
• Develop and execute practical event-planning and public speaking skills