Macey Lauren Coldiron

As the Director of Writing Internships with ODU, my primary focus has been to expand our internship program. In just the first year that I have held my position, we saw a 300% increase in students enrolled in for-credit internship programs. In order to facilitate this growth, I have acted as liaison between our department and organizations and companies that seek out interns. If an organization is interested in starting an internship program, I also assist in developing this along with company representatives and supervisors, to ensure that students receive maximum benefit from their experiential learning opportunities. Because of the success in growing the interest in and availability of internship positions, ODU has been able to offer one English concentration, Technical/Professional Writing, an experience guarantee. We hope that other concentrations will not be far behind.

As faculty with ECPI, I have had the opportunity to teach a wide range of general education courses–from college preparatory courses for freshmen to advanced levels of composition and humanities. Because these courses are designed to be beneficial for students from all majors, each course and cohort requires flexibility and understanding. In this way, I’ve been able to practice strong and adaptable pedagogical leadership skills. Teaching such a variety of topics and students has also helped me gain a stronger understanding of how information is interpreted, remembered, and shared–giving me a good foundation for research that focuses on critical awareness in information literacy. Recently, I have also taken over as faculty advisor for our honors students and as an ENGAGE coach. An essential component of our quality enhancement plan, coaches work with incoming freshman to help prepare them for their college journey by supplementing the development of soft skills such as time management to help students become self-regulated learners.

As a graduate instructor at ODU, I have led courses in advanced composition and technical and professional writing. In all instances, I have been in charge of creating a unique syllabus designed around my own teaching philosophies, teaching class independently throughout the course of the semester, and providing students with prompt formative and summative assessments. Designing course curriculum and activities for multiple course designations has aided in my ability to adapt to the needs and expectations of different student audience groups, aiding in their assimilation and critical understanding of key concepts and information.

As the coordinating editor for the “Field Guide” section of MediaCommons, a collaborative multi-institutional, multi-functional digital publication, I wrote the calls for papers around which the field guide created our surveys. Once the issue CFP was in place, I researched potential contributing authors and reached out to them with invitations to solicit contributions. This networking process involved several marketing steps, such as identifying the proper target audiences and pitching the journal in a clear and intriguing manner. I also provided basic technical support to authors as they created accounts and submitted their work to be uploaded onto the journal website, including some minor coding adjustments. The position was entirely self-paced, so time management skills were essential. You may view the Field Guide website here: http://mediacommons.org/fieldguide/.

I completed research assistantships in both the Writing Across the Curriculum office and the Rhetoric and Composition department. Both of these positions required me to correspond professionally on behalf of the department and the university. For each position, I was frequently tasked with compiling relevant research and evaluating information sources in a timely manner. The Writing Across the Curriculum assistantship in particular afforded me the opportunity to work with other WAC representatives on projects corresponding both to Appalachian State University, our peer institutions, and the surrounding community collegesincluding updating the WAC website and helping to facilitate the Writing Across Institutions annual conference. As a WAC representative, I worked with faculty in departments across the university to assist them with creating and assessing meaningful writing tasks for students in a wide range of disciplines. Working in the rhetoric and composition department allowed me to work on research and data collection that was specifically tailored to compliance with institutional standards. You may view the Appalachian State University Writing Across the Curriculum website here: https://wac.appstate.edu/

I was responsible for teaching the freshman introductory course to college writing, known at Appalachian State University as R_C 1000. Responsibilities for this position included creating a unique syllabus and managing the course independently. I was required to interact with my students in a professional and authoritative manner, remain organized in such a way as to effectively accomplish university mandated course goals and outcomes, and manage incoming graded assignments from students in a timely manner.

I worked as a graduate level writing consultant in the University Writing Center. This required a professional attitude and appearance and a welcoming and friendly disposition. The writing center works with clients from the university as well as from the surrounding community, with all levels of writing ability, on a wide variety of writing projects. Therefore, this position requires quick thinking and reaction time, because I am not always aware of what the client will be bringing in ahead of time. Because of the nature of this position, I am required to problem-solve quickly maintaining a large body of information within memory and also understanding how to appropriately use resources to find information. Properly communicating with my clients is the key aspect of this job, whether in person, in a web conference, or via phone or email correspondence. Additional responsibilities included managing front desk secretarial responsibilities and working with WCOnline software. I also served on a committee that was dedicated to marketing and outreach, advertising the services offered in the writing center through public billboards and social media outlets.

Server-Mike’s Inland Seafood (2015-2017)

Crew Member- Chipotle (2014-2015)

Sale Team- Dancey’s Comfort Footwear (2013-2014)

I worked in various capacities in the service industry. These positions offered me experience in cash handling, food handling, and customer interfaceboth in person and over the phone. My position in retail also afforded me the opportunity to work with inventory lists and contribute to stocking decisions. I have experience operating cash registers and point-of-sale systems.