Praxis: A Writing Center Journal • Vol. 19, No. 3 (2022)

About the Authors

Varun Joseph Andrews, MEng served as a graduate writing consultant at Lehigh University’s Graduate Writers’ Studio at the time that this article was written. He has since graduated from Lehigh University with his master’s degree in Healthcare Systems Engineering, and currently works at a major health system.

Anne Berry, MA & MS is the Assistant Director of Multilingual Student Language Support in the Center for Advising and Academic Support and a writing instructor in the Writing Program at St. Olaf College. Anne approaches her work with international student writers with a background in English language instruction and college readiness programming. She is a long-time member of TESOL and has presented frequently at the international convention and at regional conferences.

Kevin Cummiskey, PhD earned his PhD in Biostatistics from Harvard University and is an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy. His primary interest is in innovative teaching approaches in undergraduate statistics courses. Specifically, he’s been nationally recognized for his work in introducing ideas from causal inference in the undergraduate curriculum. He is also involved in a wide range of applied research in statistics and data science. Dr. Cummiskey is a Colonel in the United States Army and has served in a variety of positions in the Corps of Engineers and Operations Research and Systems Analysis (ORSA) branch.

Nicholas Cunningham, BS recently graduated from the United States Military Academy with an undergraduate degree in Mathematical Sciences with minors in Applied Statistics and Cybersecurity. While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Nick worked as a Senior Writing Fellow in the West Point Writing Program. Nick is passionate about using machine learning and causal inference to address knowledge gaps in human performance. His extracurricular research includes work with the National Security Agency, the United States Army Special Operations Command, Army Research Labs, and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre. Nick is a First Lieutenant in the United States Army and is currently serving within the Infantry branch.

Bridget Draxler, PhD is Associate Director of Writing, Speaking, and Academic Support and an adjunct assistant professor of writing at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Bridget’s teaching and research focus on public humanities, writing centers, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Along with Maggie Epstein, she is a co-author of How to Be a Peer Research Consultant (2021). She is also the co-author, with Danielle Spratt, of Engaging the Age of Jane Austen: Humanities in Practice (2018).

Collen G. Eils, PhD is the Deputy Director of and Associate Professor in the West Point Writing Program at the United States Military Academy. She earned her PhD in English with a portfolio in Mexican American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, where she gained her first writing center experience. Her work in writing program administration, in the classroom, and through scholarship in writing studies, pedagogy, and literary studies is committed to advancing equitable, socially just institutional practices. She is the author of The Politics of Privacy in Contemporary Native, Latinx, and Asian American Metafictions (the Ohio State UP, 2020).

Courtney Glass is a visiting assistant teaching professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Florida International University. She is a former Graduate Consultant at the Center for Excellence in Writing where she also served as a mentor and facilitator in the GWMP. Her research interests include writing pedagogy, first-year writing, multilingual writers, graduate writing, writing center practices, and 19th century literature.

Victoria Gutierrez is a recent graduate from St. Olaf College, where she majored in Political Science and Sociology/Anthropology. Since her second year of undergraduate, she worked as a Writing and Research tutor and upon graduation, she worked as the temporary Writing Center Coordinator. Along with Manuela Novoa Villada, she is a co-author of “Balancing ‘Correctness’ With ‘Voice’ For Linguistically Diverse Writers: Training Modules For Inclusive Writing Support” (2021).

Jacob Herrmann, PhD is the Assistant Director of the Center for Academic and Professional Communication (CAPC) at Rice University.  He holds a PhD in English literature from The University of Kansas.  His research interests include writing center pedagogy and practice, LGBTQ+ studies, and first-year composition.  His publications include "Brave/r Spaces vs. Safe Spaces for LGBTQ+ in the Writing Center: Theory and Practice at the University of Kansas" in The Peer Review (2017).

Xuan Jiang, PhD is the Assistant Director of the Center for Excellence in Writing at Florida International University. Her research interests include writing tutoring, writing pedagogy, writing tutors’ growth, graduate student writing, issues and strategies in academic writing, and transnationalism and translingualism in TESOL. She has published her studies as peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in these fields.

Andrew Lee, PhD earned his MA and PhD in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has expertise in a wide variety of operations research and transportation models focusing on military applications, unmanned aerial systems, and disaster relief. At the United States Military Academy, Dr. Lee is an innovative educator in the classroom implementing novel pedagogical approaches such as discovery learning assessments in the mathematical modeling course. He also leads summer faculty workshops to mentor and train new junior faculty members. As the Director for West Point’s Center for Leadership and Diversity in STEM (CLDSTEM), he is passionate about bridging the underrepresentation gap in STEM, especially with career fields centered on the Department of Defense modernization priorities like computer science and cybersecurity. Dr. Lee is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and has served in a variety of positions with increasing responsibility in the Military Intelligence and Operations Research and Systems Analysis (ORSA) branch.

Yvonne R. Lee, PhD directs the Graduate Writers’ Studio at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She holds a PhD in Literacy, Rhetoric and Social Practice from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Her current research interests revolve around the experiences of graduate writers, including how they seek out and utilize campus-based writing support services.

Jo Mackiewicz, PhD is a professor of rhetoric and professional communication at Iowa State University. Her recent book, Writing Center Talk over Time: A Mixed-Method Study, won the International Writing Centers Association’s Outstanding Book Award.

Adrian R. Salgado, MA is a second-year PhD student at The Ohio State University who studies nineteenth-century American literature. He holds a BA and an MA in English from Florida International University. During his time there, he was a writing consultant who tutored undergraduate and graduate students at the Center for Excellence in Writing. In addition to tutoring, he served as a mentor and facilitator in the GWMP and presented in various writing center conferences. His research interests include nineteenth-century American literature, maritime literature, transoceanic studies, sound studies, performance studies, queer studies, archival studies, and material culture.

Isabelle Thompson, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Technical and Professional Communication and former director of the English Center at Auburn University.

Manuela Novoa Villada, BA is a recent graduate from St. Olaf College, where she majored in Sociology/Anthropology and Philosophy. During her third year of undergraduate, she began her position as a Supplemental Instructor for the Introduction to Academic Writing course tailored to ESL international students. As part of the Magnus the Good Fellowship, she co-researched inclusive sentence-level practices that were implemented in training modules at St. Olaf’s College writing center. She currently works as a victim advocate in the Twin Cities.

Joseph Zuccarelli, BS is a Draper Laboratory Scholar pursuing his MS in Data Science at Harvard University. He recently graduated from the United States Military Academy as a Mathematical Sciences major and Cyber Security minor. While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Joseph worked as a Senior Writing Fellow in the West Point Writing Program. In his undergraduate studies, Joseph focused his research on applied mathematics and technical communication. His internship experience includes working with the Florida Panthers sports analytics team studying National Hockey League data. Joseph is a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army and will serve within the Cyber branch following the completion of his studies at Harvard.

Sinenhalanhla Zungu, MA & MS served as a graduate writing consultant at Lehigh University’s Graduate Writers’ Studio at the time that this article was written. She holds an MA in Clinical Psychology and an MS in Social Psychology. She is currently a PhD candidate in Social Psychology at Lehigh University.