CVdesign

							Designing Your CV for Faculty Positions in
 Rhet & Comp / Technical Communication



                 Baotong Gu
           Georgia State University
                 bgu@gsu.edu
          GSU English GTA Conference
             Atlanta, March 2005
Professional Profile

   Establishing a professional identity
   What do you want to market yourself as?
    •   A rhetorician?
    •   A compositionist?
    •   A technical communicator?
    •   A web design guru?
    •   A computers and writing specialist?
    •   A science/medical/environmental writing expert?
Content Design
    Education
    Teaching Experience
    Publications
    Conference Presentations
    Service
    Computer Skills
    Honors & Awards
    Professional Memberships
    Significant Courses
    References
    Your Education

   The usual elements          Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

      • School                        Ph. D. in English, Expected August 2000
                                      Primary Area: Rhetoric and Composition

      • Degree                        Secondary Area: Technical and Professional Writing
                                      Dissertation Title: From the Turtle Shell to the
      • Area                          Computer: A Rhetorical Perspective on the
                                      Impact of Culture on Writing Technology
      • Graduation Date               (Committee: Patricia Sullivan, Chair; Johndan
                                      Johnson-Eilola; Janice Lauer; Tony Silva)
   Other, equally important    Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
    elements                           M. A. in English, 1994
      • Dissertation title             Concentration: Business and Technical Communication

      • Committee members
                                       Thesis Title: Human-Computer Interface Design: A
                                       Human Activity Approach to Software
                                       Localization (Advisor: David Russell)
   First place in your cv
                                Suzhou University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, PR China
    where you give people an          B. A. in English Language and Literature, 1983
    idea of your professional
    identity
    Teaching Experience
                            Purdue University (Department of English), West Lafayette, Indiana
   Course titles                Graduate Instructor 08/94-06/99
                                       420 Business Writing (8 sections, 6 in computer labs)
   Course numbers                     421 Technical Writing (4 sections, all in computer labs)
                                       101 Freshmen Composition I (1 section)
    (to show the level of              102 Freshmen Composition II (2 sections)
                                 Writing Lab Tutor 08/97-12/97
    course)                            Worked with students one on one on various writing issues
                                       Helped create various handouts on grammar and
   Computerized                          mechanical issues
                                       Contributed to the writing lab database
    (more of a required                Answered questions on grammar hotline
    credential nowadays)    Iowa State University (Department of English), Ames, Iowa

   Number of                         Writing Center Tutor 08/92-12/93
                                      Research Assistant (for Dr. David Russell) 01/92-08/93

    sections (to show
    the amount of
    experience)
Publications &
Conference Presentations

 • List all you have:
    • Books, collections, articles, proceedings, local
     publications, etc.
 • Separate publications from conference
   presentations.
 • If you have many publications and/or
   presentations, consider dividing them up into
   different categories.
    Service
                                      Director of the Sophomore College English Program 09/87-
   Field-relevant program                 12/91
    administrative positions:             Suzhou University, Department of English, Suzhou, PR
                                           China
    freshman composition, wpa,            Supervised a faculty of about 15 teachers
    wac, writing center…                  Oversaw a program in charge of the English classes for
                                           over 1000 students
   Positions in national and local   
                                      
                                           Was responsible for the curriculum and course design
                                           Designed the teaching schedules for all faculty members
    professional organizations:           Conducted weekly meetings on teaching related issues
    NCTE, MLA, SAMLA, CCCC,               Observed classes and wrote teaching evaluations for all
                                           teachers
    ATTW, STC…
                                      Conference Researcher Conference on Written Discourse in
   Journal editorial board members       Philanthropic Fundraising: Issues of Language and
                                          Rhetoric. Indianapolis, Indiana, October 1997
    and/or referee readers
                                      Referee Reader Journal of Second Language Writing,
   Committee work                        December 1996
   Conference session chairs         Contributing Bibliographe r 1996 CCCC Bibliography of
                                           Composition and Rhetoric
   Positions in student
    organizations, e.g., GEA          Contributing Bibliographe r 1997 CCCC Bibliography of
                                           Composition and Rhetoric
   Local conference organizing
    functions
    Computer Skills
   Classify them: web      Software
    design, database           Microsoft Office (Word, Excel,
    management,                PowerPoint), MacDraw Pro, Access,
                               Freehand, Netscape Communicator,
    content/course             Photoshop, Deskscan, BHE.
    management,             Platforms
    networking,                Macintosh, Windows 98, Windows 95,
    programming…               UNIX
   Rather critical to tech Networking & Web Development
    comm positions             Email, LISTSERV, Server Management,
                               HTML Coding, Java & Javascript Web
   Make your identity and
                               Design
    skills match
    Course Work
   List major graduate         Professional and Technical Writing
                                   Professional Writing Theory (Dr. Rachel Spilka)
    courses                        Computers and Writing (Dr. Johndan Johnson-Eilola)
                                   Writing Proposals and Grant Applications (Dr. Richard
   Why? Few search                 Freeman)
    committee members              Theory and Research in Professional and Technical
                                    Communication
    would actually read your       Writing Manuals and Instructional Materials
    transcript                     Editing Principles and Practices

   What courses you’ve         Rhetoric and Composition
    taken is a good indicator      Composition Theory (Dr. Janice Lauer)
                                   History of Rhetoric: Classical Period to the Renaissance
    of what you may be able         (Dr. Janice Lauer)
    to teach                       History of Rhetoric: Modern Period (Dr. Patricia Harkin)
                                   Postmodernism and Composition Issues (Dr. James E.
   Group them under                Porter)
    different categories           Empirical Research Methodologies (Dr. Patricia
                                    Sullivan)
   List professor’s name          Qualitative Research (Dr. Patricia Sullivan)
                                   The History of Rhetorical Theory I: From Plato to Bacon
                                    (Dr. Virginia Allen)
    Misc.: Honors, Awards, Grants,
    Memberships

    Publication awards
    Teaching awards
    Professional memberships: show how active
     you’re in professional life
    Common expectations: NCTE, MLA, CCCC,
     ATTW
    Format Design

   A very tricky aspect
     • Good format design taken for granted
     • Poor format design not tolerated
   Readers may not notice a good design, but they’ll
    definitely notice a bad design.
Format Design Issues
   Minimalist design
   Hanging indent
   Visual hierarchy
   Design consistency
   Use of white space
   Page focus
   Column alignment (an aspect most often ignored)