Schedule your 30- or 60-minute, one-with-one consultations through RooLearning+ by downloading the app from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Android). A website version is also available at umkc.tedu.app/student. You'll see all writing studio tutors in this schedule so if you'd like a graduate tutor specifically, look for the GWI Graduate Assistants Molly Doroba and Sarah Christian.
You can also email Graduate Writing Specialist Marcus Meade (marcusmeade@umkc.edu) if you'd like to schedule a writing consultation with him.
RooLearning+ is a new system for us so it may be a little rocky to start, but if you're having any troubles at all, feel free to email Marcus.
All GWI consultants are trained to assist graduate students in any field using a rhetorical/genre studies approach to tutoring writing. This means they will help you better understand the rhetorical conventions of the genre in which you’re writing (theses, dissertations, conference proposals, grant proposals, etc.), as well as assist with process, organization, grammar and style, brainstorming, or anything else that’s writing related.
Dr. Marcus Meade is the Graduate Writing Specialist at UMKC and one of the leaders of the Graduate Writing Initiative. He holds a Ph.D. in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which means he studies how people write and how they learn to write. He also holds a M.A. in English and B.S. in Journalism from Northwest Missouri State University and worked briefly as a sports journalist in his younger days.
He has been tutoring graduate and undergraduate students for roughly 13 years, including stints in the Associate Director positions at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Virginia writing centers.
His learning interests include history, economics, media studies, psychology, neuroscience, religious studies, and so much more. He just loves to learn.
Currently, I am in my final year of an interdisciplinary Ph.D. (IPhD) at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC); my primary discipline is Geoscience with a co-discipline in Mechanical Engineering. I have completed all coursework related to my degree path, as well as UMKC’s Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) Program. The PFF program has prepared me for teaching and mentoring a diverse group of students throughout the neurodiversity spectrum. Through my degree path, I have written grants for a suite of audiences ranging from local organizations to government agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). These grant audiences are generally scientific in nature, though many require a nonscientific narrative approach as well.
My personal experience has taught me how to write to a diverse group of reviewers and generate impactful figures and captions. Additionally, I have been a volunteer grant reviewer for the American Indian Sciences and Engineering Society for three years. To date, I have authored/co-authored and published eight scientific papers: three first-author papers and five contributing authorships. These authorships have allowed me to experience the review, editing, and final press process for large publishing groups, scientific organizations, and national symposiums. I did write and complete my master’s thesis at UMKC; therefore, I am familiar with the process and contacts. Lastly, I am well-versed in producing oral presentations with visual aids for the dissemination of research and teaching materials. I have prepared nine professional presentations for both in-person and virtual audiences for national scientific organizations or government agencies. These audiences range from focused discipline-based conferences to very general non-scientific attendees.
Mary Jean Miller is a graduate student seeking a Ph.D. with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her academic focus is on the embodiment of health and healing in lay audiences through affective reading in late-medieval English romance. She earned her B.A. in English and Writing at Drury University and completed her M.A. in English with a focus on Manuscript, Print Culture, and Editing at UMKC prior to beginning the iPh.D. program.
Mary Jean is looking forward to engaging with graduate students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to help them better understand their writing process and work on projects they're passionate about. She seeks to highlight graduate student voices in their own work and help students build strong writing habits for success at UMKC and beyond.
In her spare time, Mary Jean enjoys playing the violin, going for walks with her two dogs, and volunteering in historical roles at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. She loves to learn and is excited for the opportunity to talk to others about their own fields of interest!
For more consultant options, check out the wonderful staff at the UMKC Writing Studio.
