Meet the Staff
The Center for Writing Excellence is staffed by student writing consultants who are highly trained and come from majors across the campus, including education, English, history, and more. All writing consultants are required to attend a semester-length training course that teaches writing and research processes, writing across the disciplines, interpersonal communication skills, and office policies and protocols.
If you are interested in applying for a job at the Center, and if you have completed the General Education writing sequence (EN 111-112 or EN 111H - 112H) with at least a 3.0 average or above, log in to LionJobs and look for an opening.
Current Center for Writing Excellence Staff:
- Maria Kerstiens
- Allie Roberts
- Tessa Ivey
- Stone Parker
- Corey Roden
- Kara Holden
- Emily Clay (Graduate Student)
- Allie Brooks (Graduate Student)
- Tabitha Singleton (Graduate Student)
- Dr. Kathleen Richards
Maria Kerstiens
| Major(s): Secondary Education Minor: English Language Arts |
| Role: Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: APA format, Grammar, Content Development |
| Biography: Maria is from Summertown, Tennessee. She is a senior and a member of the Honors College. She has an interest in theater and is Secretary for the Shoals Theater Guild. Her hobbies include reading, writing, painting, baking, and cracking jokes. She also likes to play the guitar and ukulele. She loves the outdoors and loves to hike and explore. |
Tessa Ivey
| Major: Secondary Education | |
| Minor: English / Language Arts | |
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Role: Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
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| Writing Strengths: MLA Format, Brainstorming, and Grammar | |
| Biography: Tessa is a senior at UNA. She enjoys hanging out with family and friends, attending church activities, reading, drawing, and everything to do with fast-pitch softball. After she graduates, she plans to teach high school English/Language Arts and coach varsity sports for girls. |
Allie Roberts
| Major: Professional Writing and History |
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Minor: Spanish |
| Role: Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: Grammar and Content Development |
| Biography: Allie has a passion for learning as well as helping others learn. She loves to spend time with her family and friends and enjoys reading, writing, running, and listening to music. She is a member of the Honors Program and is VP of Academic Excellence for Alpha Gamma Delta. Upon graduation, she plans to attend law school or graduate school for a doctorate in history. |
Stone Parker
| Major(s): English/Professional Writing |
| Minor: Sociology |
| Role: Writing Consultant ( Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: MLA and APA Formats, Brainstorming, Outlining, Content Development |
| Biography: Stone is a senior and is originally from Cullman, Alabama. He enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and taking care of his tuxedo cat, Kit. After he graduates from UNA, he plans to attend another institution and attain a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree. |
Corey Roden
| Major: Secondary Education/English |
| Role: Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: Content Development, Creative Writing, and Sentence Structure |
| Biography: Ever since he was in elementary school, Corey has been writing short stories. He dreams of writing a novel some day in the future. For now, he is focusing on his path to becoming a secondary education English teacher. Besides writing, Corey enjoys playing the drums, dabbling in art, and spending time with his fiancée and their puppy. |
Kara Holden
| Major: Nursing |
| Role: Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: APA formatting, Outlining, COntent Development, Grammar |
| Biography: Kara is from Memphis, Tennessee. She is a senior and a member of Alpha Delta Pi and the Honors College. She enjoys running, riding, hiking, reading, and traveling. Upon graduation, she hopes to work in a pediatric intensive care unit before going to graduate school. |
Emily Clay
| Major: Technical Writing |
| Role: Graduate Student Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: MLA, APA, Brainstorming, and Grammar |
| Biography: Emily is originally from the small town of Metropolis, IL, but has lived in Tuscumbia, AL for the last 14 years. She graduated in Dec. 2017 with a BA in English Literature and a BM in Music Performance from UNA. She has returned to UNA to work toward a master's degree in technical writing. She enjoys reading, sewing, and playing video games, and has three wonderful dogs. |
Allie Brooks
| Major: Secondary Social Science Education |
| Role: Graduate Student Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: Chicago Manual Style (CMS), APA, Content Development, and Grammar |
| Biography: I am a native Huntsvillian, but have lived in Florence, Al, for about 12 years now. I recently earned my B.A. in history with a minor in political science. I am now working on my master’s degree in Secondary Social Science Education. I love to read, write, listen to podcasts, and travel. After graduation, I plan to teach and eventually pursue my Ph.D. in history. |
Tabitha Singleton
| Major: Creative Writing |
| Role: Graduate Student Writing Consultant (Certified Tutor) |
| Writing Strengths: Brainstorming, Content Development, and Grammar |
| Biography: Tabitha was raised just outside of the Chicagoland area in Illinois. She has received a B.S. in Professional Writing from UNA, where she is currently studying for her master’s degree in creative writing. Outside of class, she enjoys writing and watching comedies with her dog. |
Kathleen Richards
| Role: Director |
| Biography: Dr. Richards has a master's degree in English literature from UNA and a doctorate degree in English composition and TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Richards has been teaching at UNA for approximately fifteen years. For the first couple of years as an adjunct English composition instructor, she often volunteered to work in writing centers as a tutor. While tutoring and teaching students in English composition, she became fascinated with writing centers and the support they provide for students. Dr. Richards has been directing the UNA Center for Writing Excellence (CWE) for seven years. In order for the writing consultants at UNA to be the very best, she initiated the International Tutor Training Program Certification (ITTPC), sponsored by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA). Students at UNA can be assured that the writing consultants in the CWE have gone through extensive tutor training and are fully capable of tutoring students in writing across the disciplines. |