WELCOME TO THE ONLINE WRITING CENTER
for Distance OT, PT and Pharmacy Students
CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY

Dear OT, PT, and Pharmacy Students,

Welcome to the online tutorial service sponsored by the SPAHP Office of Academic and Student Affairs. My name is Katie Stahlnecker, and I have been a Writing Center Consultant since 1992.  This is my seventh year of providing online writing consultations through Creighton University.  Over the years, I have worked extensively with many Health Sciences majors, and I am excited about this opportunity to continue accommodating you and your busy schedules in this virtual setting.  Please feel free to contact me at any stage of the writing process with questions regarding this service or with drafts of your writing for my review.  I will reserve five hours a week to assist you with your writing projects on a first-come, first-served basis.  The procedure for securing an appointment with me is as follows:

Step One

When you would like to set up an online tutorial, first email me at katies@creighton.edu to inquire about the status of available hours for that week, in essence to set up an appointment. In order to help me assess the time needed to work with you, please include 

1. The names of the course and the professor for which you are writing this document and of your program/pathway.
2. The name of the assignment or task and its parameters. Please attach your professor’s explanation of the assignment if possible.
3. A brief explanation of what you would like for me to focus on when reading your writing and a list of any specific questions you have;
4. An estimation of the number of double-spaced pages of the document.

Step Two

I will respond to your message that day when possible to let you know if I have open time slots for that week. If so, I will invite you to send the document to me either as a Word attachment or as part of your email message (which you can do by cutting and pasting your piece of writing into the message).  I will also encourage you, if possible, to send the professor’s written instructions for the assignment. 

Step Three

Once I receive your document, I will respond by letting you know how much time I can allot for it and when I will return it with my comments.  For instance, if I receive your twenty-page document by noon on February 22nd, I might respond by saying that I will spend forty-five minutes reviewing it and that you should expect my comments by noon on February 23rd. 

During that timeframe, I would encourage you to check your email often so that we may converse as needed about the assignment, your writing, etc. I am committed to helping you as much as possible with your writing, but to ensure the effectiveness and success of this virtual tutorial space, this, necessarily, must be a collaborative, dialogic process. In other words, please do not mistake this online resource for a proofreading service, for which you submit a paper and I send it back "fixed." I will offer comments and suggestions regarding all aspects of your writing, including grammar, and it will be your task then to incorporate them into your written work as you see fit.

I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Katie Stahlnecker

katies@creighton.edu