Appointment letters are official documents sent electronically to writers after every appointment. They summarize the work you and the writer have done and help writers identify or remember key learning opportunities from the appointment. They also help the Writing Center keep clear and thoughtful records of our work with writers.
Appointment letters enact the Writing Center’s core belief that “writing facilitates creating and sharing knowledge.”
Letters give us the opportunity to reinforce learning with writers and help us share that knowledge with others at the writer’s request.
Letters document your work, provide opportunities to reflect, and help to refine and improve our practices.
Letters extend DePaul's value of Vincentian personalism beyond the appointment, by allowing you to display thoughtful care for the needs of each writer with whom you work. As core values of our university, "Our Vincentian personalism and professionalism is reflected by our DePaul community whose members care for the needs of each other and of those with whom we live, work, study, and seek to serve." Through a personalized letter to the writer, you connect with them, reinforce the accomplishments of each appointment, and show them how much you value their writing and their inclusion of you in their writing process.
Understanding audience is a key component of any good genre study, and appointment letters are no exception. This section highlights the audience and goals of our appointment letters to help tutors better understand the genre conventions and expectations. Letters make the work we do visible to different audiences:
Letters Help Writers
While letters have multiple audiences, the primary audience is the writer, because their choice to work with a peer writing tutor is the main exigence for the appointment and any record-keeping that results from that appointment. Thus, you address the letter directly to the writer.