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.
While we could simply write reports to document our work with writers, we instead write letters to connect with writers personally and support their learning and writing process beyond the appointment. This aligns with our approach that we’re working 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 are rooted in our university’s Vincentian history and values. St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac were collaborators who stayed in touch primarily through handwritten letters to one another in which they discussed their work in serving the poor and marginalized, asked questions, discussed next steps, and expressed care to and for one another. Following this tradition, writing appointment letters also extends DePaul's value of Vincentian personalism beyond the appointment. By displaying thoughtful care for the needs of each writer with whom you work in your appointment letters, you enact Vincentian personalism through “…recognizing and caring for the unique personhood and sacred dignity of the other.” 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: