Writing Lab: Welcome to the UD OWL (Online Writing Lab)!
SIGN UP FOR A WRITING LAB APPOINTMENT HERE!
Mr. James DeMasi
Adjunct Instructor of English and Writing Lab Director
Writing Lab: Braniff 304
Telephone: (972) 721-5243
email: jdemasi@udallas.edu
The Writing Lab has moved online! We have developed a system to conduct writing sessions online. Please
follow the instructions below to set up an appointment with a tutor!
The Writing Lab is open Sunday through Friday with appointments available as early
as 10:00 am (Central Standard Time) and as late as 10:00 pm (Central Standard Time).
A student may sign up for one thirty-minute session.
If you are having trouble signing up for a Writing Lab session, please email the Writing
Lab at writinglab@udallas.edu or the Writing Lab Director, James DeMasi, at jdemasi@udallas.edu
How to Launch a Virtual Writing Lab Session
Sessions will be run using the Google Suite which you received with your @udallas
email account. A tutor will be able to video conference with you while commenting
on your document which you will have shared through Google Docs. Below are detailed
instructions on how to connect with a tutor for a virtual writing lab session.
Connecting with a Writing Lab Tutor:
1. Sign up for a tutor using the link to the appointment calendar above. Make sure to use your @UDALLAS email address so that that Google Calendar syncs time-zones
between you and the tutor.
SIGN UP FOR A WRITING LAB APPOINTMENT HERE!
2. After you sign up for an appointment, you will receive an email confirming your
appointment. This email will have a subject line which begins "Invitation."
3. On the day of your appointment, please have your email open at least five minutes
before your meeting. Virtual meetings, by their nature, are less efficient than person
to person meetings, so please be absolutely prepared for your session before it begins.
4. The tutor will initiate a video conference call through Google Hangouts, but you will have to have your email open to see the invitation.
Sharing Your Document with Your Tutor (may be done ahead of time [recommended])
1. Open your Google Docs [located in your Google "Suite of Apps" immediately to the
left of your Account drop-down in the top right-hand corner of your email. Or go to
docs.google.com].
2. Once in Google Docs, open the file folder icon ("Open file Picker") beneath the
row of document templates, and next to the "AZ sort" options button. In the "Open
a File" feature, select "Upload," and then either drag your file to the open space
provided, or select the blue tab titled "Select a file from your device."
3. Once the file is opened in Google Docs, select the blue button in the top right-hand
corner titled "Share." Input the tutor's email address (found in the invitation email,
or if you know the tutor's name, the first initial of their first name followed by
their last name @udallas.edu).
Writing Lab Rules: [SUSPENDED FOR THE REST OF THE SPRING 2020 SEMESTER]
1. A sign-up sheet outside the Writing Lab is used to sign up for an appointment.
That sheet will be posted mid-day Thursday for the following week.
2. Undergraduates are limited to one 30 minute slot per day per assignment.
3. Students should bring a paper copy of the professor's prompt.
4. Students must bring a paper copy of the student's draft or outline--not just a
lap top--to be discussed.
5. Tutors are not allowed to edit, review, or critique take-home, out-of-class exams
without the written consent of the exam-giving instructor.
6. Tutors will comment on grammar, syntax, organization, and/or argumentation of
the draft presented. Their task is to show where the paper needs to improve, not
to re-write the paper. For that reason, tutors will point out consistent errors in
grammar and syntax, but not correct them all. Similarly, tutors will point out problems
with evidence use or information flow, but they will not generate the paper's argument,
evidence, or information.
Writing Lab Resources
Marking Guide with links to explanations of Common Errors and exercises to help you
correct those errors.
