GUIDANCE PROVIDED CAL coaches can mentor, empower, and support you through all types of academic challenges, including decoding an assignment, coping with distractions, using Turabian, developing a thesis statement, developing a thesis statement, and more.
HOW TO PREPARE Send your coach the assignment guidelines and, if applicable, your draft, outline, and/or other documents you want to review together. You can do this through the WC Online appointment booking form.
Choose the appointment day, time, and length that suits you on the WC Online calendar and click on the corresponding box. (See more details in the “Coaching Options” section below.)
Complete the appointment booking form that appears in a new window, including selecting your preferred coaching mode. (See more details in the “Coaching Options” section below.)
When your appointment time arrives, follow the instructions for accessing your appointment (Needed for video chat mode only. See more details in the “Coaching Options” section below.).
Coaching Options
APPOINTMENT LENGTH Appointments are either thirty (30) or sixty (60) minutes long. You may schedule your appointment at any time.
APPOINTMENT TYPE CAL offers four types of appointments:
In-Person. If you’d like to meet face-to-face with a coach, schedule an appointment on WC Online and come to the CAL suite of offices in the John Bulow Campbell Library at the time of your appointment.
Videochat (synchronous). If you want to meet with a coach conversationally and in real-time, choose this option. Follow the instructions in WC Online to access your video chat appointment at your scheduled time.
Document Review (asynchronous). If you want to get written feedback on your document, choose this option. A CAL coach will review your document for exactly the amount of time you reserve and return it to you with comments. You do not need to be present for this appointment type. Documents should be uploaded to the appointment or emailed to the coach in advance of the appointment’s start time.
Drop-in. At certain times, CAL may permit students to drop in without an appointment. Note: You can book an appointment normally up until the time the appointment slot begins in WC Online. However, please understand that during peak times when CAL services are in high demand, timely scheduling may be necessary. In some cases, CAL will open drop-in hours to accommodate students on a first-come, first-serve basis. Also, when completing a coaching session, be aware that CAL does not save student work after a session. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that work has been properly stored.
MEET THE COACHES
All our CAL team members are equipped to help you at any stage of the process with any issue related to academic literacy; however, each coach also brings a unique set of skills and experiences! Learn about their areas of expertise below to see who could be the best conversation partner for you.
Dr. Robert Griffin – Director
Robert (Rob) Griffin is the Director of the Center for Academic Literacy at Columbia Theological Seminary. His Ph.D. is in Linguistics from Indiana University—Bloomington where he specialized in Applied Linguistics and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Rob has MA degrees from Indiana in Germanic Studies and Applied Linguistics and his research focuses on issues related to Second Language Acquisition, Phonology and Interlanguage Pragmatics.
Deanrea Sykes — CAL coach
Deanrea Sykes hails from the Philosophy Department at Emory University, where his doctoral work focuses on Africana Philosophy, Existentialism, and Critical Phenomenology. His undergraduate degree from Howard University was also in Philosophy. He has been a summer research fellow in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Davis, and was selected to attend the Cornell University Plus Philosophy of Law Undergraduate Summer School.
