PA Writing Centre

The Prince Albert Campus Distance Writing Centre provides free tools and support to help you write effective essays, reports and reviews. 

This term Dr. Kai McKenzie is here to help PA students. They will help guide you through many different helpful topics.

Dr. Kai McKenzie has a PhD in Folklore from Indiana University on the topic of American myth and mountaineering, a PhD in English from the University of Saskatchewan on the topic of Canadian Two-Spirit and Transgender coming-of-age novels, and a BA in Russian and German Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. Their arts-based teaching background in K-12 and university includes a special focus on the high-school to university transition and writing support in first-year university courses. Their current research involves understanding how Two-Spirit and transgender children create imaginative storyworlds in connection with genres of game, film, and literature to generate personal and communal resilience in the face of social policies of exclusion and erasure. Dr. McKenzie teaches Literature for Children and Literature and Composition courses at the University of Saskatchewan’s Prince Albert Campus and Coordinates the Prince Albert Writing Centre.

Contact them at kai.orca@usask.ca.

Workshops are Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00 to 1:45 pm

• Tuesdays in Room 246 and online
• Thursdays in Room 136 and online

January 2025

7 and 9: AI Responsibilities
14 and 16: Grammar Review
21 and 23: Essay Structure
28 and 30: Exam Strategies

February 2025

4 and 6: Reading Strategies
11 and 13: Research Strategies
18 and 20: How to Talk With Your Instructor
25 and 27: Making Argumentative Claims

March 2025

4 and 6: Integrating Evidence into Your Essay
11 and 13: Analyzing Your Evidence
18 and 20: Building Meaningful Transitions
25 and 27: Common Grammar and Punctuation Problems

April 2025

1 and 3: Clarity, Focus, and Parallel Structures

Individual Tutoring is on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Student Commons Lounge and Online

• Tuesdays from 2:00 to 4:00 pm
• Thursdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Simply submit a project draft and a qualified tutor will assess your work and offer advice on ways to improve your project.

Contact the tutor if you have difficulty getting started, or want advice on constructing an outline.

• Write a project draft. Tutors do not replace writing instruction in your classes – they enhance and support it. Tutors will not write, edit or proofread assignments and will not ghostwrite essays or offer instruction in English as a second language.

• Use the following timelines when submitting:
  • Submit your assignment by email at least 2-3 days (48-72 hours) before the due date.
  • Assignments may be submitted on weekends but return times may be slower.

• Your assignment will be returned along with a tutor critique sheet. The critique sheet will provide comments about the following areas:
  • What are the paper's strengths?
  • Describe any weaknesses concerning the thesis or focus, voice or tone, organization, development, paragraphing etc.
  • The tutor will suggest a strategy to improve on each weakness and offer additional comments to help you with your assignment.

Send a completed submission form along with your assignment to distance.writing@usask.ca. You will receive a response from a tutor confirming receipt of your assignment.

To discuss your assignment with the tutor email with the questions concerning your project.

• Download the submission form