Coordinator/Writing Coach
Sarah-Jean Watt
Email: swatt@athabascau.ca
Phone: 1-855-796-0139 (toll free)
Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Mountain Time
Sarah-Jean Watt joined the Write Site team as its coordinator in Fall 2020. She holds a BA 1st Class Honours in English from the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada and an MA in Cultural Studies and Critical Theory from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Sarah-Jean has provided writing support to students since 2002. Across a number of institutions in Alberta, she has valued her close work with diverse groups of students, including students with disabilities and newcomers to Canada. Sarah-Jean is committed to helping Write Site contribute to Athabasca University's dedication to the removal of barriers that restrict access to and success in university-level study.
Assistant Coordinator/Writing Coach
Tunde Tuzes
Email: tundet@athabascau.ca
Tunde Tuzes has been the Assistant Write Site Coordinator since 2007. She holds an M. Ed. in English Education from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Tunde has been working at Athabasca University since 1998, first teaching several writing courses and then working as a Writing Coach for the Write Site. Before joining Athabasca University, she taught various ESL and college courses for 8 years, focusing mostly on academic and business writing.
Writing Coaches
Laura Monerris Oliveras
Laura is originally from the beautiful small town of Girona (100 Km north of Barcelona). Her mother tongue is Catalan, but she is also knowledgeable in Spanish, English, and French. She holds an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Alberta, Edmonton. Her teaching career started around 2004, and she has since provided support to diverse student populations in her hometown, France, and Canada in post-secondary institutions and not-for-profit educational organizations. Laura is strongly committed to students’ success and has worked extensively one-on-one with students to help them overcome learning barriers and knowledge gaps and become more confident and independent writers.
Cara Violini
Cara Violini joined the Write Site as a Writing Coach in 2021. She holds undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Education, an MAIS in Literary Studies, and an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. Her doctoral studies explore disruptive pedagogies for marginalized student writers. Since 2016, Cara taught undergraduate English and composition courses for AU while also teaching in the University of Calgary’s professional and creative writing certificate programs. For ten years prior, Cara taught English and academic writing to adult learners in a variety of contexts. Cara’s coaching philosophy aligns with AU’s inclusive value of removing barriers to increase accessibility and educational opportunity for its learners.
Michael Volek
Email: mvolek@athabascau.ca
After working for a number of years as an English instructor at Tsuyama National College of Technology, Michael returned to Canada to pursue a Ph.D. in English. In 2014, he completed his doctoral studies at the University of British Columbia with a dissertation that examined the propagation of language theory in academic communities of practice. His research interests include pragmatics, stylistics, discourse analysis, and rhetorical genre theory. Michael is also the Academic Coordinator for English Language and Effective Writing Skills at AU.