Academic Center’s “Grammatically Correct” Nears 600 Subscribers
The University of Houston-Victoria’s Academic Center has reached a high point, literally. The Academic Center’s weekly online grammar tip, “Grammatically Correct,” now serves 591 subscribers.
According to Summer Leibensperger, coordinator of the Academic Center, most of the “Grammatically Correct” subscribers are from the United States, but writers from all over the globe have also found this free online weekly writing tip useful.
Subscriptions have come from India, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Jamaica, China, Argentina, United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, Thailand, South Africa, Brazil, Czech Republic and Israel.
“Grammatically Correct” is written by the Academic Center peer writing tutors. Each grammar tip contains three sections. The first section is a mini-article that usually discusses a common, problematic writing or grammar issue. The next section recommends visiting a grammar-related Web site. The last section typically provides a brief exercise to test the reader’s understanding of the week’s grammar issue.
The grammar tips provide subscribers with easy-to-follow tips on just about anything that pertains to writing: from using correlative conjunctions correctly to writing a Limerick in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
The weekly grammar tip has its share of fans. Billy Melzow, a recent UHV graduate and a “Grammatically Correct” subscriber for the past year, said the writing tips have come to his aid more than once.
“I don’t have a very strong writing background, so these grammar tips help out a lot. I have occasionally referred to the grammar tip Web site to look up a grammar rule I’m not sure of,” said Melzow.
All of the grammar tips are archived in the Academic Center Web site and are available to everyone. Visitors will find the grammar tips are arranged by year of publication, by category, and by writer.
“The Academic Center is known for its writing assistance,” said UHV President Tim Hudson. “This weekly grammar tip—as well as the many Academic Center services—shows how UHV is committed to support the faculty and its student body in any way it can.”
The online grammar tip was first introduced only to UHV students in the spring of 2003. The public was able to subscribe to the free online tip the following semester. The grammar tip subscriptions have increased dramatically since then. In 2005 the grammar tip subscriptions totaled 108, and by the summer of 2006 there were 337. Currently, “Grammatically Correct” reaches 591 readers every week.
To subscribe to this free online grammar tip, please visit http://www.uhv.edu/ac/student/grammartip.asp for instructions or call the Academic Center at (361) 570-4288.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
