<div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><font face="Helvetica"><i>We've been direct-contacting instructors and program administrators, but also wanted to ensure this call went broadly in case we didn't have your new or unlisted program on our list yet!</i></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><font face="Helvetica"><i>-ca</i></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is conducting a study of student experiences in online and hybrid technical writing courses; in particular, the</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica"> research project seeks to solicit first-person stories, or testimonios, from minority students related to their experiences in technical writing courses that are delivered either in part or wholly online. </span><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">We would deeply appreciate you passing this along to your students if your institution:<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><ol start="1" type="1" style="margin-bottom:0in;color:rgb(33,33,33);font-family:Aptos;font-size:16px;margin-top:0in"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">is</span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) or Minority Serving Institution (MSI) and</span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">offers a program (graduate or undergraduate) in technical, professional, or scientific communication that contains hybrid or digital instructional modalities.</span></li></ol><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">As a writing program administrator or faculty member, we are asking for your help to solicit student participation in this research study. We are asking you to share information about this study and a link to a questionnaire that will let students self-select into the study. We have included a message (see below) for you to copy and paste into email or LMS announcements. </span><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">Interested participants will voluntarily self-select into this research study by responding to a questionnaire that collects qualifying and contact information. Participants will then coordinate directly with the study PIs to schedule and conduct a semi-structured interview via Zoom with one of the study PIs. Interviews will last approximately 45 minutes, and participation is incentivized with a $10 digital gift card. </span><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">This study has been reviewed and approved through the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Institutional Research Board (IRB). If you have questions, you can contact them at</span><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">361-825-2497<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family:Helvetica">or<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:irb@tamucc.edu" target="_blank" title="mailto:irb@tamucc.edu" style="color:rgb(0,120,215)">irb@tamucc.edu</a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">.</span><span style="font-family:Helvetica">  </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">Message to Students<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">Our names are Dr. Manny Piña and Dr. Chris Andrews. We are researchers at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi who are doing an IRB-approved study about minority students’ experiences with technical writing courses that are delivered either in part or totally online. This research study is designed to help us understand how to make online technical writing courses more effective for you.<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><b>We’re gathering first-person stories, or testimonios, and we would like to hear from you!</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">If you would like to share your experiences in an online writing course with us, the first step is complete<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://tamucc.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_54nE32K23QHqMLk" title="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftamucc.co1.qualtrics.com%2Fjfe%2Fform%2FSV_54nE32K23QHqMLk&data=05%7C02%7CChristopher.Andrews%40tamucc.edu%7C31096e1653424b37883e08dc1c343a7d%7C34cbfaf167a64781a9ca514eb2550b66%7C0%7C0%7C638416257838602126%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=QnAkl0srAVXBhjcCI9%2B4zG5XErRtQbtrN3PR3F%2Blubk%3D&reserved=0" style="color:rgb(0,120,215)">this online survey</a><span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span>that will help us make sure that you are eligible to participate in this research study by collecting qualifying and contact information. The survey form will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica">After you complete this survey, a member of the research team will contact you to set up a time to meet with you on Zoom. The Zoom interview will last approximately 45 minutes; and, as a thank you, students who participate in the interview will receive a $10 digital gift card.<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">If you have questions about the study, please feel free to contact co-PIs Dr. Manny Piña (<a href="mailto:manuel.pina@tamucc.edu" title="mailto:manuel.pina@tamucc.edu" style="color:rgb(0,120,215)">manuel.pina@tamucc.edu</a>) or Dr. Chris Andrews (<a href="mailto:christopher.andrews@tamucc.edu" target="_blank" title="mailto:christopher.andrews@tamucc.edu" style="color:rgb(0,120,215)">christopher.andrews@tamucc.edu)<span lang="EN-US">.</span></a></span><span style="font-family:Helvetica">Thank you in advance for considering to participate in this research project.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">If you have questions about the study, please feel free to contact co-PIs Dr. Manuel Piña (</span><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><a href="mailto:manuel.pina@tamucc.edu" target="_blank" title="mailto:manuel.pina@tamucc.edu" style="color:rgb(0,120,215)"><span lang="EN-GB">manuel.pina@tamucc.edu</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">) or Dr. Chris Andrews (</span><span style="font-family:Helvetica"><a href="mailto:christopher.andrews@tamucc.edu" target="_blank" title="mailto:christopher.andrews@tamucc.edu" style="color:rgb(0,120,215)"><span lang="EN-GB">christopher.andrews@tamucc.edu</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">)</span><span style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">Thank you for your assistance with this project.<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Helvetica">Kindly,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)">Chris Andrews</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(33,33,33)"><br></p><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:small"><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)">Dr. Christopher D. M. Andrews</span><br></div><div><div><font color="#0b5394">Associate Professor & Chair<br>Department of English</font></div><div><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)">Texas A&M University</span><font size="1" style="color:rgb(11,83,148)">–</font><span style="color:rgb(11,83,148)">Corpus Christi</span><br></div><div><font color="#0b5394">Managing Editor, <i>Kairos,</i> <a href="http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/" target="_blank">http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/ <br></a></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>