As the writing specialist for Johnson & Wales University’s College of Online Education, it is my job to help students to improve their writing skills. Today, I bring you a common grammatical quandary—what to do with a singular indefinite pronoun.

Let’s review. A pronoun is a word that can function by itself as a noun phrase (e.g. I, you, he, they, it). An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that does not refer to any person, amount, or thing in particular.

One of my roles as the College of Online Education’s Student Writing Support Specialist is to help students understand what academic writing means, and how they can accomplish it.

Academic writing is an essential skill and one that involves clarity and power of expression. Writing specific and detail-oriented text, incorporating relevant sources, and maintaining a clear sense of audience, purpose, and genre are key elements to writing at a higher level.

I know this sounds a bit complicated, so let’s break it down! Here are eight things to keep in mind when writing:

“This is the best place I ever worked! I love it here! I’m serious, the people here are awesome. It’s just a great environment,” said Harry Ryan Jr., online academic advisor at the JWU College of Online Education.

Meet Harry 
Although Harry is new to his role, he has been working as an adjunct professor at the Johnson & Wales University Providence campus for about seven years now. Every day, his time here at JWU Online is spent communicating to students about their path to graduation and addressing the concerns they might have. 

This summer I took my first ever online class at Johnson & Wales. I am currently a full-time student at the Johnson & Wales University Providence Campus but wanted to continue my education and earn some extra credits over the summer. I was accepted to an internship program based in Jerusalem and chose to take an additional class while I was away. While looking through the online options, I stumbled upon a free elective called “Culture and Food” and figured that there was no better class to take while I was exploring abroad.

When Stephanie Decker ‘16, ‘18 MBA decided to return to school after working for 20 years in the food industry, she knew she needed a flexible option that would allow her to continue to raise her family, work, and remain active in all of the things that were important to her.

There's a small window on weekdays between when the key unlocks the front door, the book bag hits the floor, dinner lands on the table, and heads lay down for the night. It's in this sliver of time as the sun begins to sink that notebooks open and computer screens glow. Dwede Dennis ’12, ’18 MBA – Human Resource Management, knows this time well, as it's when she often helps her young daughter with her second grade homework. 

Update January 10, 2019

If one of your goals for this year is to go back to school—to earn your undergraduate degree, further your studies with a graduate degree, or make a career change—look no further than Johnson & Wales University’s College of Online Education!

Here are five reasons to choose JWU Online, in case you need a little boost:

1. Our online model was designed for busy professionals.

As the Student Writing Specialist for JWU Online, professors often tell me that their students struggle with understanding assignment instructions.

Here’s how to tackle the sometimes frustrating process of following complex or lengthy directions.

1.       Read all assignment instructions carefully as soon as you receive them.

This will save you time and stress later on! If there is something you do not understand, be sure to reach out to your instructor as soon as you are able, as this is when his or her feedback will be most useful.

If you’re apprehensive about taking courses online, don’t worry. Here are four ways you can stay on track and crush your academic goals this term:

1.  Get ready.

There’s a myth that online classes are easier than traditional classes— but really, they’re not. In fact, online courses are equivalent in content and rigor to JWU’s traditional face-to-face courses. Before classes begin, make sure you’re prepared, both physically and mentally, for what you signed up for.

As the Student Writing Support Specialist for Johnson & Wales University’s College of Online Education, I work with both graduate and undergraduate learners on advancing their writing skills. My job includes crafting thesis statements, developing arguments, ensuring APA and MLA formatting guidelines have been met, and more!

Here are five common grammatical errors I see when reviewing student work, and tips for how you can correct them in your own writing: