Professional Writing Advisory Boards

["Larry Kunz ((919) 254-6395)" <ldkunz -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM>]

Dan Lupo writes:

>    Our Professional Writing faculty are considering the merits of
>    establishing an advisory board and we'd like to arm ourselves
>    with as much info as possible from those who've done the same.

>    If you have experience setting up, serving on, or dealing with
>    an advisory board, I'd appreciate hearing your insights -- both
>    from academe and from industry.

I serve on the advisory board for a software technical writing program
at a community college.  The program is successful, and my work on the
board has been satisfying.  Here are a few thoughts.

Get the right people on the board.  Give a lot of thought to who you
want, and get those people.  The program administrator who organized
our board wanted (1) representation from each of the local firms that
produce software documentation and (2) managers who could help the
students find jobs.  So she went out and got them.  (Not all of us are
managers, but all of us have input into our companies' hiring
processes.)  When someone leaves the board, a replacement from the
same company is found.

Use your board members' contacts.  They know a lot of people.  Have
them lead you to instructors or guest lecturers, or to companies that
can help your students land jobs, or to professional societies like STC.

Strike a balance between relying too heavily on your board and not
using them enough.  Either extreme ends in frustration (at best) for
everyone concerned and could end up destroying your program.  You, the
program administrator, are accountable for the results -- never make
the board do things you can do yourself.  On the other hand, an
advisory board is there to advise, so listen to its advice.  Board
members need to know they're contributing, but they shouldn't feel
like the success or failure of the program is in their hands.

Larry Kunz
ldkunz -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com