Re: Students, STC, and Student Chapter--Need Advice

[Kirstin Mercer <kirstin -at- CYBERCASH -dot- COM>]

* * * * * * * *

At this point, I see the options as this:

1. Don't do anything (not acceptable)

2. Make our opinions known to the group that students members are important
and that we want to be involved.

3. Start a student chapter that would make STC more accessible to students
and make the students feel more enfranchised to the profession of technical
communciation.

What are your thoughts on the situation and do any of you have suggestions
on how to proceed?

* * * * * * * * * *

I think you should do numbers 2 AND 3!

As a former president and member of an excellent student chapter (Bowling
Green State University), I can tell you how valuable being a part of a student
chapter was.

We sat at the end of July each year and planned our meetings--some for just
the members of the student chapter (which, by the way, included professionals,
as well), and some in conjunction with another professional chapter in Ohio. I
say "another professional chapter" because our faculty advisors always drummed
into us that we, too, were professionals, even if we were still students.
(Most of us did some amount of contracting work while still in school, and all
of us were required as part of the tech comm program to complete two projects
from start to finish for a client, who we had to go out and get on our own).

Anyway, back to the topic. :-)  We always ran our chapter as a professional
chapter, and the area "professional" chapters treated us as such. Over the
years that the BGSU chapter has been in existence, it has gained national
recognition within the STC organization, and has become a wonderful resource
for its past and current membership.

Because we had working technical communicators in our chapter, we could "pick
their brains" and gain valuable information that way. And through the programs
we planned, we learned not only about issues, problems, and successes in the
technical communication field, but we learned about leadership, working
together, and so much more.

You should probably contact the national office (www.stc.org) and find out who
the director sponsor is for your region. That person should be able to help
you with the guidelines for setting up a student chapter.

Oh, and one more thing... you should, as many times as possible, take
advantage of being a student member and attend the conference in the spring.
(Next year, it's in Anaheim, I believe). You get a reduced student rate and
the information-gathering and networking opportunities you have while you're
there are excellent!

Good luck!!

Kirstin Mercer


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Kirstin Mercer
Senior Technical Editor
CyberCash, Inc.
2100 Reston Parkway, third floor
Reston, VA  22091
703/716-5235
kirstin -at- cybercash -dot- com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html