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STC Education Committee
Year-End Report 1998-1999

	Summary
	Scholarships and Excellence Awards
	Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund
	Faculty Development
	Support to Secondary Education
	Third Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition
	Fourth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition
	Communication and Publicity
	Committee Charter and Procedures
	Professional Development of Chapter Members
	Participation in 46th Annual International Conference in Cincinnati... May 1999
	Individual Recognition

Summary

1998-1999 was an eventful and transitional year for the Education Committee. At the top of the Accomplishments list is the Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund's achieving self-sustaining status just 2 years after its inception -- well ahead of the most optimistic schedule. Two Pellegrin awards, along with two community college Excellence awards, were presented at the Trends Conference in October 1998. On the transitional side, a Society decision to move the STC International High School Technical Writing Competition deadline from June to January prompted the committee to defer its 4th Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition from Spring '99 to Fall '99. Planning for that competition was in full gear as the 1998-99 Chapter year drew to a close, and efforts to extend the contest -- as well as a mentoring outreach to high school instructors -- into Brevard, Osceola, and Volusia counties were beginning to bear fruit. This will continue to be a major initiative next year. Due to the focus on the high school competition this fall, coupled with the fact that there will be no Trends conference in October 1999 due to the onrushing Millennial International Conference in Orlando in May 2000, the committee also moved the 1999-00 Pellegrin Scholarships and community college Excellence awards from Fall '99 to Spring '00.

Scholarships and Excellence Awards

• Presented a $300 graduate scholarship to Anna Gaal (UCF).
• Presented a $300 undergraduate scholarships to Kelli Cooper (UCF).
• Presented $100 excellence award to Brad Paddock (Seminole CC).
• Presented $100 excellence award to Patricia Pierattini (Valencia CC-East).
• Provided complimentary Trends '98 conference registrations to the recipients; all four attended and accepted their awards.

Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund

• Received generous additional contributions from Melissa’s family and friends.
• Received another sizable grant from the Society…the result of Dick Hughes' assiduous efforts.
• Achieved self-sustaining status for funding the historical level of UCF awards in December 1998, breaking $11,000.

Faculty Development

• Sent $150 check to UCF for technical communication faculty development.

Support to Secondary Education

• Provided a South Florida middle school instructor with curriculum guidelines plus information on STC's Practical Communication Committee’s sponsorship of 10 secondary school instructors to attend the 19th Annual Institute in Technical Communication at Hinds Community College in Raymond, MS.
• Established "beach-head" in Volusia County; county-level coordinator for language arts has agreed to support the high school competition and has also expressed interest in our support on curriculum and teacher training.
• Established link with SpaceTech Chapter to carry the high school competition into Brevard.
• Worked with other STC leaders and chapter reps at the 46^th Int’l Conference in Cincinnati concerning STC’s support to secondary education (see notes on conference, below).
• Enlisted support of UCF to help establish a mentoring Web site for high school instructors, as well as students participating in the tech writing contest), to include:
   
• Annotated bibliography of Web-based resources on technical communication: target date: August 1999.
• PowerPoint tutorial on principles and types of technical communication; will be posted on Web site and will also serve as briefing materials for potential visits to high school classes or training workshops with teachers. Target date: October 1999.
• Listserve/chat room for real-time networking with high school instructors. Target date: December 1999.

Third Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition

• Invited six student winners, along with their parents and faculty sponsors, to the June 1998 year-end chapter meeting to receive their awards. Four attended. They and their guests, along with chapter members, participated in an ethics game, Lockheed Martin's "The Ethics Challenge," and everyone said they had a good time. Summary of winners:

• Amanda Knowles went on to receive an Honorable Mention in the 1998 International High School Technical Writing Competition.
• Received $250 in financial patronage from Xerox Corporation.
• Linda Emerine completed a hand-off to incoming contest coordinator Janice Briley.
  
  (Note: Janice, however, left the area before things got started on the 4^th Annual Contest, forcing another change of leadership…see below).

Fourth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition

• Jon Kessler joined the committee and assumed responsibility for contest coordination.
• Accomplishments to date:
   
• Prepared cover letter for mailout to high school instructors.
• Revised judging criteria.
• Updated mailing list for Orange County English and Science Dept. chairs.
• Gained commitment from Volusia County to support the competition.
• Established links with SpaceTech Chapter to help extend the contest to Brevard.
• Received commitments for corporate sponsorships from Xerox ($250) and Lockheed Martin ($500).
• Work in progress (target date: June 28, 1999):
   
• Updating mailing list for Seminole County.
• Attempting to make a beachhead in Osceola County.
• Preparing a draft of the competition Web site.
• Updating competition flyer.
• Mailout being prepared (target date: July 26 1999). Will include:
   
• Cover letter.
• Flyer, with URL for Web site.
• Judging criteria.
• Application.

Communication and Publicity

• Committee member Gail Lippincott assumed responsibility as the Committee’s Publicity Manager (not to mention Chapter Vice President!).
• Sent out press releases on Fall ’98 scholarships and Excellence awards:
   
• UCF campus newspaper.
• SCC and VCC campus newspapers.
• Orlando Sentinel.
• Chapter newsletter.
• Chapter Web site.
• Maintained and updated Web site for Education Committee:
   
• Posted press releases.
• Posted committee charter and operating procedures.
• Added page on Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund, researched, written, and designed by Ann Vogt.
• Posted notes from 45th Annual Int’l STC Conference in Anaheim and from Trends ’98 in Orlando (Dan Voss).
• Restructured the site to impose a hierarchy... currently being posted

Committee Charter and Procedures

• Education Committee and Administrative Council approved an operating charter and procedures for the committee.
• Posted charter to the committee’s Web site to serve as a resource for other STC chapters.

Professional Development of Chapter Members

• Participated in August 1998 chapter meeting to share professional enrichment from the 45th Annual Int’l STC Conference in Anaheim, using the traditional "clothesline" format.
• Scheduled JoAnn Hackos for a special presentation at July 1999 chapter meeting, with special discounts for chapter members.
• Posted notes from the Anaheim conference and from Trends ’98 on the Web site.
• Currently planning for strong chapter involvement in 47th Int’l Conference in Orlando next May (see notes from 46th Int’l conference, below).

Participation in 46th Annual International Conference in Cincinnati... May 1999

• Gail Lippincott and Dan Voss joined W.C. Wiese, Lori Corbett, and others in planning for the 47th conference.
   
• Promoted (aggressively!) the Orlando conference in Cincinnati, mouse ears and all!
• Gail Lippincott accepted the responsibility of stem manager for the Research and Technology stem.
• Opened dialogue with other Florida chapters on an integrated approach to hosting the conference. Suncoast Chapter will be the co-lead; the North Florida Chapter has also expressed a strong interest.
• Sponsored table at the Leadership Day progression on Sunday, May 16.
• Attended session with Washington D.C. Chapter (Betty Montgomery), which runs the highly successful Austin T. Brown High School Technical Writing Competition.
• Met with Dana Chisnell, manager of the Practical Communication Committee; Dan V. joined the committee.
• Met with Charles Fischer, manager of the International High School Competition, to discuss greater coordination of chapter-level activities.
• Met with a number of STC members from across the country who are very interested in learning how to launch their own chapter high school competitions (prompting a suggestion that the Orlando Chapter host a proposed progression on this topic at the 47th annual conference in Orlando)
• Met with newly formed Special Needs Committee, which will be researching and addressing the special requirements of technical communicators who have disabilities.
• Wiese and Voss obtained the support of the Lockheed Martin Electronics & Missiles Communication Department director to sponsor a program tour and a panel discussion/ interactive trade show exhibit at the 47th conference; they submitted a draft of the proposal to conference program manager Deborah Sauer.

Individual Recognition

• Dick Hughes was honored by fellow Chapter members at the June 1999 year-end meeting for his 4 years of outstanding service as Chapter President. Dick’s accomplishments included sponsoring 4 successful regional conferences, acquiring several thousand dollars in grant money from the STC Board, outstanding budget performance, streamlining the chapter newsletter, establishing a Web site, and supporting the Education Committee on numerous initiatives.
• Dan Voss was named an Associate Fellow within the Society and was recognized at the conference in Cincinnati.
• Dan Jones is nearing press on his third book, a compendium of tips for technical communicators. Way to smoke, Dan!
• Gail Lippincott received an Excellence Award and a $500 cash prize in STC’s 1999 Ken Caird Student Article Competition, for her article entitled "Experimenting at Home: Writing for the Nineteenth-Century Domestic Workplace," published in Technical Communication Quarterly, Fall 1997.