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STC Education Committee
Year-End Report 2001-2002

	Summary
	Presented at 49th International Conference in Nashville
	Scholarships
	Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund
	Support to Secondary Education
	Sixth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition
	Seventh Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition
	Communication and Publicity
	Professional Development of Chapter Members

Summary

2001-2002 was, by design, a down-scoped but nonetheless successful year for the Education Committee. Topping the list was the award of an $8K grant from the Society to develop a turnkey multimedia presentation on technical communication to support our educational outreach to secondary schools in the community and continue to expand our annual writing competition. Another success was the 6th Annual Florida High School Technical Writing Competition, which produced 19 local award winners and one award in the STC International High School Writing Competition. The Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund remained solid despite the persistent bear market, and a UCF undergraduate scholarship was awarded with a "cost-of-tuition" increase.

Presented at 49th International Conference in Nashville

• Moderated and participated in progression of Special Needs Committee and published paper in Proceedings (Voss)
• Conducted workshop on integrated strategic communication and published paper in Proceedings (Voss, with Wiese)

Scholarships

• UCF:
   
• Presented a $600 undergraduate scholarships to Ama Marichal
• Expansion:
   
• Promoted an alternate scholarship program for technical communication students in other Central Florida colleges (the "Techie" Awards) with a flyer and mail-outs. For a second consecutive year, we did not receive any applications for the new award. It will be discontinued.

Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Fund

• Fund remains sound despite another off year in the stock market.
• No graduate scholarship was awarded in 2002 because there were no entries in that category. The committee, after some deliberation, elected not to extend the deadline (an action it had taken once in the past in a similar situation). The rationale was that the scholarship is sufficiently well established at this point for us to insist that applicants meet the application deadline to be considered.
• UCF faces the challenge of promoting the scholarship more aggressively next year to avoid another "no award" situation.

Support to Secondary Education

• Received an $8K grant proposal from the Society to fund development of a turnkey PowerPoint tutorial on the principles of technical communication and a promotional presentation on the high school writing competition
• Interviewed, hired, and held a kickoff meeting with two graduate research assistants to initiate work on the project.

Sixth Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition

• Contest dropped from 159 entries in fall 2000 to 41 entries in fall 2001, but the drop was mitigated by the fact that 126 of the 159 entries in 2000 came from two schools, a situation that we avoided in 2001 by asking teachers to filter the entries. Despite the drop in total entries, we broadened the range of schools participating.
• Invited 19 student winners, along with their parents and faculty sponsors, to the April 2002 chapter meeting to receive their awards. Only three students (down from eight the previous year) attended, which was a disappointment.
• There were no classroom visits by STC members in the 6th Annual Competition, which was a major disappointment.
• We did not pursue, nor did we receive any corporate sponsorships in the 2001-2002 chapter year, yet another disappointment.
• Summary of winners:

Seventh Annual Central Florida High School Technical Writing Competition

• Currently updating cover letter for mail-out to Central Florida high school instructors, announcing the development of high-impact multimedia materials and pressing for invitations to make classroom visits
• Currently updating Web site
• Are also updating competition flyer, detailed guidelines, and application form

Communication and Publicity

• Published an in-depth, fully researched article in the November 2002 edition of Technical Communication detailing how a chapter-level education committee can provide educational outreach to its community and support the professional development of its membership (follow-up to progression sponsored by Education Committee at the 47th International Conference in Orlando) (Lippincott & Voss)
• Sent out press releases on Spring '02 scholarships and 6th Annual H.S. Contest awards
   
• UCF campus newspaper
• Orlando Sentinel
• Memo for Members
• Maintained and updated Web site for Education Committee:
   
• Streamlined format
• Updated page on high school competition

Professional Development of Chapter Members

• Sponsored chapter meeting interviewing Raymond James vice president for investment, Paul Holt, concerning elements of technical communication in the world of financial planning and investment counseling, as well as some investment tips for technical communicators
• Moderated and participated in August 2001 chapter meeting to share professional enrichment from the 48th STC Conference in Chicago using the traditional potpourri format ("Washlines VII"). We also plan to sponsor "Washlines VIII" in August 2002, reporting on the 49th Annual International Conference in Nashville
• Posted notes from the 48th Annual International Conferences to the Education Committee Web page; presently working on posting notes from the 49th Conference for "Washlines VIII."
• Through the chapter president, initiated "Each One Teach One" professional development program, offering matching funds for conference registration fees or software in return for sharing with other chapter members via a presentation at a chapter meeting, a report, or another suitable forum. This item was fully funded in the budget, but there were no requests.