CHI 2012
May 5-10, 2012
Austin
ASTD 2012 International Conference
May 6-9, 2012
Denver
STC Summit
May 20-23, 2012
Chicago
UPA2012
June 5-7, 2012
Las Vegas
SIGDOC 2012
October 3-5, 2012
Seattle
2012 AMWA Conference
October 4-6, 2012
Sacramento
IPCC 2012
October 8-10, 2012
UCF, Orlando
Lee Tesdell
at Minnesota State bridges to the world
Fer O'Neil
at ferswriteshoe
Rachel Walker
at WebWriteNow
Sean Cote
at The Word
Craig Haiss
at HelpScribe Technical Writing
Technical Writing Career Advice from 11 Experts
Tom Johnson
at I'd Rather Be Writing
Top secret America: A hidden world, growing beyond control, Washington Post (2010-07-19)
Dave Barry sings "I'm in Love with a Proofreading Woman"
Pete Seeger sings "English is Crazy"
How To Increase Usability Of Government Websites and Boost Your ROI
How To Use Plain Language on a Government Website
Medieval Help Desk (with English subtitles)
Did you know; Shift Happens – Globalization
Did you know? Shift Happens – 2008 Surprise Ending
Five teaching assistantships are available to 100% online learners to teach online sections of Composition (Eng 101) during the 2012-13 academic year. Preference will be given to applications postmarked by May 21, 2012. Applicants must complete and submit a cover sheet and application form in addition to the materials requested in the position description.
Money for these positions was provided through Strategic Priority Funding. Applicants must be 100% online learners, must have a master's degree, and must have experience teaching composition.
Dr. Anne O'Meara is the project coordinator and will supervise the teaching assistants. She and Dr. Roland Nord wrote the proposal for the project.
STC's Technical Editing SIG is offering two scholarships, each worth $1400. The SIG describes the scholarships as follows:
The first scholarship assists students who are pursuing an undergraduate degree in Technical Communication (or a related area, such as professional writing or digital media) and the second assists students who are pursuing a graduate degree in Technical Communication (or a related area, such as professional writing or digital media). Students applying for one of these scholarships are expected to be able to demonstrate their focus on topics related to technical editing through their academic studies, current jobs, special projects, or undergraduate/graduate program. The winners will be announced in Corrigo, the Technical Editing SIG newsletter.
Additional scholarship information, including elgibility information, is provided on the STC Technical Editing website. The application deadline is June 17, 2012. Winners will be notified in July 2012.
The spring 2012 issue of Techniques is now available. The issue was written, edited, and designed by students in Dr. Tesdell's Technical Documentation, Policies, and Procedures (ENG 4/577) class.
An editorial committee solicited proposals from students in the synchronous and asynchronous classes, chose the proposals they thought were most relevant for their audience, communicated with authors of proposals, edited the articles, designed the publication, then edited the assembled publication.
On April 26, Zenobia Redeaux presented her alternate plan paper, "Integrating a New Online Help System into a Software Application." Dr. Lee Tesdell served as her advisor, and Dr. Roland Nord served as her second reader.
Zenobia has a background in online help creation and implementation and in technical writing specializing in developer and system administration documentation. She is currently the lead writer at Sensys Networks, Inc., in Berkeley, California.
On April 26, Jill Campbell presented her alternate plan paper "Getting Grant Money to Rural Locations," in which she examined the grant process in order to understand the award gap between urban and rural areas. Dr. Gwen Westerman served as her advisor; Dr. Jennifer Velsos and Dr. Nancy MacKenzie served as the second and third readers.
Jill has a histology laboratory background in health care that has included writing and editing many policies and procedures, designing forms, and managing quality control programs.
On Wednesday, April 25, Mandy Sweeter presented her alternate plan paper, “Teaching College Freshman Communication Students the Art of Using PowerPoint as a Supplement to an Oral Presentation.” Dr. Nancy MacKenzie served as her advisor, and Dr. Roland Nord served as his second reader.
On April 19, Brian Weigel presented his alternate plan paper, “Utilizing Rhetoric for Organizational Communication: An Application of Identification Theory.” Dr. Jennifer Veltsos served as his advisor, and Dr. Roland Nord served as his second reader.
On April 9, Kathy Valenti presented the research for her thesis, “XML and Single Sourcing: What Students Need to Know.”
In her thesis, Kathy analyzed job advertisements for XML/single sourcing positions in technical communication. She provides recommendations for technical communication students wishing to join an XML/single sourcing work environment. Dr. Roland Nord served as her advisor. Dr. Lee Tesdell and Dr. Gwen Westerman were her second and third readers.
On April 26, The Minnesota State Mankato Student Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication met online for its annual Alumni Night program.
Beth Aughenbaugh, Andrew Robertson, Katie Tormala, and J. J. Carlson responded to the following prompts:
The presenters' responses led to a lively discussion of tips, tools, and twits—among other topics. As always, the presenters provided entertaining stories and excellent advice. Thank you to all who presented and participated.
"Dena Uŋkiyepi (This is who we are):
The Letters of Dakota People 1848-1864"
Dr. Gwen Westerman from the Minnesota State Mankato English Department delivered the Douglas R. Moore lecture on Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. in the Centennial Student Union Ostrander Auditorium.
The annual Moore Lecture celebrates excellence in research at Minnesota State Mankato. This was the 38th such lectureship, and the 25th named in honor of former President Douglas R. Moore, who established the event to illuminate faculty research.
The lecture was streamed online and a recording will be available.
Dr. Sam Dragga on "Mapping Ethical Judgments"At the April 12 online meeting of the Minnesota State University, Mankato STC Chapter, Dr. Sam Dragga delivered his presentation "Mapping Ethical Judgments in Technical Communication." He described his presentation as a "review of theories of ethics for technical communicators."
Dr. Dragga is professor of technical communication and chair of the Department of English at Texas Tech University. He is co-author of Essentials of Technical Communication (Oxford University Press, 2010, 2012); A Writer's Repertoire 1, 2, and 3 (Cengage Learning, 2010); Reporting Technical Information (Oxford University Press, 2006, 2002); and Editing: The Design of Rhetoric (Baywood, 1989) and series editor of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication (19 titles). He has also edited two special issues of Technical Communication Quarterly, on ethics (Summer 2001) and on program administration (Summer 2010) and authored or co-authored journal articles on such topics as professional ethics, intercultural communication, and visual rhetoric. He is a Fellow of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing and a recipient of the Society for Technical Communication’s Jay R. Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching Technical Communication and the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Best Book in Technical and Scientific Communication.
Drs. Jennifer Veltsos and Lee Tesdell of the Minnesota State faculty attended the 15th annual ATTW conference in St. Louis on March 21. There were about 200 attendees at the conference “Global Perspectives in Technical Communication: Cultural, Rhetorical and Technological.” This conference attracts a large number of academics who teach and research about technical communication. In addition, graduate students from technical communication programs participate in the panels and network with an eye to employment.
Dr. Veltsos participated in the Career Network, a “speed dating” event that encourages graduate students to meet faculty from universities around the country.
Again this year a team from Minnesota State University, Mankato, produced the conference documents including the 68-page program and posters. Minnesota State art major Sam Glubka created the original art for the program and posters and technical communication major Baonhi Phung assisted with the program.
The conference events included four concurrent sessions of panels, a poster session, book exhibits, and a business meeting and awards in the evening followed by a social hour.
The current president of ATTW, Dr. Bill Hart-Davidson of Michigan State University, welcomed us at 8:30 am. The conference chair for 2012 was Dr. Baotong Gu of Georgia State University, Atlanta. Next year ATTW will be held on March 13, 2013 in Las Vegas.
Resumes, interviews and recruiters: Keys to your job searchOur January 19 STC meeting featured Caron Osberg, a senior recruiter at QCI, an Iowa-based technology company specializing in application development, enterprise infrastructure, and staffing solutions. 
Caron's presentation focused on quite practical advice for job applicants—advice about resumes, interviews, and recruiters. She has ten years of experience in the staffing industry with a focus on helping candidates with resumes and job interviews. Caron graduated from the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism at Kansas State University with a major in public relations. She is currently in Des Moines, Iowa.
The [PDF] fall 2011 issue of Techniques (1 MiB) is devoted to digital writing across cultures.
Students from the International Technical Communication (Eng 4/567) course conducted the research and wrote the article, and students from the Online Documentation (Eng 4/576) course served as editors. Data for the article was gathered from students in China, Germany, Palestine, and the United States.
From December 10-17, Dr. Lee Tesdell blogged his trip to HsKA, Karlsruhe, Germany, where we have an exchange program with the technical communication program, and then to HAN, the University of Applied Sciences, Arnhem, the Netherlands, where Minnesota State Mankato has an exchange program, though there is no connection with our tech comm program currently.
Dr. Tesdell invites guest contributors to the blog.
< h2>November STC meeting features Michael SeidelOn Monday, November 28, Michael Seidel, an information architect at Johnson Controls, presented to the Minnesota State STC Chapter.
Mr. Seidel completed his BA in technical and professional writing at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Michael is the founder of MkeUX, a group for user experience professionals in the Milwaukee area. You can follow Mr. Seidel and MkeUX on Twitter @michaelseidel and @mkeux.
On Monday, November 21, Anna Matetic presented her thesis research on current and potential use of social media in the Adult Enrichment Department at Rochester Community Education, Rochester, Minnesota. According to Anna, social media is a marketing method with low entry costs, thus making it an attractive marketing option to community education departments.
Dr. Lee Tesdell served as her advisor.
In December, Anna will begin a full-time position with IBM in Rochester, Minnesota.
On Thursday, November 17, Christine Christensen presented the research for her thesis, "Memorial Library’s Website and 100% Online Learners: A Usability Study."
Christine's usability study was unique in that she worked with 100% online learners in our graduate program, conducting all the usability testing online. Dr. Roland Nord served as her advisor. Dr. Lee Tesdell and Dr. Paul Wyss were her second and third readers.
Christine works as a technical writer for Azteca Systems, Inc., located in Sandy, Utah. She produces quick start guides, online help, and training manuals for Cityworks, a GIS-based software program used to manage assets and infrastructure, such as streets, water lines, sewer lines, power lines, sidewalks, drainage, and so forth. It's used to track work orders, service requests, permits, and licensing.
Word of Mouth, a blog hosted by Articulate, recently featured a training video on Hazard Communication produced by Andrew Lundquist. The Mine Safety and Health Administration awarded the video grand prize at the 2011 TRAM Conference. Andy produced the video in collaboration with folks from the Center for Business & Industry at South Central College. Congratulations to Andy and his collaborators on the award.
Jeanett Brooks, Articulate community manager, interviews Andy and even coaxes a brief tutorial or explanation out of him about how to add a supersized video slide in Articulate Presenter.
Currently, Andy is finishing up his MA in technical communication at Minnesota State Mankato and is in the process of launching a new business venture—Sunstone Creative Group.
In fall semester 2011, students in Topics: Writing for the Web (Eng 4/572) blogged and created wikis as a part of their course requirements.
Their ten-week online course began on September 10 and ended on November 12, 2011. This course is one of several that the Minnesota State University, Mankato technical communication program offers occasionally on Saturdays in order to accommodate the busy schedules of students, many of whom have full-time employment.
One of their team assignments was to create “one-stop-resource” wikis for technical communicators. The idea behind this project was to encourage the students to begin a wiki that would continue to benefit them throughout professional careers. Topics covered in the wikis include software tools, glossaries of terminology, employment resources, and online training opportunities:
On Wednesday, November 2, Fer O'Neil delivered a webinar entitled The Technical Writer's Influence on Social Media Strategy as part of the STC Web Seminars series. His webinar was based upon his presentation at the 2011 Techcomm Summit.
Fer is employed as a technical communicator at ESET, a security software company located in San Diego, California, and is a member of our MA degree program in technical communication.
For more information about the past or future webinars, consult STC's Live Web Seminars page.
World Usability Day—Making life easy!—was held November 10, 2011. The focus for this year was "on how our organizations, our cultures, and our world impact usability." Visit the website for a summary of the events, including
Jonathon Heide and Delissa Tabery presented papers at the 15th Annual Great Plains Alliance for Computers and Writing Conference held October 21-22 at Dakota State University, in Madison, South Dakota. The theme of the conference this year was "New Ways of Reading/New Ways of Writing."
Delissa and Jonathon presented on Friday morning (10-22). Jonathon's presentation was titled "Freshman and Formatting" and Delissa's was titled "A New Way of Reading and Writing: Wikis as a Tool for Corporate Communication."
Two technical communication faculty members, David Chapman and Lee Tesdell, also participated in Friday's sessions. Julian Hocker, exchange student from the technical communication program at the University of Applied Science in Karlsruhe, Germany attended as well. Julian is taking courses at Minnesota State University during the fall semester 2011 and will return home to do his technical communication internship in Germany for the spring semester 2012.
Holladay Penick, creative director for GiantChair, Inc., was the keynote speaker for the conference. GiantChair "owns and hosts a cloud computing platform for the publishing industry, empowering its clients with a marriage of modern metadata, web and e-commerce tools."
On Wednesday, August 17, Gary Teagarden presented his thesis, “Effective Content Strategy For Campus Websites at Career Colleges: Meeting the Information Needs of Current Students.” Gary is the communications director and web strategist for Globe Education Network (GEN), which includes 23 campuses organized under three major brands--Globe University, Minnesota School of Business, and Broadview University.
In his thesis, Gary documents his development of individual campus websites targeted at current students (as opposed to prospective students and administrative audiences). As a part of the process, he conducted a survey of students to assess their views on website design and content, specifically on the inclusion of social media. Dr. Roland Nord served as Gary's advisor.
Graduate students who are seeking financial assistance are encouraged to apply for appropriate graduate assistantships, which provide full tuition (for 6-9 credits) plus a stipend ($4,800 per semester). All graduate assistantships are listed on the Human Resources website. Some of the assistantships may be available to 100% online learners. Review of applications typically continues until the positions are filled.
US News and World Report included technical writing in their article "The 50 Best Careers of 2010," posted December 28, 2009. Ned Bedinger submitted an extensive response to the article challenging several claims and clarifying qualifications and responsibilities for technical writers.
The article cites employment forecasts taken from the 2010-11 Occupational Outlook Handbook, which now has a separate entry devoted to technical writers . According the 2010-11 Occupational Outlook Handbook, which is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for technical writers is expected to grow approximately 18% from 2008-2018, a rate which is faster than the average for all occupations.
All coursework necessary for completing degrees or certificates in technical communication is now offered online. The MA and the graduate and undergraduate certificate programs can be completed within one year.
Non-resident graduate students completing all of their coursework online are charged Minnesota resident online graduate tuition. Non-resident undergraduate students receive are charged the Minnesota resident online tuition if they complete the 100% online learner undergraduate form.
We are offering the following online courses summer 2012.
Check our tentative 2-year schedule of online courses for the upcoming 2012-13 academic year.
For more information about online courses, certificates, or degrees, contact Dr. Roland Nord.
