#20270
Academic/Industry Relationships 
Technical Communication educators and professionals share one important concern: the future. The most important way in which both parties can shape the future is by working together to support the future technical communications community: students. STC’s Academic Industry Committee has developed a faculty internship to support direct connections between the faculty members who prepare student technical communicators and the companies who will employ them. These and other Academic Industry Committee projects are designed to bring the best of two groups working in one valuable goal and profession more closely and cooperatively together. The future depends on our work – together.
Fink, Bonnie L., Roger A. Grice, Sandra Harner, Deborah Rosenquist and Katherine E. Staples. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Academic>Collaboration
#19073
Building Consortia in Scientific and Technical Communication 
When many of us began to establish our programs in Scientific and Technical Communication our main concerns were establishing a balance between technology and communication, establishing internships, and getting acceptance in whatever department in the university we happened to be part of. While those concerns still remain, we are faced with new, additional issues, as well as new problems associated with the older, but still present issues, in establishing and maintaining programs. This paper will note some of those issues and will make some suggestions for helping to approach them. I will not presume to have solutions, just ideas about which we can talk to perhaps help focus some discussion leading to some solutions. Rather than focus on each specific problem, I want to focus on a specific approach to new programs which, I think, might be a way to approach many of the problems and challenges we face in a global, electronic environment. The approach to a solution, which I'm proposing is developing 'joint ventures' or 'Consortia.' I'll herein explain my definition of joint venture or consortia programs.
Coggin, William O. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>WPA>Collaboration
#14269
Collaboratively Planning and Preparing a Memo
A great deal of writing in the workplace is done collaboratively, and it’s important to get practice not only in writing, but in writing with others, which can be a very different process. In this exercise, you will write a memo collaboratively with another student, following the directions for assignment 1, text pages 153- 156, in Chapter 5 (“Collaboration in Workplace Communication”). You’ll also revise an information sheet.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Collaboration
#18665
How to Get the Most Out of Conferences
Conferences are what you make of them. If you’re not sure why you’re going, or what you want to get out of the experience, you’re unlikely to get it. This essay gives one perspective on conferences, and how to make them more valuable and engaging experiences. I think in general professional conferences take a very conservative approach to training and education, and it demands that attendees take more responsibility for getting value from the experience than should be necessary.
Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (2003). Academic>Conferences>Collaboration
#13137
The 'Real World' Experience: Academe and Industry Collaboration
Three technical communicators -- an entrepreneur, a university professor, and a newly hired employee and recent graduate -- discuss the collaborative environment they’ve created among industry practitioners and academia.
Blakeslee, Ann M., John Moreau and Catherine M. Titta. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Academic
#20130
Redefining Curriculum and Research Initiatives: A New Model of University Industry Partnership
Our profession is changing daily, and this growth has an impact on industry, and our universities, who must address the academic requirements this change brings with it. We must work as a team 10 share plans, develop cooperative solutions, and direct our energy and resources to a common goal: developing quality programs that will bring us beyond the leading edge of our technical profession.
Hans, David F., Roger A. Grice, Edward J. See and Robert Krull. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Collaboration>Academic
#19078
Whether the answer to this question is a resounding yes or no, we need to address this question when we consider models for strategic development. My own experience is that technical communication is drawing closer to issues present in both academia and industry, issues such as visualization of data, usability and field testing of products, design of instructional material for the web, and other research issues. But as the two domains need each other to begin to solve problems, the collaboration is fraught with perils, perils such as who states the problem, who manages the project, what resources are available for working on the project, and who owns the results? As we begin to try to strengthen the bond, do we currently have models for successful collaborations? Are there strategies in place that lead to success? Are certain approaches doomed to failure?
Feinberg, Susan G. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Industry and Academy>Collaboration
#19378
STC and Academe: Pooling Our Expertise, Enhancing Our Profession
Academe and business can learn much from each other about technical communication. The Chicago Chapter STC Institute for Professional Development, now in its fourth year, fosters the integration of knowledge and experience by bringing together teachers, researchers, and practitioners to plan and team teach courses that link theory and practice. All parties have realized extensive benefits. Academics confer with practitioners on research opportunities. Course participants interact with practitioners, who provide real-world examples and employment opportunities. Corporations offer a novel self-development opportunity to employees who became technical communicators through expediency, not necessarily training, and who lack a theoretical basis for practice. STC gains prestige as a professional organization with vision and capability.
Abbott, Christine, Mary Ryba Knepper, Joy Mason and Barb Ostapina. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Collaboration>Academic
#13182
STC and Academe: Pooling Our Expertise, Enhancing Our Profession
Academe and business can learn much from each other about technical communication. The Chicago Chapter STC Institute for Professional Development, now in its fourth year, fosters the integration of knowledge and experience by bringing together teachers, researchers, and practitioners to plan and team teach courses that link theory and practice. All parties have realized extensive benefits. Academics confer with practitioners on research opportunities. Course participants interact with practitioners, who provide real-world examples and employment opportunities. Corporations offer a novel self-development opportunity to employees who became technical communicators through expediency, not necessarily training, and who lack a theoretical basis for practice. STC gains prestige as a professional organization with vision and capability.
Abbott, Christine, Mary Ryba Knepper, Joy Mason and Barb Ostapina. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Academic
#19082
Technical Writers and Trainers as Facilitators of Change 
Effective technical writing/training in my organization involves a model of performance that goes beyond traditional ideas about documentation and passive training methods. It involves a practice which, in a single word, I would call facilitating. Documents are part of it and new or changed behaviors by people in the organization are part of it, but a traditional writer or a traditional trainer, whether alone or working together, will not be able to achieve what we ask of them in our organization. Essentially, the model we have found successful and that we expect our technical writer/trainers to be able to implement involves the following.
Hotz, Glenn. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>Collaboration
#15041
Technology and Professional Workgroups
Through both theory and practice, we will explore various computer technologies used to support professional communication within groups. In the first part of the course, we will study major theories of group interaction and computer-mediated communication to gain critical faculties for examining the use of technology by professional workgroups. In the second part, we will use these theories to investigate specific technologies, such as email, Lotus Notes, NetMeeting, and other groupware applications used in various professional contexts. You will leave this course with not only a working familiarity with such technologies, but also a theoretical framework for critiquing their use in future workplace settings.
Honeycutt, Lee. Iowa State University (2000). Academic>Courses>TC>Collaboration
#13814
Upcoming Collaboration Conferences
A listing of conference that we have been notified about in reverse chronological order. If you wish to get a conference or workshop mentioned here that has relevance to the groupware community, then please send information to the SigGROUP Information Director.
#32214
Fundamentals of Leadership: Communicating a Vision
Today's business climate of outsourcing, in-sourcing, virtual teams, and ROI-driven objectives can leave a manager at any level feeling powerless. Yet, we often see examples of those who can elicit unwavering support from their teams, driving highly effective projects, and getting the best performance from employees despite ever-increasing workloads. What is it about these individuals that makes them stand out as great leaders?
Harris, Kerri. TechCom Manager (2005). Academic>Management>Collaboration>Rhetoric
#33111
In this article, the authors argue that online learning conversations need to go beyond the common “information exchange” to a deeper level of interaction in order to help learners build situated knowledge that is useful in their local contexts. The article begins by looking at the commonly-used framework of a Community of Practice (CoP) and in particular, the challenges that designers can expect to encounter when knowledge building moves online, and conversants do not have a shared practice. The authors explain why this is problematic in terms of having insufficient grounding for the conversation and describe how online designers can compensate for the lack of shared practice by providing a common referent. Finally, the authors discuss three considerations that online designers should take into account in crafting a common referent (the richness of representation provided, the domain specificity required, and how the referent is conceptually framed) and explore their implications for both formal and informal learning environments.
Wise, Alyssa, Thomas Duffy and Poornima Padmanabhan. Educational Technology Publications (2008). Academic>Collaboration>Community Building>Participatory Design
#33565
Can This Marriage Be Saved: IS an English Department a Good Home for Technical Communication? 
In partial answer to the many questions that have been raised about the definition and location of technical writing programs, a random sample of full-time teachers of professional writing was conducted. The results indicate that those located in English departments do not receive the respect and support they need. Those located in other departments are significantly more satisfied. Some strategies for improving the situation are suggested.
MacNealy, Mary Sue and Leon B. Heaton. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Academic>Programs>Collaboration>Technical Writing
#34368
The web, with its low barrier to entry and permeable social boundaries, is the ultimate medium through which to explore the finer points of the wisdom of crowds. You’re surrounded by online examples: Google’s search results. BitTorrent. The “Most E-mailed” stories on your favorite news site. Each is powered by wisdom gleaned from crowds online. You need a few things to enable online crowds to be wise.
Powazek, Derek. List Apart, A (2009). Academic>Web Design>Collaboration>User Centered Design
