technical communication

Tech Com Majors Attend Conferences in Springfield

May 9, 2012 by ETC

In late April, several S&T tech com majors attended the 8th Annual Workshop for Teachers of Technical Writing and the 10th Annual STC Student Conference at Missouri State University in Springfield. The students were Razmus Kerwin, Misty Adams, Andrew Herbert, Shristy Bashyal, Melissa Hollingshead, Shubhangi Vajpayee, Shubashini Gamagedara, and Kenny Wampler.

The following paragraphs are adapted from Razz Kerwin’s trip report:

“On the first day of the conference, well-known tech com scholars such as Sherry Southard, Carolyn Rude, Tom Warren, Mike Markel, and Steve Gerson gave presentations on various aspects of the teaching of tech com — from retrospectives on teaching tech com to a frank discussion about the uses of social media in the tech com classroom. One thing I found particularly valuable at the conference was Dr. Southard’s brief retrospective of her career in teaching tech com. I was fortunate enough to talk with her at length during lunch about my upcoming GTA position and some basic teaching strategies for someone just starting out.

“The presentations on the second day were primarily geared toward undergraduates preparing to enter either industry or a higher level of academia. Shubhangi’s and Shubashini’s poster presentations were interesting and unique additions to the poster session. At the book raffle several S&T students won a free Bedford/St. Martin’s technical communication textbook. The day concluded with a three-person panel of current tech com PhD students who held an open Q&A session about what it’s really like to be a PhD student. It was a real eye opener regarding the level of commitment it takes to accomplish that goal.”

Missouri S&T tech com majors at Springfield conference on April 26, 2012. From left to right: Kenny Wampler, Melissa Hollingshead, Shubhangi Vajpayee, Subhashini Gamagedara, Misty Adams, and Razmus Kerwin

How To Make a Difference

April 24, 2009 by gdoty

Terry Bollineger speaks with a tech com class

“I’m an engineer, not a poet. How can English classes be important to me?” Terry Bollinger, Computer Science major at Missouri University of Science & Technology, answers clearly, “If you want to make a difference in the broader scheme of things, you
have to be able to communicate your thoughts clearly and convincingly.”

Back in the 1970s, the English Department of Missouri S&T (then UMR), began offering a writing minor. One of the first students to take a minor was Terry Bollinger, then a B.S. Student in Computer Science. Terry received his B.S. in 1977 and an M.S. in Computer Science in 1980,both from S&T. The title of this post comes from Terry’s statement quoted above.

Terry was on the S&T campus on April 23 and 24 as a member of the Computer Science Department’s Advisory Board. The Department of English and Technical Communication was fortunate to have Terry meet with an English/Tech Com 260 class. Terry carried on a lively informal conversation with the class, centering on a project the class has been working on.

Currently, Terry works for DeVenCI as their main technology assessor of emerging IT and hard science products. DeVenCI works together with the Department of Defense. Writing is a major component of Terry’s career. If you visit Terry’s personal Web site, you can find many examples of his reports and his advocacy of open source software and of Linux.

It was a real pleasure for me to talk with Terry and sit in on his conversation with the class. He was one of my students here and one of the best I’ve had in 42 years.