New Dues Structure for 2008

Wed Sep 26 09:33:49 MDT 2007

Hi, there.

I've been following this thread with keen interest and, I'll confess,
mixed feelings.  Since my primary occupation for the past 29 years has
been as a practitioner (technical marketing communication in aerospace)
and since I've been extremely fortunate in enjoying the support of my
employer (Lockheed Martin) over the past 15 years with regard to STC
dues, conferences, and direct philanthropic support to our local
chapter, I don't feel comfortable taking a position on whether or not
$175 is a reasonable fee for STC to ask of academe, or whether it is
reasonable for the academy to expect a subsidy to defray that cost.
Since I began in education and also have experience as an adjunct
instructor with several colleges and universities through my career, I
can certainly sympathize with the academy's concerns.  Indeed, the $25
increase could pose a make-it, break-it economic barrier for some
members of academe (as well as for some practitioners).  But for most, I
suspect, the increase, while certainly not desirable, is manageable,
weighed against the benefits.

However, I do feel comfortable strenuously opposing the 94% increase in
the student membership fee to $75.  I don't think there is any doubt
that will pose a significant hardship to a large percentage of student
members (and potential student members).  I am concerned that if some
form of relief is not made available to students (whether it be
forthcoming from the STC geographical communities who are collocated
with universities that have student chapters or significant student
memberhips within the local chapter, from within the academy itself, or
some combination thereof), STC's total student membership could be
decimated by this severe rate increase.

Maybe there aren't enough student members on this listserv to raise
their voices above the rest (I've heard just a couple), but as both a
practitioner and a part-time member of the academy, I believe the STC
Board has made an egregious strategic error--an error which,
uncorrected, could rupture a major pipeline of future leaders.  I
recommend practitioners and academics across STC's communities unite to
find ways to fix this problem--and preserve one of our most precious
resources.

-Dan Voss, Fellow
Orlando Chapter
AccessAbility SIG

________________________________

From: bounce-stc-ac-277425 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-277425 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Graham, Winsome
CAR
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2007 10:59 AM
To: stc-ac
Subject: [stc-ac] RE: New Dues Structure for 2008

All,

I am a TC practitioner enrolled in the MSTCO program at Mercer
University. From the sidelines, I've watched the various debates
involving the academic community for several years and need to ask a
qualitative, rather than quantitative, question: If technical
communication academics cannot afford to be a part of the STC, what will
we, as current and future practitioners, be taught? I feel that it's
important for academics to support STC, but it is past time for STC to
fully and wholeheartedly recognize the academic community as an
influential and foundational part of the organization and start putting
their money (or subsidies!) where the most impact can be spread. 

I truly believe that's right here.

Winsome 
Winsome C. Graham 
Technical Writer, Carrier Transicold 
Containers and Gensets 

phone: 315.432.6636 
efax:    860.660.8935 
email: winsome.graham at carrier.utc.com 

________________________________

From: bounce-stc-ac-277719 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-277719 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Barker, Thomas
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 3:04 PM
To: stc-ac
Subject: [stc-ac] RE: Fwd: STC: New Dues Structure for 2008

Colleagues, 

I feel torn.  On the one hand I see a number of initiatives in STC that
are intended to assist and benefit academics:  the Academic Community
(of course), more competitive sessions, the Academic Database, a more
"academic" journal (TC used to have comics in it), awards and
scholarships for academics and students, support for student poster
sessions, and the inclusion of academic outreach criteria in chapter and
community award criteria, to name a few.  And I see STC has the primary
source of contact we all have to valuable industry input into our work
in the ivory towers (ours are brick, actually).  I also realize that the
funding for my STC conference comes from my own pocket.  (We get some
funding dollars and decide where to spend it.)  The conference date has
fallen, this year at least, at a time when academics don't have final
exams. 

On the other hand academics are a minority in the organization (only 9
or 10 percent of the membership) so we struggle to have our voices
heard. We may feel left out as the conference moves in the direction of
professional meeting models as opposed to the academic meeting model.
And we often have to deal with less than understanding attitudes towards
the academic side of the profession.  To us, we're big; to them, we're
small.

As for the dues, I have to pay for at least one or two conferences a
year but will keep on coming to STC, for the benefits I outlined above.
As academics, we are, to some extent, at the mercy of educational and
other trends that drive the conference and the profession.  In the end,
it is in our best interest for STC to support the professionalism of
industry practitioners, because that is where we get our warrant and
authenticity, not to mention research sites

Tommy. 

Dr. Thomas Barker

Manager, STC Academic Community

thomas.barker at ttu.edu <mailto:thomas.barker at ttu.edu> 

http://www.stc-ac.org <http://www.stc-ac.org/> 

The STC Academic Community serves STC members worldwide who work as
educators and researchers in colleges and universities.  These
responsibilities involve areas of curriculum design, current practices
in technical communication, research and research funding, and academic
workplace and professional issues.

________________________________

From: bounce-stc-ac-264184 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-264184 at lists.stc.org] On Behalf Of Bonni Graham
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 12:10 PM
To: stc-ac
Subject: [stc-ac] RE: Fwd: STC: New Dues Structure for 2008

<G> Organizational budget, but since I'm the sole shareholder of a very
teeny company, it amounts to the same thing. I'm not sure the dues would
be worth the tradeoff in salary...<G>

b

PS: BTW, FAB article in this quarter's Journal of Technical Writing &
Communication!

At 10:01 AM 9/25/2007, Northcut, Kathryn wrote:

I appreciate your point, but would like one thing clarified - do you pay
out of your personal pocket, or your organizational budget, for your
staff? Just curious - I may want to come work for you :)

Kathryn Northcut
Assistant Professor of Technical Communication
Department of English and Technical Communication
University of Missouri-Rolla
northcut at umr.edu

________________________________

Bonni Graham
Manual Labour Inc.
858-366-0170
www.manuallabour.com
<http://www.manuallabour.com/> Making Technology Easier

"I will not return to a universe of objects that don't know each other,
as if islands were not the lost children of one great continent."  
Monet Refuses the Operation, Liesl Mueller ---
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