No subject
Mon Jul 14 09:25:31 MDT 2008
two jobs, one in industry and one in academia as a TA while getting my
masters in Tech. com.) I don't know that the door of professionalism
will ever open to cooperation with academia. I offered to share my
findings from a thesis I have been working on with the company if I
could use their resources but they responded by saying it would not be
beneficial to the bottom line to use their professionals for the study
and use their time to conduct surveys. Capitalism in an all consuming
monster with no regard for ethics and reasonability in many matters.
Maybe it would look bad for a state government organization like MoDOT
to admit to the public that funds were used to conduct research to
tech. writing in its manuals, but we will never know. I agree with Dr.
Kathy Northcut in the fact that working in cubicles under deadlines
narrows perspectives.
With engineering, there is a much more openness, it is due to the fact
that in transportation, 2% of all federal funding must be tagged for
research on more effective engineering methods. So where does the answer
lay? Our discipline is new and is just not very well respected yet. Our
skills are undermined and in some cases maligned. I will continue my
research of the 50 transportation web sites to focus on their manual
writing. I am just not sure that I will share it with MoDOT at this
time. They will be apathetic to reading it or accepting my proposals.
There is the sun shine law that they have to make their manuals open to
the public but it does not have to be understandable or readable to
there is not push to make it better. You would think they would consider
the bottom line issues with that when they are pushing for their 800
Bridges proposal and picking the contractor in May of 07. Good
communication makes for smoother running and less loss of money. The 800
Bridges proposal is an agreement with contactors to build and maintain
800 bridges for 25 years while MoDOT pays them one annual payment for
that. It is a first time a transportation department is to try such a
contract. They will run into problems though because they are not
requiring them to use MoDOT's specs. MoDOT is outsourcing to save money
and thowing specs out the window. Do we have another Boston Big Dig on
our hands. Lives are at stake and not just money.
The below suggestions are good. It should be more embracing but it can
only go so far with corporate attitudes being so myopic.
Bonni Graham <bgraham at manuallabour.com> wrote:
I'm curious:
What do you folks see as the best way to forge a tighter
link between academia and industry? In my case, it's
automatic: I run my own tech comm company and work for an
employer (which is why you might see emails from me from
either of two addresses), in addition to being adjunct
faculty at two UC campuses (plus I have three kids - this
is what adult hyperactives do with themselves).
I see some of the following things that STC can do (and in
some cases has done and is continuing to do):
* Sponsor industry internships for students
* Sponsor industry fellowships/sabbaticals for professors
* Provide a list of questions about the practice of tech
comm that practitioners would love to or need to know more
about but lack the time to research themselves (similar to
the article about heading frequency and comprehension that
appeared in the most recent Journal)
* Continue to publish the Journal
* Reduce conference rates (or seek corporate partnerships,
or provide a template for how to seek corporate
partnerships)
* Create an academically-focused annual conference
* Invite more local academics to speak at local chapters
about current research (chapter presidents - are you
listening?)
I'm only one brain - help me out! : )
b
Bonni Graham
Manual Labour, Inc.
858-366-0170
www.manuallabour.com
Making Technology Easier
---
You are currently subscribed to STC Academic Community as:
leoofmo at yahoo.com. To make changes in your subscription via the web, or
to search the list archives, browse to
http://lists.stc.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=stc-ac
Use the link above to remove an existing subscription and create a new
subscription with a new email address.
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-stc-ac-277425B at lists.stc.org
________________________________
Any questions? Get answers on any topic at Yahoo! Answers
<http://answers.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTFvbGNhMGE3BF9TAzM5NjU0NTEwOARfcwMz
OTY1NDUxMDMEc2VjA21haWxfdGFnbGluZQRzbGsDbWFpbF90YWcx> . Try it now. ---
You are currently subscribed to STC Academic Community as:
daniel.w.voss at lmco.com. To make changes in your subscription via the
web, or to search the list archives, browse to
http://lists.stc.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=stc-ac Use the link above to
remove an existing subscription and create a new subscription with a new
email address. To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-stc-ac-277425B at lists.stc.org
--Boundary_(ID_FMIyPM9zpbWzEjNppEEVuQ)
Content-type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2995" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>Le Ann:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>As a 28-year veteran of "corporate America" who has
kept one foot in the classroom as an adjunct instructor, I'm not naive enough to
disagree with your observations about the bottom line. However, I believe
you are treading dangerously close to the line between realism and
cynicism. What you're leaving out is the human element. It is as
easy to malign a faceless corporate or government monolith as it is difficult to
deal with it. But what are corporations and government entities other than
aggregations of individuals? Many of whom, yes, are too focused on the
bottom line (and their own survival and advancement within the
corporate or bureaucratic jungle) to care about outreach to academe. But
just as we can also find members of the academy who are focused on survival and
self-aggrandizement rather than pedagogy (e.g., "publish or perish"), we can
find people within the corporate "monster" who are genuinely committed to
outreach.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>As one small example, Mike Murray (an STC director),
W.C. Wiese (STC treasurer), and I all work for Lockheed Martin in Orlando; and
we have, for nearly 2 decades, also been very active within STC, based within
the Orlando Chapter. We and many other professional practitioners in
the Orlando Chapter who represent several other businesses, both large and
small, in Central Florida, have formed a dynamic partnership with the
University of Central Florida's technical communication faculty within the
English Department. And the Engineering Department at Lockheed Martin
has an active internship program with UCF. As an example, I have a meeting
scheduled in January with a UCF professor to give her a point of contact within
Engineering, to explore the possibility of tying students within the
university's new Ph.D. program in technical communication in to the internship
program. Lockheed Martin, as well as several other businesses in Central
Florida, annually sponsors the Orlando Chapter's "Operation Rising Stars"
fund-raiser that helps sustain a highly successful scholarship program at
UCF and an equally robust high school tech writing
competition. Once again, it boils down to <U>people</U>--in this
case, the Community Relations manager who governs the company's philanthropic
outreach program and the print shop manager, who has provided pro bono printing
to the chapter each year. Both are my professional friends and colleagues
at Lockheed Martin. You couldn't meet more caring people ... and we all
work for the largest defense company in the world--one which, like any
company, is certainly concerned with the bottom line. We must meet
our responsibility to our shareholders at the same time we meet our
responsibility to those who go into harm's way to defend the nation.
There's nothing unethical about that, nor does it preclude outreach to
academe.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>I'm not saying your frustrations are unfounded, and I
don't mean to trivialize the disappointments you have experienced. Nor am I
suggesting there can be a total solution. But I do believe there are many
giving corporate professionals within STC who, in turn, know many other
like-minded professionals within corporate America. Together, we can
put a "face" on the corporate monster and open up real dialogue and cooperation
between industry and the academy.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>My two cents ...</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>:-)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>Dan Voss, Communications Manager<BR>Lockheed Martin
Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando Florida</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>STC Orlando Chapter, AccessAbility and Academic
SIGs</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006>Adjunct Instructor, Webster
University</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=592544416-06122006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT><BR>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> bounce-stc-ac-277425 at lists.stc.org
[mailto:bounce-stc-ac-277425 at lists.stc.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Le Ann
Mounce<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:16 AM<BR><B>To:</B>
stc-ac<BR><B>Subject:</B> [stc-ac] Re: NEW TOPIC: Academia and
Industry<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">From one hyperactive to
another, (one who also has three children with two jobs, one in industry and one
in academia as a TA while getting my masters in Tech. com.) I don't know that
the door of professionalism will ever open to cooperation with academia. I
offered to share my findings from a thesis I have been working on with the
company if I could use their resources but they responded by saying it would not
be beneficial to the bottom line to use their professionals for the study and
use their time to conduct surveys. Capitalism in an all consuming monster with
no regard for ethics and reasonability in many matters. Maybe it would look bad
for a state government organization like MoDOT to admit to the public that
funds were used to conduct research to tech. writing in its manuals, but
we will never know. I agree with Dr. Kathy Northcut in the fact that working in
cubicles under deadlines narrows perspectives. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">With engineering, there
is a much more openness, it is due to the fact that in transportation, 2% of all
federal funding must be tagged for research on more effective engineering
methods. So where does the answer lay? Our discipline is new and is just not
very well respected yet. Our skills are undermined and in some cases maligned. I
will continue my research of the 50 transportation web sites to focus on their
manual writing. I am just not sure that I will share it with MoDOT at this time.
They will be apathetic to reading it or accepting my proposals. There is the sun
shine law that they have to make their manuals open to the public but it does
not have to be understandable or readable to there is not push to make it
better. You would think they would consider the bottom line issues with that
when they are pushing for their 800 Bridges proposal and picking the contractor
in May of 07. Good communication makes for smoother running and less loss
of money. The 800 Bridges proposal is an agreement with contactors to build and
maintain 800 bridges for 25 years while MoDOT pays them one annual payment for
that. It is a first time a transportation department is to try such a contract.
They will run into problems though because they are not requiring them to use
MoDOT's specs. MoDOT is outsourcing to save money and thowing specs out the
window. Do we have another Boston Big Dig on our hands. Lives are at stake and
not just money.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The below suggestions are
good. It should be more embracing but it can only go so far with corporate
attitudes being so myopic.<BR><BR><B><I>Bonni Graham
<bgraham at manuallabour.com></I></B> wrote:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I'm curious:<BR><BR>What do you
folks see as the best way to forge a tighter <BR>link between academia and
industry? In my case, it's <BR>automatic: I run my own tech comm company and
work for an <BR>employer (which is why you might see emails from me from
<BR>either of two addresses), in addition to being adjunct <BR>faculty at two UC
campuses (plus I have three kids - this <BR>is what adult hyperactives do with
themselves).<BR><BR>I see some of the following things that STC can do (and in
<BR>some cases has done and is continuing to do):<BR><BR>* Sponsor industry
internships for students<BR>* Sponsor industry fellowships/sabbaticals for
professors<BR>* Provide a list of questions about the practice of tech <BR>comm
that practitioners would love to or need to know more <BR>about but lack the
time to research themselves (similar to <BR>the article about heading frequency
and comprehension that <BR>appeared in the most recent Journal)<BR>* Continue to
publish the Journal<BR>* Reduce conference rates (or seek corporate
partnerships, <BR>or provide a template for how to seek corporate
<BR>partnerships)<BR>* Create an academically-focused annual conference<BR>*
Invite more local academics to speak at local chapters <BR>about current
research (chapter presidents - are you <BR>listening?)<BR><BR>I'm only one brain
- help me out! : )<BR><BR>b<BR><BR>Bonni Graham<BR>Manual Labour,
Inc.<BR>858-366-0170<BR>www.manuallabour.com<BR>Making Technology
Easier<BR><BR>---<BR>You are currently subscribed to STC Academic Community as:
leoofmo at yahoo.com. To make changes in your subscription via the web, or to
search the list archives, browse to
http://lists.stc.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=stc-ac<BR><BR>Use the link above to
remove an existing subscription and create a new subscription with a new email
address. <BR><BR>To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-stc-ac-277425B at lists.stc.org<o:p></o:p></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<P>
<HR SIZE=1>
Any questions? Get answers on any topic at <A
href="http://answers.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTFvbGNhMGE3BF9TAzM5NjU0NTEwOARfcwMzOTY1NDUxMDMEc2VjA21haWxfdGFnbGluZQRzbGsDbWFpbF90YWcx">Yahoo!
Answers</A>. Try it now. --- You are currently subscribed to STC Academic
Community as: daniel.w.voss at lmco.com. To make changes in your subscription via
the web, or to search the list archives, browse to
http://lists.stc.org/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=stc-ac Use the link above to remove
an existing subscription and create a new subscription with a new email address.
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-stc-ac-277425B at lists.stc.org
</BODY></HTML>
--Boundary_(ID_FMIyPM9zpbWzEjNppEEVuQ)--
More information about the Stc-ac
mailing list