MACON–Mercer University’s Society for Technical Communication (STC) Chapter in the School of Engineering recently was honored with two awards at the STC international conference in Baltimore, Md.
For the second straight year, the 28-member chapter received the Student Chapter of Distinction Award, the highest honor given to a student chapter in this professional society. The award is only given to one student chapter in each of the STC’s two chapter size categories for each region.
The Mercer STC chapter also was honored with the Award of Excellence in the STC Newsletter Competition-the largest, most competitive competition in STC. This was the first year the Mercer STC chapter entered the newsletter competition, and Mercer’s student chapter beat out many of the nation’s top professional organizations.
The judges in the competitions said Mercer University deserved these honors “for spirited promotion of STC and technical communication that ‘fires the imagination.'”
To receive the Chapter of Distinction Award, the students had to complete and document a series of activities and projects.
“Winning STC Chapter of Distinction two years in a row is almost unheard of, but our student chapter managed to do it again this year at the Baltimore conference,” Dr. Marj Davis, chair of Mercer’s Technical Communication Department and adviser to the student chapter, said. “The faculty are very proud of our students’ achievements in our largest technical communication professional society.”
The Mercer STC newsletter was judged based on its content, design and ability to communicate news and information between STC chapters and special interest groups and their members.
Macon resident Carla Paschke, a rising senior technical communication major at Mercer, serves as editor of the Mercer STC Chapter electronic newsletter, STC Connections. Paschke is also the incoming president of the student chapter.
“Improving the newsletter was one of our chapter’s main goals when I took office as editor two years ago,” Paschke said. “Therefore, winning this award gives me a great sense of pride in not only our newsletter, but also our chapter.”
In addition to receiving these awards at the international STC conference, Mercer’s Technical Communication department was represented by 12 undergraduate students and four graduate students at the event and 10 of these students wrote papers or made presentations for the conference proceedings.
The Society for Technical Communication is a 25,000-member organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication.
Named one of the top engineering schools in the Southeast by U.S. News & World Report for the past five years, Mercer University School of Engineering is known for producing graduates ready to work in the industry and government. The innovative Mercer School of Engineering curriculum emphasizes teamwork as well as opportunities to gain hands-on experiences. Mercer engineering graduates are known for their strong communication skills, as Mercer is one of few engineering institutions in the nation to house a Technical Communication Department within the Engineering School.
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