Associate Fellow Recommendation Information
Deadline: First Monday of October
Email application to: Nancy Hoffman
Each fall, the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee invites STC communities and members to recommend Senior Members for the rank of STC Associate Fellow. This honor recognizes members’ achievements in technical communication fields, in contributions to STC, or both.
Any voting member of STC may submit a candidate’s application to the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee. The committee reviews each candidate’s application and contacts the identified references. Based on evaluation of the information collected, the committee forwards nominees to the STC Board of Directors for consideration.
Requirements
To be considered for election as an Associate Fellow, a candidate must have been active in technical communication for at least fifteen (15) years and have fulfilled five (5) years of service as an STC Senior Member, as of the application submission deadline. The candidate must have attained distinction in the field of technical communication and must have accomplished one, two, or all three of the following:
- Been responsible for important work in the field of technical communication.
- Done notable original work that has contributed to the advancement of technical communication.
- Made a significant contribution to the Society and helped to tell STC’s powerful story.
Recommendation Procedure
To recommend a Senior Member for the rank of Associate Fellow:
- Verify his or her eligibility in terms of years of STC membership and years of work in areas related to technical communication. To request a list of your community’s members who have been Senior Members for at least five years, please contact Lloyd Tucker at the Society office. Contact the candidate and inquire about his or her years of work in technical communication. Involve the candidate in gathering the information required on the application form.
- Refer to the Application for Associate Fellow. The form gives complete instructions and guidelines for each section. Also look at the three sample completed forms. The samples show information for candidates who are principally academics, corporate employees, and self-employed.
- Email the completed Application for Associate Fellow to Nancy Hoffman by midnight on the first Monday of October. Nancy will notify you by e-mail that she has received your application. If you do not receive an e-mail response from her within 48 hours, contact Nancy immediately.
Recommendation Suggestions
We offer the following suggestions about recommending a candidate for Associate Fellow:
- Contact Society leaders you know for ideas about possible candidates.
- Consider members who have received the Distinguished Chapter Service Award or the Distinguished SIG Service Award.
- Consider qualified candidates who have transferred to another community. You can recommend the candidate yourself or encourage the other community to do so.
- Submit only one application per candidate. If there are two or more communities that want to recommend a candidate, the communities should work together, with the candidate, to submit a single application.
- Select references who know the candidate’s accomplishments and are willing to communicate with the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee about the candidate. Obtain permission to use the references’ names and contact information. Do not ask the references to submit information to the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee; a committee member will contact each of them to request information about the candidate. Do not ask a current Society board member or a member of the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee to be a reference for the candidate. Try to include references from different areas of the candidate’s professional career.
- Do not ask the candidate to prepare and submit his or her own application. However, involve the candidate in the collection of detailed information.
- Ask Associate Fellows, Fellows, or members who are experienced in submitting Associate Fellow applications to perform an early review of the candidate’s application and give you feedback.
- Do not embellish the candidate's credentials.
STC Policies
The following policies, set by the STC Board of Directors, apply to recommending Associate Fellows:
- A Senior Member, even if fully qualified, cannot be considered for the rank of Associate Fellow while serving as a member of the Society’s Board of Directors.
- The STC Board of Directors has sole authority to permit announcement of successful candidates.
- Recommendations of candidates sent to the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee and nominations the committee makes to the Board of Directors are kept private.
- The rank of Associate Fellow is conferred upon a nominated Senior Member upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the STC Board of Directors.
For more information, contact the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee Chair, Nancy Hoffman.
