Society Pages

STC Student Membership: Challenges, Opportunities, and Benefits

January 25, 2013

By Craig Baehr and Sally Henschel | STC Academic SIG

When students join the Society for Technical Communication, one of the many benefits they gain is membership in STC communities, which includes membership in a student chapter, as well as a professional chapter and special interest group (SIG). In this article, we discuss some of the benefits and opportunities for student members of STC, discuss challenges faced by student chapters, outline the steps for creating a new chapter, and offer suggestions for maintaining and supporting a student chapter.

Benefits

For students, membership in STC and a student chapter provides many benefits and a few challenges. As individuals, student members receive access to training resources, job and salary resources, professional publications, and several awards and competitions. As members of a student chapter, whether at their own institutions or virtually through participation with students at other colleges and universities, students are provided valuable leadership and networking opportunities.

Leadership Opportunities. STC provides support for chapters based on membership levels, funds which can be used for chapter events and initiatives. Students find belonging to and participating in a student chapter allows them to get involved in activities and projects related to their career interest, to network with other students and professionals, and to hone their communication and leadership skills.

Networking. There are many avenues for networking within STC. As noted, student membership includes membership in a student chapter, a geographic chapter, and a SIG, each of which offers an array of monthly meetings, discussion groups, newsletters, and/or day-to-day support. The MySTC Network allows members to interact with their fellow STC members through a selection of integrated communications tools. In addition, the STC Technical Communication Summit provides students a valuable opportunity to network with professionals. At the annual event, recognized authorities in the technical communication field present and participate in panel discussions. Student members can apply to volunteer to work the Summit and have the conference fee waived. In addition, each community receives one free registration to the Summit.

Training. Each month, STC offers a series of live and recorded webinars, seminars, and online conferences on topics of interest to technical communicators, and students can enroll for a reduced rate. In addition, currently there are over 70 free, on-demand, archived seminars available for members.

Publications. Student membership provides online access to two technical communication publications:

  • Technical Communication. Peer-reviewed and published quarterly, the journal showcases the work of noteworthy writers in the field, and includes both quantitative and qualitative research and book reviews.
  • Intercom. Published monthly, the magazine includes articles about important topics in technical communication, and provides practical examples and applications of technical communication useful for professional development.

Job Resources. STC provides members with a Job Bank and Career Center where they can search for career opportunities with businesses and organizations from around the world. Employers can post jobs and review résumés, and members can post résumés, search the job listings, and create personal job alerts to let them know when jobs of interest are available. In addition to identifying career opportunities, members can access resources designed to help technical communicators throughout their careers. For example, the STC Salary Database, based on the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, allows members to research and compare their compensation levels.

My time with the chapter has taught me a great deal about networking, marketing, public relations, and job-hunting. Being a part of a student chapter provides you with multiple opportunities to get involved on campus and looks great on a resume!
—Eric Johnson, STC Student Chapter President, Michigan Technological University

STC is my gateway to the technical writer community. You get to meet many people from whom there is a lot to learn. This can lead to jobs, as can the actual job post website, to which membership gains you access. These are very much worth it for the great discounted student price.
—Razvan Ungureanu, STC Alberta

Additional Opportunities

In addition to the benefits of membership, there are many opportunities to contribute to STC’s information resources, compete in contests, and receive recognition for one’s efforts.

Body of Knowledge (BoK). The STC Body of Knowledge is a wiki-based information resource portal with articles on a range of topics on the profession contributed by technical communicators. The BoK serves as both an information resource and an opportunity to contribute new content. Registered users can author new content, add to or edit existing content, and even comment on pages. The BoK has a five-year history and as an evolving collection of information resources, it is continually updated with new information on the profession.

Competitions. STC offers competitions to evaluate professional technical communication in different media. In addition to participating in competitions hosted by local geographic communities, students can participate in the Academic SIG Student Poster Competition. Selected students present their research posters, on-site or virtually, at the STC Summit each spring.

Recognition. Membership in STC provides students additional opportunities for recognition at the individual, academic, and community level:

  • Distinguished Service Award for Students (DSAS)
  • Distinguished SIG Service Award (DSSA)
  • Sigma Tau Chi (STX), which recognizes students in baccalaureate or graduate programs
  • Alpha Sigma (AS), which recognizes students in two-year or certificate programs
  • Community Achievement Award
  • Community Pacesetter Award

Challenges Faced by Student Chapters

In a recent informal survey of student members, students reported several challenges faced by their chapters:

Turnover in Leadership and Membership. Turnover due to graduations or relocations can bring chapter activity to a halt. New student leaders often are not aware of what forms they need to submit to STC each year to remain active and receive funding (see Suggestions and Guidelines for Student Chapters and Their Leadership), nor do they have access to a current list of student members in the area. STC has made improvements in the last year, consolidating forms and making them available on the Leadership Resources Web page, and providing online access to membership lists. Leaders also struggle to recruit new members and keep all members interested and involved.

Planning Events and Activities. Engaging student members in chapter events and planning frequent, interesting meetings can be a challenge. Successful chapters have learned that everything a chapter does needs not to be local: they network with other chapters, SIGs, or STC members to cohost events, meetings, and guest speakers.

Access to Chapter Meetings. Many student members do not have access to a student chapter at their colleges or work extended hours, which makes it difficult for them to attend meetings. Consequently, student chapters find they need to reach out, recruit, and accommodate both an onsite and an online population of students. Chapters can use online meeting spaces, such as AdobeConnect or GoToMeeting, to host events so online students or others unable to attend a meeting can participate from a distance.

Suggestions and Guidelines for Student Chapters and Their Leadership

Ideally, chapter leaders need to focus their efforts on activities and building the chapter, and if possible, spend less time cutting through red tape. Since chapter sponsors and officers transition, the latter more than the former in most cases, chapters need to keep the process of updating and reporting simple, and use consistent channels for communication—a one-stop shop so those who pick up the baton can get up to speed more quickly in their new roles and duties. Streamlining also will allow the chapters to focus on the most important aspects for students: engaging in activities that promote their understanding of issues in the field, and getting to know their colleagues and fellow members.

I had been looking for a technical writing internship for weeks, but was unable to find a single one through my school or through jobs listed elsewhere in the Denver area. Because of my student membership, I found the perfect internship for me! … In the technical communication industry, one that values experience as much as education, I know I am very fortunate to have this internship/job, and it wouldn’t have happened without the STC!
—Claire H. Petras, STC Student Member, Rocky Mountain Chapter, University of Colorado Denver

Other suggestions for keeping chapters healthy and members engaged:

  • Use social media (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to engage membership within a chapter or community
  • Recruit students in other, but related, majors on your own campus
  • Invite students who do not have a student chapter on their campus to participate with yours
  • Remind students that the reduced student membership amounts to only $6.25 a month (i.e., $75 year)
  • Network between other chapters and SIGs
  • Consider submitting a budget to receive funding for chapter activities
  • Solicit senior STC members to volunteer to speak at chapter meetings
  • Include STC’s free, on-demand, archived seminars in meetings
  • Participate at the Summit: volunteer to work, attend the socials
  • Participate in group activities at local schools, businesses, and communities
  • Be aware of STC awards, recognitions, and competitions and encourage members to enter
  • Keep members involved after graduation: invite them to present at chapter meetings and to mentor new students

One of our biggest challenges has been spreading the word about the organization to include other related majors.… I have learned that the opportunities STC provides are not exclusive to one major or concentration, but can give everyone interested the skills they need to succeed in a rapidly advancing field of technology.
—Victoria Starke, STC Student Chapter President, James Madison University

Getting Started with a Student Chapter

Not every institution has a student chapter, but a group of highly motivated student members may be interested in the possibility of creating and managing one. The good news is there is no fee for starting a chapter and the process for getting one started is as follows:

  1. Have a minimum of five student members of STC
  2. Follow guidelines for creating a student organization on your campus
  3. Find a campus-related faculty or staff advisor
  4. Review Leadership Resources on the STC website: Log into MySTC, on the menu under MySTC, Resources, click Leadership Resources
  5. Complete and submit a Chapter Petition (found on the Leadership Resources page) with the names of the chapter members to STC at communities@stc.org
  6. After the chapter has been established, submit the following documents to STC:
    1. List of leadership: name, position, and contact information
    2. U.S. Student Chapter Bylaws (see Leadership Resources page)
    3. Budget (optional, usually due in October, and found on Leadership Resources page)
  7. Create a bank account and accounting system (optional). This will be done with the EIN provided after the STC Board approves the chapter formation.

Maintaining a Successful Student Chapter

A highly significant factor to success is planning events that engage your chapter’s members and help them network and grow as technical communicators. There are also other maintenance tasks that come with the responsibility of a healthy chapter. Review and follow U.S. laws and regulations for not-for-profit corporations (federal, state, and local). On the Leadership Resources page, read "Running a Community: Minimum Legal and Financial Requirements." Familiarize yourself with the "Chapter Leaders Getting Started" guide also on the Leadership Resources page. Periodically review your chapter bylaws and be sure they conform with provisions in the model student chapter bylaws template. Annually update your leadership list (i.e., name, position, and contact information) and send to communities@stc.org.

For those chapters interested in seeking STC funding support, write and submit an annual budget (on the Leadership Resources page, click Community Finances). Submit the chapter budget in October for January distribution. Funding is based on membership levels as of 31 August of each year. The chapter treasurer must submit an estimate of the chapter expenses (a budget) based on projected activities for the year. Also keep your eye out for Society announcements about budgeting deadlines and workshops when available.

Success comes from consistent effort and engagement, but with a motivated group of students, the good news is you can share the work involved in running, and the benefits of belonging to, an STC student chapter.