communication department

Volume XIX Number 6

New Associate Fellow Nominations Encouraged

By the Associate Fellows Nominating Committee

Each fall, the associate fellows nominating committee invites communities and members to recommend STC members for the rank of 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 nomination to the Society office. The office, in turn, sends the nominations to the associate fellows nominating committee. The committee reviews each candidate package carefully, contacts the identified references and, based on the information collected, forwards the names of selected candidates to the STC board of directors for consideration. Candidates must have been active in technical communication for at least fifteen years and members of the Society for at least ten years. The ten years do not necessarily have to be contiguous, as long as the candidate has “bridged” the years of membership and met the qualifications for a senior member. (Refer to the sidebar for guidelines on nominating associate fellows.)

To be considered for election as an associate fellow, a candidate must have attained distinction in the field of technical communication. The candidate must have accomplished one, two, or all three of the following: performed important work in technical communication, done notable original work that has contributed to the advancement of the field, or made a significant contribution to the Society. (Please see the guidelines below for more information about nominating candidates.)

In August, each community will receive an e-mail message describing the nomination process, including the information required for a candidate’s consideration by the associate fellows nominating committee. This information will soon be available on the STC Web site. Upon request, the Society office will e-mail community presidents/managers a list of all eligible candidates in their communities. Please e-mail your request to Peg Cottrell.

Communities and individuals should use the associate fellow nomination form on the STC Web site. The instructions on the form will help the submitter assemble a nomination package that is complete
and effective.

Please note that there has been a slight change in policy from years past. The associate fellows nominating committee encourages submitters to work with candidates to ensure that a submittal is complete and accurate. There have been occasions when incomplete and missing information could have been the primary reason a candidate was not recommended to the STC board. Thus, the committee strongly recommends involving the candidate. Please note that, first and foremost, the committee strongly recommends that the submitter believe the candidate meets the criteria for nomination as an associate fellow.

One other note to communities: nominating a community member for associate fellow is no longer a criterion for consideration as a Community of Distinction. Instead, the requirement is that a community reviews its membership to consider whether any members might be good associate fellow candidates. Thus, if a community completes the review process of its membership and concludes that there are no current candidates for associate fellow, it can still earn the appropriate credit toward becoming a Community of Distinction.

The STC board of directors will consider candidates for election as associate fellows in January 2007. The Society will recognize those elected at an honors banquet in May 2007 at STC’s 54th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Submitters must return completed nomination packages to the Society office no later than October 21, 2006. For more information, refer to the associate fellows nominating committee Web page or contact any member of the committee:

Mark Hanigan (manager)
Jody Heiken
Nancy Hoffman
Betsy Maaks
John Shipman

Nominating Guidelines: Associate Fellow

• Contact Society leaders you know for ideas about possible candidates.
• Consider members who have received the distinguished chapter service award (DCSA) or the distinguished SIG service award (DSSA). If a potential candidate’s primary strength is chapter or SIG community service, prior receipt of the DCSA or DSSA is expected.
• Consider qualified candidates who have transferred to another community. You may nominate the candidate yourself or encourage the new community to do so.
• Verify that the candidate has been a member of STC for ten years and active in technical communication for fifteen years.
• Do not ask candidates to prepare and submit their own materials and nomination forms. However, involve the candidate in collection of detailed information. For example, if you indicate on the nomination form that the candidate has published ten articles in Intercom, have the candidate list each individual article.
• Use the nomination form found on the STC Web site.
• Do not embellish a candidate’s credentials.
• Select references who know the candidate’s accomplishments and are willing to communicate with committee members about the candidate. Obtain permission to use the references’ names and contact information. Try to include references from different areas of the candidate’s professional career.

Provide sufficient information about the candidate so the associate fellows nominating committee can determine qualifications for nomination.