Re: Teaching Tools in Tech Comm Programs -Reply

[Garret Romaine <GRomaine -at- MSMAIL -dot- RADISYS -dot- COM>]

Dave Hailey writes:

>I would like to beat the internship drum...If other programs are like
>ours, probably the most difficult task for the teachers is finding
>good internship possibilities for their students.

I just bid farewell to an intern who worked here for three-months, and I
already miss his presence. Even though he only worked 8 hours a week, he
made quite a difference by helping out with the little things -- proofing,
compiling master documents, inputting text, circulating reviews, building
test systems... the list was pretty long.

In that time, I built up a good relationship with the school that sent him
over, and although I probably won't get another intern until spring term, I
look forward to it already. Their advice was that if I can budget some money
for internships, instead of seeking only interns that work for credit, I can
expect to pull in a student every quarter.

Most of these students are already degreed, and are returning to school for
the technical writing certificate. They are joining STC, learning all they
can, and starting to network effectively. I believe the face of technical
writing will continue to change (for the better) as more and more young
writers make a conscious choice to work in our field, rather than have it
chosen for them.

Garret Romaine
gromaine -at- radisys -dot- com