STC Fellow Application

Thank you for your interest in applying for STC Fellow. 

For your convenience, before you begin the application, here is a link to the current questions on this application.

Click HERE for the application in PDF format

If you wish to proceed and begin the application, click NEXT below. If not, you may close this window and resume when you have gathered the materials.

The deadline for completing and submitting your application is 6 January, 2025

Briefly (max 250 words) highlight the outstanding contributions and activities of your career that qualify you for the rank of Fellow. Include an overview of your career in technical communication, your contributions to the advancement of the field of technical communication, original work in the field, and your service to STC. An edited version of this overview may be provided to the STC Board of Directors in support of the committee’s recommendation.

Guidelines: This section enables you to highlight, in narrative form, your outstanding qualifications. Briefly describe the unique and exceptional contributions you have made to the profession over your lifetime and their significance. You have the opportunity to explain each item in more detail in the appropriate sections later in this application. This section should highlight important contributions and not be just a list of job positions like a resume.

Examples:

• Published book about mobile, adaptive content development.
• Developed agile project management techniques for information development teams and shared experience at numerous professional conferences.
• Helped develop technical communication curriculum adopted by my university.

Guidelines: You can include honorary designations such as cum laude. Dates are not required. Include any special classes or certificate programs as well as degreed programs. Do not include STC workshops or conference sessions you have presented or attended. However, you can include the total number of STC Annual conferences (dates are not necessary) you have attended. Use as many rows as necessary.

Examples:

• MA English, BS Computer Science
• PMP certification from PMI Institute
• Linguistics, Psychology 221: Patterns of Learning

Guidelines: Briefly describe your jobs and emphasize accomplishments above and beyond what is expected for those jobs. Do not provide complete information as given on a resume. Be specific about the accomplishments: quantify results, cite specific praise by a manager or co-worker, or give examples of national or international recognition. Give the name of a company, government agency, academic institution, or, if self-employed, a description of the work performed. You need not include job titles, but you should include specific accomplishments, such as problems solved, money saved, and UX improved.

Use the text box to list your experience, or upload a file.

Example:

• As a senior technical writer for Company X, I led the project to centralize our documentation in an online knowledgebase. Within three months of releasing the system to customers, we saw a 25% reduction in calls to customer support. Within a year, calls had decreased by 55%.

Guidelines: This section encapsulates your most outstanding qualifications, describing significant and unique contributions you have made to the profession and provides an over-arching synopsis of the application. It can summarize or highlight content presented later in the application; it can present one or more related activities that show outstanding contributions. These contributions should be industry-wide and not STC positions, since there is another section of this application for that information. Use as many rows as necessary.

Examples:

• Improved Science Fair Experience for Students and Judges: For six years, I volunteered as a mentor to local high school students, advising them on their papers and coaching them on presentation skills. After my third year, the State Science Fair Committee asked me to develop and deliver judges’ training, with the goal of improving how they communicate feedback to students.
• Started Academic-Industry Outreach Program. Ten years ago, I established this program to connect technical communication students with industry practitioners in our area. Through quarterly socials and online forum discussions, we improved student engagement and increased internship opportunities. Several instructors created class projects using ideas discussed in the forum.

Guidelines: List relevant presentations including lectures, seminars, and workshops. For publications, specify type, for example, book, article, or collection of works. Note any distinguishing features of a particular publication, paper, or presentation; for example, if it received an STC competition award or it was presented for a special event. List works that are distinct from those published in connection with your employment. Use as many rows as necessary.
Note: List employment projects that received special recognition, such as an STC competition award. Do not duplicate this information in the Society-level Service to STC section.

Examples:

• 2018: WritersUA West Full-day Minimalism workshop
• 2016: STC Intercom article “The Essentials of User Centered Design” (May issue)

Guidelines: Include both STC awards and non-STC awards. For non-STC awards, supply the names of the awards and brief descriptions of their significance. Use as many rows as necessary.

Examples:

• 2019 APEX award of excellence, STC best of show, award of excellence, etc.
• 2018 Distinguished Chapter Service Award, President’s Award
• 2017 Aspire Award, bestowed by Company X, which recognizes projects that “use and apply best practices that accelerate business innovation” for developing a content strategy toolkit and methodology that reduced the company’s documentation library by 75%.

Guidelines: This information can include special activities, such as acting as program manager for a conference, contributing material to the STC Body of Knowledge, or judging in the international competition, as well as offices held. You may also note any unusual or distinguished contributions you have made as a result of your involvement in an activity or holding an office. It’s not necessary to describe STC elected offices (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer) unless you contributed something special while in that office. Do not include STC publications, papers, or presentations in this section. Use as many rows as necessary.

Examples:

• 2018, STC Summit Proposal Reviewer: Reviewed and recommended sessions for the User Experience track.
• 2017, STC Competitions Judge/Team Lead: Evaluated entries and served as team lead.

Guidelines: You can note any distinguishing achievements such as offices held in another organization. This is an appropriate section in which to include your service to your community, as well as contributions on statewide, nationwide, and global levels. It might highlight how you used your talents in various areas for the benefit of the public community, regardless of whether those talents were applied in technical communication or related fields. If appropriate, include information about how you used these interactions as opportunities to advance the technical communication profession and STC, and to provide mentoring to others in those organizations. Use as many rows as necessary.

Examples:

• Parent-Teacher Association, 2010–2015: Served as newsletter editor of the elementary school’s PTA for two years. Also served as the book fair committee chair for three years, during which I created promotional materials for use in the school and local community, as well as organized a community-wide book drive in coordination with the book fair.
• American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), 2013–today: Organized joint meetings once a year with local STC chapter and advertised events for both groups to the combined membership.

Guidelines: This is your opportunity to present information that was not covered in any other section of this form or to emphasize ways in which you applied special skills to other areas related to technical communication. You might include testimonials about your special accomplishments or complimentary comments made by peers, superiors, or subordinates. Use as many rows as necessary.

Guidelines: References should be people with whom you have been involved in an ongoing way during your career. Try to include references from different areas of your career. Members of the Fellows Committee will contact these references. References need not be members of STC.

By submitting this application, you certify that you are an STC member in good standing, were inducted as an STC Associate Fellow at or prior to the 2021 Annual STC Technical Communication Summit, that the information you have provided is accurate, and that all individuals named as references have agreed to be references on your behalf.

• You must upload a current copy of your CV in PDF format (below).
  
  
• You will recieve a copy of this submission to the email you specified in Part 1.
  
  
• If you do not receive a confirmation, it is your responsibility to resubmit your information. In the event of email issues, please contact the STC office (+1 703-522-4114).