Education Information

Note:  All links going to other websites will open in the same window. Use the Back button to return to our site.

Education

"One of the incorporating principles of the Society is to ‘guide and inform students and to aid colleges and universities in the establishment of curricula for training in the arts and sciences of technical communication.’ STC provides support to teachers and students of technical communication through programs, annual conferences, and seminars. The Society also provides information about events and courses related to technical communication."

As required by new STC rules and until further notice, the Washington, DC – Baltimore Chapter no longer offers scholarships. For a list of available STC scholarships, contact Erin Gallalee, Director of Operations, Membership, and Community Relations.  Updated

Chapter Memorial Awards

Image of a graduation hat sitting on a stack of moneyThe Washington, DC – Baltimore (WDCB) Chapter is proud to offer awards to future and professional technical communicators Enquiries about the awards, or interest in working on the Recognition Committee, should be sent to the chapter president at chapter president. The awards are intended to honor individuals who make contributions to the technical communication profession in Maryland, DC, or Virginia.

  • Austin T. Brown Technical Communication Award for high school students. In the past, this award was given to winners of a competition for the best technical papers written by local high school students. In recent years, we've been unable to find volunteers to staff the Education Committee. We hope a new volunteer who is interested in managing a student competition will step up in the future. In lieu of this, the chapter began giving awards in 2009 for the best student entry in our STC Alliance Competition.
  • Shirley G. Carter Memorial Award for college students. In the past, this award was given to the top college-level applicants as evaluated by the award's committee members. Unfortunately, in recent years we have been unable to find volunteers to staff the Education Committee to serve as reviewers of the award applications. We hope a new volunteer who is interested in managing a student competition will step up in the future. In lieu of this, the chapter began giving awards in 2009 for the best student entry in our STC Alliance Competition.

STC Society-Level Academic Community

"The Academic Community supports the professional responsibilities of STC members worldwide who work as educators and researchers in colleges and universities. Those responsibilities involve areas of curriculum design, current practices in technical communication, research and research funding, and academic workplace, recruitment, and professional issues. The Academic Community actively seeks support opportunities in existing initiatives: mentoring, research, conference attendance, publication in education and research in the field of technical communication, especially those in other professional organizations, that involve the productive interaction of practitioners and academics."

For information about the STC Academic Community see, https://www.facebook.com/groups/STCAcademicCommunity

  • Frank R. Smith Award: The Frank R. Smith Award for an outstanding journal article in the Society's journal, Technical Communication, recognizes the authors of exceptional articles that appeared in Technical Communication during a calendar year. Since 1966, STC has paid tribute to the authors whose contributions have made Technical Communication one of the most highly respected journals devoted to the arts and sciences of technical communication.
  • Jay R. Gould Award: The Jay R. Gould Award for excellence in teaching technical communication honors the distinguished teaching career of Professor Gould. This award honors true academic mentorship; a record of successful students, defined as those who are involved in STC, and actively working in the profession; involvement in student activities outside of the classroom; innovation and creativity in teaching, and involvement in research that leads to changes in the way technical communication is taught.
  • Ken Rainey Award: The Ken Rainey Award for Excellence and Research honors research that has made positive, significant contributions to technical communication practice and teaching. It rewards a lifetime of quality research in the field, a single high-quality empirical study, or a set of related high-quality studies.
  • STC Academic Database: provides lists of degree programs and certificates and information about conferences and seminars.
  • STC college scholarships (applications are due December 31):

    The following individual honorary scholarships have been merged with the STC scholarships program.

    • Marian Norby Scholarship for full or part time U.S. federal government females who work as a secretary or administrative assistant and are interested in studying for a degree or attending a continuing education or training course related to technical communication.   (See tribute to Marian Norby.)
    • Della A. Whitaker International Scholarship program grants four awards of $1,500 each (two for graduate students and two for undergraduate students) will be granted toward school tuition and expenses. Applicants must have completed at least one year of post-secondary education and must be full-time students. Students should have at least one full year of academic work remaining to complete their degree programs and they should be studying communication of information about technical subjects.
  • Sigma Tau Chi and Alpha Sigma Honorary Societies

    STC's honorary society for students of technical communication. Sigma Tau Chi recognizes students enrolled in a baccalaureate or graduate technical communication program who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above, are exemplary participants in STC, and demonstrate the potential for significant contributions to the profession.

    Alpha Sigma recognizes students enrolled in two-year and certificate technical communication programs who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or above, are active participants in STC, and demonstrate the potential to contribute to the profession.

  • STC has student chapters at many colleges and universities. If you are already enrolled in college, you may want to join a student chapter. See https://wdcb.stcwdc.org/about-stc/#STUDCHAPS for a list of student chapters near the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

In addition to the degree programs listed below, there are short-term Seminars and Workshops available.

College Degree and Certificate Programs in Communication in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area

For list of colleges and universities around the world, see Colleges and Universities.

List of colleges and universities in Washington, D.C.

List of colleges and universities in Maryland

List of colleges and universities in Virginia

The following is a list of known communication educational programs in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. STC does not endorse any particular program.

Online Education

Guides to Online Education

  • Guide to Online Schools is a directory to use to search for 3943 online degrees from accredited online colleges, universities, and vocational schools. Includes reviews from former students of online schools.

Distance Education Certificate Programs

  • Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. CTYOnline's unique distance education program provides challenging academic courses all year long for eligible gifted students in grades pre-K through 12.
  • Rochester Institute of Technology Online Learning (RIT) offers a sequence of courses as a foundation for entering or advancing in the field of Technical Communication. Courses can be taken for a certificate. Students are expected to have a command of standard written English prose before beginning this concentration. Check course descriptions for prerequisites.
    • Technical Writing
    • Technical Writing and Editing
    • Research Techniques
    • Instructional Design Techniques
    • Techniques for Document Design

    For academic advising contact:
    Center for Multidisciplinary Studies
    Sydney Seaver
    Phone: 716-475-2234
    Email: Academic Advisor

    For online learning questions call:
    1-800-CALL-RIT or 716-475-5089

    See https://www.rit.edu/online/study for the complete list of RIT's Online Degree Programs for undergraduate and graduate students: AA, BA, Masters, Ph.D., eight graduate degrees, three graduate certificates, five undergraduate degrees and sixteen undergraduate certificates offered by RIT.

  • Techwriter-certification.com offers a Certificate in Technical Writing that comprises three courses, which can be completed in about one semester or in about 15 weeks. In addition, they offer 20 different online courses specific to technical writing. Their Advanced Certificate in Technical Writing for Managers is soon to be launched. While they offer their own courses from their techwriter-certification website, they also have business relationships established with major colleges and universities
    who market these same courses to their students.

    Dr. David McMurrey (Austin Community College) and Dr. Kenneth Rainey (Southern Polytechnic State University) are two of their esteemed faculty members who have strong ties to STC at the local and national level. Discounts from $25 to $100.00 on tuition are available for STC members based on the cost of the course.

    Contact: Dr. John E. Reid, Jr.
    JER Group, Inc.
    Online Continuing Education
    Certification and Professional Training
    URLs: https://www.techwriter-certification.com/
    Phone: 706-216-3406 (EST)
    Fax: 706-216-3979
    1-866-537-5376 (JER-LERN)

Jump to bottom widgets

Last modified: 26 March 2023
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Share with others