A series of team reporting projects is used to teach concepts of audience and communication skills in technical and professional communication courses at the Univ. of Texas at Arlington. Supplemental to conventional reporting assignments, the projects range from short exercises done in a single class period to extended out-of-class projects involving both a literature review and primary research. In each, students work in small, interdisciplinary groups to solve a problem, prepare a team-written report, and deliver an oral presentation. Short exercises are graded by the instructor; the more extensive reporting projects are graded by peers and by the instructor using evaluation checklists.

Each semester, undergraduate technical writing students at The University of Texas at Arlington learn to adapt and present written material orally and visually by participating in a three-or four-day simulated professional meeting. Each student gives a ten-minute oral presentation, followed by a five-minute question-and-answer period. Presentations are grouped in panels of five papers; each panel is moderated by a session chairperson. Students receive copies of the schedule and presentation abstracts prior to the opening sessions. Presentations are evaluated by the students and the instructor for technical content, visuals, and delivery using a standardized evaluation checklist. Students learn to analyze and speak to a heterogeneous audience; to distinguish the strengths and weaknesses of presentations and visuals; and to convey assessments to others in a professional manner.

Holding a successful conference year after year constitutes a hallmark of excellence for a professional society. While many factors contribute to the success of such a meeting, a key factor is careful planning and organization. To aid the first-time conference chairperson, this paper describes a systematic approach to conference planning and organization: (1) making preliminary analyses and assessments; (2) obtaining the agreement of cosponsors; (3) selecting key conference officers; (4) organizing conference committees; (5) selecting the conference site, hotel, and dates; (6) developing the conference master plan; (7) following through and implementing planning decisions; (8) anticipating and managing contingencies; and (9) coordinating post-conference activities. Using a systematic approach simplifies the task and makes it possible to run an annual meeting successfully.

Native and international science, engineering, and humanities graduate students at The University of Texas at Arlington experience real-world communication situations in an interdisciplinary, projected-oriented technical communication course team-taught by a technical writer and a mechanical engineer. The course simulates the writing requirements of industry and helps students prepare theses and dissertations. A special feature for international students is a supplementary weekly laboratory session devoted to intensive review of writing fundamentals. The course, which has been offered three times since 1976 with enrollments of eleven, five, and nine students, has been received well by science and engineering students for whom it was initially designed and by humanities students who now also enroll. Even though in some cases the progress that a foreign student makes in one semester is limited, all students have found the course of great benefit. The interdisciplinary team approach is an effective way of teaching graduate-level technical communication, providing engineers an opportunity to learn to express ideas to humanists and providing humanists an opportunity to learn to communicate effectively with engineers and scientists.

To the new or prospective editor, publishing a professional society newsletter can seem a formidable task. It need not be, however, with proper planning and organization. This paper describes a systematic approach to editing: (1) analyzing the editing task and assessing current publications; (2) considering costs and production alternatives; (3) formulating publication goals and an editorial philosophy; (4) planning a yearly calendar of issues and setting publication deadlines; (5) identifying critical issues and sources of information; (6) establishing methods for obtaining information; (7) creating a distinctive image; and (8) following through. Using a systematic approach simplifies the task of editing and makes it possible to publish newsletters that are accurate, attractive, authoritative, interesting, and readable as well as timely and informative.