A student chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) at Texas Tech University saw success by focusing on consistent member participation, corporate sponsorships, and student outreach. A core group of dedicated members helped attendance increase from 9 to 17 people per meeting. Corporate sponsors from companies like National Instruments and Usertesting.com offered jobs, internships, and presented on their work. This made meetings valuable for networking and learning. Membership initiatives like social events, attendance rewards, and reaching out to new students helped create a more vibrant and consistent membership base.

1. Managing a Successful Student Chapter: Corporate Sponsors, Networking, and
Outreach
Lessons Learned
By Dr. Craig Baehr (Craig.Baehr@ttu.edu) and Timothy J. Elliott (Timothy.Elliott@ttu.edu)
Chapter Success Stories
Takeaway: A core group of dedicated members helped our chapter flourish.
Our initiatives fostered a strong core of 7-10 members who attended every meeting. Several of our
consistent attendees, including a few undergrads, are now in leadership positions in our chapter. As a
result, attendance increased from an average of 9 attendees per meeting (2012-13) to an average of 17
attendees (2014-15). Our total membership increased from 36 members in 2013-14 to 54 for the 2014-
15 school year. Our chapter won the STC Community of Distinction award for 2013 and 2014.
Corporate Sponsorships and Networking
Takeaway: Corporate sponsors made our meetings ‘can’t miss’ events.
Corporate sponsors include National Instruments (NI) from Austin, Texas; Usertesting.com from
SanFrancisco, California; and TimeForge from Lubbock, Texas
Corporate sponsors have consistently offered jobs and internships to Texas Tech’s Bachelors and Masters
of Technical Communication program students and graduates. They presented on topics related to the
kinds of work they do, their products, and on professional development topics. Graduates working at
many of these companies have helped to build relationships with the Student Chapter by returning to
present topics at our Chapter meetings and sponsoring events, serving a mentoring role as well.
Takeaway: Networking provides content knowledge and builds connections for student
members.
Corporate sponsors provide insights into the ways in which technical communication works in various
working settings. As a result, meeting topics reflected the range of work they do including SEO,
corporate social media use, remote user testing, and so forth. Networking also gives students an
advantage and helps them make connections that help them transition to working professionals.
Student Outreach
Takeaway: Membership initiatives produce a more vibrant, consistent membership base
Initiatives included an increasing number of social events, offering rewards for consistent attendance,
varying meeting formats, and reaching out to new and potential members regularly.
Social events, such as mixers, helped create connections between the Chapter officers and the graduate
and undergraduate students. We offered specific rewards like free t-shirts for members who attend three
or more meetings per semester. In planning events, our goal was to vary topics and meeting formats,
including field trips, speakers, socials, student presentations, and chapter round tables. For outreach, our
Chapter President sent regular meeting announcement emails to the entire department and student list
serv. Our officers maintained a list of consistently attending members to send short, more casual
reminder emails. We also contacted new TC majors and minors with a welcome email and event
schedule, encouraging them to attend an STC meeting.