{"id":117435,"date":"2019-12-12T16:14:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-12T23:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=117435"},"modified":"2020-01-14T13:47:48","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T20:47:48","slug":"software-donation-will-open-doors-for-technical-communication-and-information-design-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=117435","title":{"rendered":"Software donation will open doors for Technical Communication and Information Design students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sean Williams, director and associate professor within the new Technical Communication and Information Design program, has spearheaded a software donation that will give students a leg up in a competitive job market.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A software donation to the Technical Communication and Information Design (TCID) program is poised to open doors for students in the technical communications field, says Sean Williams, director and associate professor within the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams joined UCCS in August after nearly twenty years at Clemson University. In the months since then, he\u2019s been working with the TCID faculty to convert the English department\u2019s Professional and Technical Writing track into the new Technical Communication and Information Design degree program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Williams came to UCCS after nearly twenty years in the English Department at Clemson University.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of what I\u2019m trying to do as I build this program is to increase relationships with corporations and organizations,\u201d he said, \u201cand our faculty are really good at that. I\u2019m also trying to help build the connections that will help our students land internships and jobs post-graduation \u2013 ultimately to increase exposure to the program while helping students succeed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after Williams started at UCCS, he discovered that faculty\nin the department had cultivated a relationship with MadCap Software, a computer\nsoftware firm headquartered in San Diego, California that creates tools for\ntechnical writers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams recognized an opportunity to rekindle the\nrelationship, gain exposure for the new program and teach students in the\ndegree program valuable professional skills that will help them become\ncompetitive candidates in the workplace \u2013 all at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a circle,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIf we have great placement [post-graduation], it will make it easier for us to recruit students. Successful graduates attract more new students. So part of the future of the program includes having deep relationships with companies and organizations, and doing things in the curriculum that our partners recognize as valuable \u2013 things that the profession recognizes as required competencies.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professionals in the world of technical writing are often required to have skills in structured authoring and content management, two skills that Williams is planning to bring to the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cContent management and structured authoring are core skills in our universe,\u201d he said. \u201cThe class that I\u2019m teaching in the spring will teach those skills \u2013 but we don\u2019t have the software to support them. Enter MadCap Software.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Williams took the relationship faculty had established with MadCap Software to negotiate a software donation worth roughly $80,000 to TCID. Beginning in spring, the software company will provide licenses to three software programs to all students enrolled in Williams\u2019 TCID 4080: Information Architecture and Content Management class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MadCap Software will also train each student in the programs, providing them with core competencies to add to their resumes as they seek jobs and internships in the technical writing field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs industry-standard products, training in these programs\nwill help our students work like real professionals,\u201d Williams said. \u201cStudents\nwho use these products will have a leg up in a competitive market, and they\nwill practice some essential skills for authoring content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very valuable for our students,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s valuable for the university. And it\u2019s good for the program, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students interested in the Technical Communication and Information Design program, or Williams’ spring semester class, can learn more on the program’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An $80,000 software donation to the Technical Communication and Information Design program will give students marketable skills and a leg up in the job market. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":118119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,49],"tags":[53,86,140],"class_list":["post-117435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-campus-announcements","tag-academic-affairs","tag-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences","tag-department-of-english"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Madcap.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-uy7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117435"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118202,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117435\/revisions\/118202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/118119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}