CPTSC Research Grants

Aligning with CPTSC’s mission, the purpose of the Grants Committee is to solicit and support research projects that serve technical and scientific communication programs. In doing so, the grants committee considers emerging research needs, recursive research needs, changing programmatic dynamics, and challenges affecting a diverse range of programs and institutions. 

Each year, the CPTSC Grants Committee solicits programmatic research in technical, professional, and scientific communication.  CPTSC solicits research for two grants cycles

  1. One cycle focuses on technical communication programmatic research broadly, including social justice concerns.
  2. A second cycle focuses on a specific Diversity, Equity and Inclusion concern selected by the CPTSC Diversity Committee.

The mission of the DEI grants program is to explicitly solicit research related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in technical and scientific communication programs, specifically targeting programmatic research related to multiple-marginalized students and faculty. This grant program also seeks to develop connections between CPTSC and scientific and technical communication programs and scholars at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges, and Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Committee Chairs: Stacey Pigg (slpigg@ncsu.edu) and Isidore Dorpenyo (idorpeny@gmu.edu).

Special thanks to the Grants Committee Members: Keshab Acharya, SUNY-Buffalo; Godwin Agboka, University of Houston Downtown; Sweta Baniya, Virginia Tech; Pam Estes Brewer, Mercer University; Victor Del Hierro, University of Florida; Sara Doan, Kennesaw State University; Isidore Dorpenyo, George Mason University; Laura Gonzales, University of Florida; Christopher McCracken, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse; Johanna Phelps, Washington State University-Vancouver; and Fernando Sánchez, University of St. Thomas; David Sapp, Loyola Marymount University; Cecilia Shelton, University of Maryland.

CPTSC Grants Recipients

2021

Congratulations to our 2021 CPTSC Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Research Grant Award Winners!

  • Jessica Edwards: Teaching Race in Technical Communication Classrooms
  • Huatong Sun and Dr. Xiaoli Li: Articulating Resilience Towards a Caring Democracy: Building a Research-Informed Allyship Network for Anti-Racist CPTSC Scholars
  • Kimberly Harper: A Methodology for Racial Bias in Health Communication
  • Nupoor Ranade and Daniel Hocutt: Investigating data analytics as a pedagogical practice for technical communication
  • Katie Rieger: Contingent Laborers’ Experience and Conditions: A Field Wide Survey
  • Laura Wilson and Lora Arduser: Creating and Sustaining Successful Advisory Boards in TPC

2020

Congratulations to our 2020 CPTSC Antiracist Programs and Pedagogies Grant Award Winners!

  • Temptaous Mckoy: Understanding Black Technical and Professional Communication from the HBCU Students’ Lens: Developing a Black Technical Communication Digital Artifact in the HBCU Technical and Report Writing Classroom
  • Nora Rivera: Redressing Indigenous Language Marginalization through User Experience Research

Congratulations to our 2020 CPTSC Grant Award Winners!

  • Sweta Baniya, Jessica Edwards, Jennifer Sano-Franchini, and Josephine Walwema: Service Learning in Technical and Professional Communication through Social Justice and Intercultural Frameworks: A Multisite Study
  • Alyson G. Eggleston: Institutional Partnerships: Best practices for building a multidisciplinary technical communication curriculum
  • Lisa Melonçon and Tanya Zarlengo: A Field Wide Examination of Service Course Learning Outcomes and Assignments
  • Heather Noel Turner and Emma Rose: Understanding UX Teaching Practices in Technical and Professional Communication
  • Temptaous Mckoy: Understanding Black Technical and Professional Communication from the HBCU Students’ Lens: Developing a Black Technical Communication Digital Artifact in the HBCU Technical and Report Writing Classroom
  • Nora Rivera: Redressing Indigenous Language Marginalization through User Experience Research

2019

  • Ann Hill Duin, Jason Tham, and Isabel Pedersen: Building Digital Literacy through Exploration and Curation: Multi-institutional research that revolves around a particularly pressing issue and/or explores innovative curricula and teaching methods
  • Liz Hutter, Xiaoli Li, and Patrick Thomas: Using ABET Assessment to Build Collaborative Partnerships for Technical Communication and Engineering
  • Jeremy Rosselot Merritt and Janel Bloch: Fertile Grounds: Addressing Extra-disciplinary Perceptions of Legitimacy and Value in Technical and Professional Communication

2018

  • Kristin Bivens, Tim Elliot, and Gustav Wiberg: Locating Technical and Professional Communication at Two-Year Institutions
  • Laura Gonzales, Ann Shivers-McNair, and Kendall Leon: Developing User-Centered Technical & Professional Writing Programs at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

2017

No awards given due to the cancellation of the 2016 conference because of Hurricane Matthew.

2016

Program undergoing review and evaluation; no awards given.

2015

Program undergoing review and evaluation; no awards given.

2014

  • Erin Frost,Guiseppe Getto, and Therese Penell: Analyzing successful professionalization practices in technical and professional communication
  • Stephanie Vie and Jennifer DeWinter: Social Media in Technical and Professional Communication: A Programmatic and Curricular Survey and a Repository of Current Practices

2013

  • Pavel Zemliansky: A Study of the Effectiveness of Experiential, Client-­‐Based Projects in Three Professional Communication Courses.

2012

  • Ann Brady, Joanna Schreiber, and Marika Seigel: Angles of Repose : Encouraging Productive Exchange among Technical Communication Programs and the Workplace
  • Tammy Rice-Bailey: Veteran Technical Communicators: Their Take on Quality, Subject Matter Specialists, and Audience
  • Josephine Walwema and Dana Lynn Driscoll: Activating Prior Knowledge through Metacognitive Awareness: An Empirical Study of Professional Writing Courses

2011

  • Donna Kain: Fostering International Collaborations in Professional, Technical, and Scientific Communication Programs
  • Claire Lauer: 12 Designers Responding: Establishing Models of Document Design Feedback in Technical Communication Programs
  • Rich Rice: Technical Communication Program Development through Culture-centered, Glocal Indian-U.S. Study and Teaching Abroad Exchange Models

 2010

  • Janel Bloch: Learning from Interns: Recommendations for programs in technical and scientific communication
  • Laura Palmer: Information Literacy Skills of Incoming Master’s Students in Online Technical Communication Programs: An Examination of Faculty Expectations and Student Competencies
  • Rebecca Rickly and Gregory Zobel: Doctoral Student Research Confidence and Research Challenges
  • Heather Shearer and Henrietta Shirk: Foundational Research to Develop Resources for Health Communication Programs

2009

  • Lisa Melonçon: TechComm Programmatic Central: Updating and Populating a Database of Comprehensive Programmatic Data
  • Michael Salvo: European Developments in User-Centered Design: Articulating Centers of Practice
  • Susan Youngblood, Jo Mackiewicz, and Stewart Whittemore: Database for Service Learning Opportunities in Technical Communication (SLOT-C Database)

2008

  • Susan Popham: African-American Women in a Technical Writing Program
  • Karl Stolley, Freddrick Logan, and Mathew Ephraim: Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in Distance Education

2007

  • Ann Brady and Laurence Jose: Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Scientific and Technical Communication
  • Elizabeth Avery Gomez: Towards a Lexicon for Diversity in Technical and Scientific Communication Programs: Strengthening the Message in Academic Programs and Professional Organizations
  • Ed Malone: The Role of Historical Studies in Technical Communication Curricula

2006

  • Nancy Coppola and Norbert Elliot: A Community Research Model for Assessment of Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication
  • Jim Nugent: Technical Communication Certificate Program Instructors: Their Situation and Professional Status
  • Carolyn Rude and Kelli Cargile Cook: The Academic Job Market in Technical Communication, 2005-2006

2005

  • Stevens Amidon and Stuart Blythe: Economics, Technology, and the Management of Technical Communication
  • Kirk St.Amant: Expanding CPTSC Program Review Activities: Creating a Reviewer Network

2004

  • Sandra Harner: Trends in Undergraduate Curricula in Technical and Scientific Communication Programs
  • Kenneth T. Rainey and Roy K. Turner: STC Management Interviews
  • Doreen Stärke-Meyerring and Ann Hill Duin: Global Program Partnerships in Technical Communication

2003

  • Charlotte Thralls, Mark Zachry, and Kelli Cargile Cook: A Profile of Doctoral Graduates in Professional, Technical, and Scientific Communication, 1995-2000