Ralph P. Kepner Memorial Award Program

The Ralph P. Kepner Memorial Award program was established by the Rochester Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication in 1969 following the death of Ralph Kepner. The program’s goal is to encourage and reward excellence in technical communication by students in area colleges and high schools.

Awards are made each spring for papers written in the preceding calendar year.

About Ralph P. Kepner

Ralph P. Kepner died unexpectedly at the age of 36 in January 1969 during his term as Chairman (now President) of the Rochester Chapter of STC. Kepner had joined the Rochester Chapter of the then Society of Technical Writers and Publishers in 1963. In 1965 he accepted the first of many committee assignments. Later he was elected Secretary (1966-67), Vice Chairman (1967-68), and Chairman (1968-69). He arranged many successful chapter meetings and chaired the annual seminar in 1967.

Ralph was an optimist, a person who looked at problems as opportunities for finding creative solutions. He believed in the importance of communicating ideas effectively in an increasingly technological society. Although his technical writings for his employer, General Railway Signal, are probably obsolete, his spirit of optimism regarding our ability to communicate effectively lives on in those who knew him and who passed on those ideas. The Ralph P. Kepner Memorial Program is the attempt of the Rochester Chapter to continue the spirit of our fellow communicator as well as to promote interest in the field of technical communication.

RULES

Eligibility

A contestant must be a student (full- or part-time) who has written a paper for a technical communication course or other technical program at an area college.

College means any institution offering post secondary education and includes proprietary and non-proprietary junior colleges, colleges, and universities. Area means the territory served by the Rochester Chapter.

Eligibility of Papers

Papers must have been written within the preceding calendar year. They must include substantial scientific or technical discussion and technical illustrations. Students may submit papers without cited sources if the information they use is common knowledge, or where they, or the organization for which they are writing, are the experts. If a student is including information that is unique to a particular source, the source must be cited using an academically recognized format (e.g., MLA, APA, CBE, etc.).

At least two relevant illustrations—table, engineering drawing, graph, schematic, block diagram, photograph, flow chart, etc.—must be included. A paper must contain a scientific or technical discussion which clearly describes the scientific principles or technology associated with the topic. Papers must be at least 1000 words in length.

Multimedia or on-line projects may be considered if proper access for viewing is provided for the judges.

Submission Procedures

Instructors are invited to submit eligible papers up to the closing date each year. A college instructor can submit no more than twenty papers a year.

Papers must contain the names of the writer, the course, and the instructor, and the date of submittal to the instructor. Papers should not show the grade they received.

A submission form must accompany each paper. The submission form must show the instructor’s name and address, and the writer’s name and local and (if applicable) permanent addresses. Should a student’s address change after submission, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the manager of such change.

Students are urged to keep a copy of their papers. Papers will not be returned. They become the property of the Rochester Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.

Judging Procedure

Before entries are sent to the judges, the manager will examine them to ensure that they meet the requirements described in the previous section.

Judges will rate papers on the author’s skills in using the English language, for the author’s understanding of the subject, and the ability to effectively incorporate design elements into the document. Judges will then rank the papers in order from high to low. Judges may also indicate that they feel a paper deserves no award. The manager will collect and list the rankings, then notify the award winners.

Judges may make tie awards, joint awards for multiple authors of a single paper, or no award in any or all categories, if, in their collective opinion, the papers do not merit an award. Judges’ decisions are final and may not be appealed.

Awards

Funding for awards is provided by the Rochester Chapter. Depending on the yearly situation, awards are given approximately as shown below.

• Distinguished $400
• Excellence $200
• Merit $100

All winners will be invited to the annual dinner and meeting in May where the winners will be announced. Their names and paper titles will also be published in the STC Rochester web site.

Contest Organization

Kepner Program Committee

The education manager will appoint those who manage the Kepner program. Kepner manager or managers will recruit the committee people they need. Managers are responsible for announcing the contest, collecting papers, distributing papers to and collecting them from the judges, and awarding certificates and awards.

Judges

The manager decides how many panels of judges are needed each year. Each panel will have three judges. Judges are appointed for a year, and may succeed themselves. At least one judge on each panel will be a member of the Rochester Chapter. Two judges will not be associated with any institution whose students have submitted entries being judged by that panel. Judges will convene at the request of the manager.

Donating to the Kepner Award Program

STC Rochester is actively seeking donations to fund the Ralph P. Kepner Memorial Award Program. Donate through our Eventbright pages or contact Betsy Christiansen (education@stc-rochester.org)