TCO Success stories

One of the greatest advantages of earning an undergraduate degree in technical communication is the flexibility in which it may be applied to many industries. Check out how some of our graduates are applying their degrees and finding success within their fields!

Major Charles Faint-- Iraq

Upon his graduation with a BSTCO degree, Charles Faint was commissioned into the US Army in 1995 and now serves as a military intelligence officer in the Army, assigned to an Army Special Operations unit.  He is also currently pursuing a Master's of Management degree through Embry-Riddle's distance learning program.

Faint choose to major in TCO because it appeared to him to be the best match for his talents and ambitions, believing the program would best complement the skill set he would need in order to become an effective officer in the Army.  Further contributing to his decision to major int TCO were the classroom experiences he had with Dr. Davis and Dr. Grady. Faint says, "I had classes under both Dr. Davis and Dr. Grady before I made the decision to major in TCO, and I recognized that they were dedicated, entertaining, and highly effective professors who cared about their students and the TCO program." 

Faint continues to reap the benefits of his technical communication courses. "The courses in Mercer's TCO curriculum were interesting, challenging, and most important, relevant to my goals.  The skills I learned through Mercer TCO, specifically in the areas of product presentation, public speaking, research, technical writing, and software application serve me well in my current job as an intelligence officer in an Army Special Operations unit," says Faint.

Andrea LaPlume-- Calgary, canada

Andrea LaPlume graduated with a BS in Technical Communication in 2004 and currently works for the IT Technical Training and Documentation department at Cox Communications. Her department develops instructional manuals and user guides for software tools inside the company.

Although LaPlume began her career at Cox as a technical writer for a massive implementation of Cox’s new ERP system, her boss quickly recognized her drive to dive deeper into this project. Subsequently, LaPlume quickly became the person to design and implement the help system for this project, while conducting usability tests with field users throughout the United States. She credits the successful start of her career to the Mercer Technical Communication program.

“I had a wonderful experience going through the TCO program at Mercer. The program allowed me to become very well-rounded in all aspects of the technical communication world. I really admire how much dedication all the Mercer TCO professors showed to each student and how they provided a successful learning environment for all of their classes. The classes were small enough that I was able to really get to know my TCO peers and learn and be challenged by them during our “real life” scenario projects. By the time I graduated, I had a very impressive portfolio to bring with me as I went job hunting! I felt very prepared to dive into the “working world” after I graduated from this program!" says LaPlume.

Corley Brown-- Newtown square, PA

Corley Brown, a 2004 graduate, is employed at SAP AG in Newtown Square, PA as an Engagement Analyst. Her position falls within the Global Marketing Department where she serves on the Knowledge Management Competency Center Team. Brown's team is responsible for implementing Knowledge Management on a Global scale at SAP. Guided by the philosophy that Knowledge Management is not a tool, but a discipline, Brown's team aspires to essentially change the DNA of how her company does business, a difficult task yet one in which Brown and her team face head-on.

A self-starter and driven by initiative, Brown has quickly distinguished herself as a team leader. When her small North American team of 10 people increased to a global team of 82, Brown quickly recognized the need for methodology, rules, and processes to govern team interactions. She soon became the facilitator, creator, and manager of a new Global Knowledge Management methodology. Now in addition to her role as an Engagement Analyst, she is refining and hopes to patent a methodology that her company can sell side-by-side with their Knowledge Management software.

Of her Technical Communication degree, Brown says, "I am grateful for my TCO degree every day! I'm not afraid to dive head-first into a project. My TCO classes at Mercer forced me to think on my feet. If I didn't know what to do, I asked somebody or bought a book. We worked in a variety of project groups where we learned how to think critically, manage projects, delegate tasks, and communicate to our "Sponsors". I'm still doing the same things at SAP - the only difference is that now I get paid."

Ericka Mayweather-- Perth, australia

Ericka Mayweather, a 2004 graduate of our program, entered graduate school at the University of Georgia after earning her undergraduate degree at Mercer. In December 2005, she earned a M.Ed. in Instructional Technology with a concentration in Instructional Design and Development (IDD) from the department of Education Psychology and Instruction Technology in the College of Eduation. While working on her graduate degree, she worked with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents as an IDD graduate assistant.

After completing her graduate degree, Mayweather moved abroad to Australia to teach at
Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia for a semester. Courses she taught or was involved in include the folowing: Communications and Digital Technologies, Publishing to the WWW, Project Management, Industry Projects within the School of Communication and Creative Industries. While in Australia, she also launched her career with HarvestRoad Ltd, a software
elearning company based out of Perth, Australia as a Service Consultant.

Mayweather identifies the diversity within the TCO program as a pivotal force that led her to her career today. She expands, "The BSTCO is very diverse and provided great exposure to various forms of communication in real-world projects. This exposure allowed me see which area(s) I wanted to specialize in and allowed me to choose the areas where I wanted to be employed. I'm proud to say that I am a BSTCO Alum. It opened many doors for me."

Kevin Lee-- Waukesha , WI

Kevin Lee, a 1997 graduate, currently works as the User-Centered Design Lead at GE Healthcare in Waukesha , WI. In his capacity as UCD Lead, his main job responsibilities are to lead several cross-business working groups, including User-Centered Design (UCD) Extended Team, UCD Extended Team Asia, UCD Extended Team BioSciences and Multi-modality workgroup, to provide UCD and CUI (Common User Interface) integration support to DI modalities, AW, Ultrasound, Mammo, Vascular, and Patient Monitoring P&L, to serve as an integration leader for usability checklists in NPI (business development process), and to act as lead instructor for DFU (Design for Usability) training, Edison program, and Marketing Toolkit.

Prior to joining GE, Lee served as a Chief Usability Consultant for clients including General Motors, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, Nokia, Palm, and other fortune 500 companies. He earned a Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University in 2003.

Lee recognizes the tremendous potential current TCO students hold and offers them advice for how to make the most of their educations. "I believe that Mercer's TCO program grounds individuals on how to become end user champions by obtaining skills to better understand the need and translate both unarticulated needs and articulated needs into design concepts that invoke positive user experiences. I would encourage students to be proactive in participating and even presenting at the STC or UPA conferences to expand the knowledge you obtain from the program. The true value of TCO is to understand the practicality and the relevancy to various company cultures. And with the combination of TCO program rigor that Dr. Davis and Grady pour upon you, individuals will be set for their next challenge. Finally, take internship or co-op opportunities whenever and wherever they are available – individuals who can tie the program/educational knowledge with the real-life business practice are those who will be successful in the industry as TCO, Usability, or even Interaction Design practitioners," says Lee.

Tracey Norden Wofford-- Macon, GA

Tracey Norden Wofford graduated with her BSTCO in 2002. Immediately following her graduation, she worked as an independent contractor and as an editorial assistant for Technical Communication, the journal for the Society for Technical Communication (STC). In fall 2003, she began working full-time in the Office of the President for Mercer University and is now Director of Reports for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. She entered Mercer's MSTCO program in fall 2004 and graduated in August 2006. Wofford is a senior member of STC and a member of IEEE Professional Communication Society. She continues to work for Technical Communication and regularly submits book reviews.

Wofford found the TCO degree's engineering roots to be a particularly good fit with her career plans. "What I find that sets my background apart from others who have similar writing credentials is that the TCO degree comes from the School of Engineering. The TCO degree focuses more on writing and other communication that expresses its content clearly and concisely, rather than focusing on literature and prose. Most everything I learned in both my undergraduate and graduate classes was practical and applicable to what I need to know for my job," she says.

Shanna Perry-- Columbia, SC

Shanna Perry is a Corporate Compliance Analyst with Palmetto Health Alliance in Columbia, South Carolina. Palmetto Health is a comprehensive healthcare system comprised of three full-service hospitals, an outpatient surgery center and numerous physician practices employing 8500+ employees. Her past experiences include computer software development and training as well as relationship-based banking with a major southeastern bank. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and completed her Master's in Business Administration at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Perry continues to see the value in the Technical Communicatin degree, using it on a daily basis. “Majoring in Technical Communication was one of the best decisions I have ever made. The TCO department provides hands on education that puts TCO graduates head and shoulders over other graduates with just theoretical knowledge. My TCO background has made me versatile. I'm always ready to handle any task that my organization can throw at me. I use the training, project management, report development, desktop publishing, and technical editing skills I developed every day,” says Perry.

Amy Griswold-- Atlanta, GA

Amy Griswold turned her summer internship into a job at a cutting-edge interactive marketing and technology company. In her final requirement before graduation, she participated in an internship with Spunlogic in Atlanta, Georgia. Griswold’s background in multimedia, instructional design, usability, web design and technical writing made her an excellent candidate for Spunlogic.

Griswold led Spunlogic’s redesign of the new Georgia Aquarium Web site, and she is currently working full-time on the e-mail marketing efforts of the InterContinental Hotels Group. “My background definitely helps me in my job. I understand the fundamentals of design, and I know HTML, which is a huge asset. So even though I’m not a designer or a programmer, I am familiar enough with these elements to communicate effectively with our different teams,” she said.

Her technical background helps her relate to designers and programmers, but the technical communication program’s emphasis on teamwork has given her the skills to orchestrate projects for big clients. “In the Technical Communication program, we were always working in groups
and that was so valuable because you had to learn to relate to all types of people
when your success in the class is tied to that,” Griswold said. “It was very beneficial
because now I work with our designers and programmers to make sure my
clients succeed.”