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> Also, while I'm sure that exceptions exist, tech-writing programs
> don't seem to prepare their students very well. From all reports,
> many seem poorly conceived and poorly staffed. However, the main
> problem may be that the classroom simply doesn't prepare people
> for working. Classes in journalism and editing seem to have the
> same problem.
Frankly, this has been my experience also, but I don't think the problem is
the classroom. Schools started ramping up in the middle 60's adding staff,
infrastructure, programs, etc. When the decline in student populations
started a few years back they had to scramble to replace the lost tuition
revenue. I suspect the weak tech writing programs are taught by academics
who have never worked on a high-tech development project and are teaching
from a tech writing text focusing exclusively on writing per se.
