Student Profile: Jo Ann Jarl
Internship leads to career with IBM

Jo Ann Jarl, and English and writing teacher in Wimberley, TX, was impressed by the many job opportunities available to Technical Communication graduates.  So, she enrolled in Texas State's new Master of Arts program in Technical Communication while she continued to teach and became its first graduate in 2001.  The software applications and technical writing skills that she learned in the program helped her to obtain an internship as a technical writer with IBM Corporation, writing and editing manuals for software installation. After she graduated in 2001, IBM offered her a permanent job as a technical writer, a job which has evolved into a project leadership and training position.

Internships in Technical Communication

Graduate students in English who enroll in English 5312, "Editing the Professional Publication," when it is taught as a service learning course gain experience as writing and editing consultants for nonprofit organizations, agencies, or businesses by creating paper and online documents and we sites. The internship course is open to students in all English graduate programs (MA in Technical Communication, MA in Literature, MA in Rhetoric and Composition, and MFA in Creative Writing).

For more information, contact matc@txstate.edu, and see the web site for the MA Program in Technical Communication and its section on Frequently Asked Questions.