Member, ITS Advisory Committee, 2008-Present

Serve as Liberal Arts & Sciences representative on the university's Information Technology Services Advisory Committee (ITSAC), which advises the Vice Provost for Information Technology & Chief Information Officer on the IT services provided to the university community by ITS.

Member, LAS Computer Advisory Committee, 2004-2007

Served on the Liberal Arts & Sciences Computer Advisory Committee, which was responsible for managing student computing fees for the funding of departmental computer facilities and faculty technology grants.

Member, LAS Committee on Science and Society, 2000-2001

Served briefly during the formative year of this committee investigating ways in which to promote connections between LAS science initiatives and the larger community.

Portfolio Director, ISUComm, 2003-2004.

I served as the ISUComm representative in discussions about a campus-wide electronic portfolio system. The streaming video clip on the right is from a talk I gave at a campus conference in October 2002 about technological issues surrounding development of electronic portfolios. This conference, entitled Electronic Portfolios and Student Learning, was hosted by the Instructional Technology Center and led to several groups on campus pooling their efforts to win a $67,000 internal grant for development of an ePortfolio system.

Faculty Advisor, ISU student chapter of STC, 2001-2004

Helped revitalized student chapter of the Society for Technical Communication by working with student officers to boost membership and sponsor fun and interesting programs on various topics in technical communication.

Member, RPC Graduate Exams Review Committee, 2001-2003

Evaluated 15 comprehensive exams and 15 portfolio exams. Also helped write a proposal restructuring the entire graduate exams process for Rhetoric and Professional Communication.

Member, ad hoc Curriculum Development Committee, 2000

Helped design curriculum for a new Bachelor of Science Degree in Technical Communication. Work included research of other programs, development of technology-related courses, and technical consulting on program application.

Editorial Board Member, 1996-2005
Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy

I began service on the editorial board of this journal beginning at its inception. I contributed book reviews and reviewed regular submissions, but I stepped down in 2005 due to administrative duties within our department.

Associate Chair, Bakhtin/Vygotsky SIG, 1998-2000
Conference on College Composition and Communication

Arranged talk by noted Bakhtin scholar Caryl Emerson that was subsequently published in Rhetoric Review.

Manuscript Reviewer

I have reviewed manuscripts for the following projects:

• Written Communication, November 2008 (1 article) and July 2001 (1 article)
• Bedford-St. Martin’s Press, July 2002 (10-page section of The Bedford Handbook dealing with Web site composition)
• Journal of Business and Technical Communication, November 2001 (1 article)
• Allyn & Bacon/Longman, September 2001 (Janice R. Walker and John Ruszkiewicz’s book writing@online.edu)
• Proposals, Society for Technical Communication, August 2000
  (16 presentation proposals for the 2001 national conference in Chicago).
• Yale University Press, May 2000 (book Web Teaching Guide.)
  

Iowa Renewable Energy Association website

I've been a fan of renewable energy since the 1970s, so when I first moved to Iowa, I hooked up with these fine people to promote renewable energy issues within the state. My volunteer efforts focused mostly on web site development, having designed (along with Blair Gauntt) the current site and three event sites for the annual Energy Expo. All of these jobs were a challenging effort in information architecture that added to my understanding of website design. Working with I-Renew has been a rewarding experience, and for a time, I served on the Board of Directors as chair of the communications committee. However, because of budget cuts at the university, I've had to scale back my service work and stepped down from the board in September 2009.