1. Australia chapter, with a $350 USD start-up grant (Region 5).
2. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute student chapter (Troy, New York, USA), with a $150 USD start-up grant (Region 1).
3. Hill Country student chapter (San Marcos, Texas, USA), with a $150 USD start-up grant (Region 5).

• The following appointments to Society-level committees were approved: Kathryn M. Poe (Manager, STC Public Relations Competition Committee) and Paula Stanzioni (Manager, Education & Research Special Interest Group).
• Fiscal year 2001 income and expenses as of 31 October 2000 were reviewed and approved. Income and expenses are well within budget. STC will be returning about two-thirds of a million dollars to chapters to support their fiscal year 2001 programs and activities.
• A merit grant of $3,000 USD was awarded to the Mercer University student chapter to build its scholarship fund.
• A research grant of $10,000 USD was awarded to Eva R. Brumberger for a study entitled The Rhetoric of Typography: A Study Investigating Typeface Personality and Its Impact on the Reading Process.

• Associate Fellow: Kate K. Harper and John V. Hedtke, both from the Puget Sound chapter.
• Sigma Tau Chi: Rebecca J. Bryson and Karen E. Kasonic from the University of Washington, and Mark C. Nelson from Utah State University.

Elections. This year, the balloting process will include an option to vote online. The 2001 election material will contain information necessary to ensure secure online voting. Voting online will be optional-members may still choose to vote by mail.

Membership. STC continues to grow at a steady rate, and membership now stands at 23,553. Total membership is projected to reach 26,000 by the end of March. Current distribution of membership: U.S. 87.2%, Canada 8.6%, other countries 4.1%. STC's annualized 10-year growth rate is 4.6%, with growth rates as follows: U.S. 3.9%, Canada 10.8%, other countries 11.7% (the greatest area of growth).

Membership directory. The STC membership directory has been placed online. It allows members to search on members' first and last names. The results display the member's name, address, phone, fax, e-mail, chapter, grade, and date joined.

Annual Conference. Preparations for the 48th Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in May 2001 are well underway. The conference program committee reviewed nearly 400 proposals and selected about 440 speakers for 256 sessions. About 41 booths have already been contracted for the vendor exhibit.

Technical Communication journal. Abstracts and PDFs of the 1996 and 1997 issues have now been posted on the Technical Communication Online Web site. Recommendations from usability studies performed by graduate students at Mercer University have been incorporated in the Web site. Check it out!

STC governance. This year, the STC Board of Directors is conducting a series of workshops at its regular meetings to evaluate governance. This activity is an outgrowth of STC's new mission statement: "Designing the future of technical communication." What model of governance would be most effective in leading STC into that future? Aspects being evaluated include the structure of representation, the way that decisions are made, the balance of volunteer and office staff workloads, and communication patterns. A clear picture of leadership has dominated the workshops: one that focuses on trends, vision, strategy, and best practices; that embraces outside influences; that concentrates on setting policy rather than on operational details. A concluding workshop in May will set short-term and long-term goals for meeting those objectives.

Ellen Fenwick serves as Director-Sponsor for STC's Region 7. She can be reached at efenwick@att.net.