Context

For ENGL 6000: Technical and Professional Editing, we were assigned to edit a consultant's report given to Auburn University from Deriso group detailing suggested changes for the facilities division. "An Assessment of the Facilities Division at Auburn University" (or Deriso report) had many design/editing issues which gave me the opportunity to act as a professional editor. Until this graduate course, my other courses focused on "education (theory)" whereas training (practice) was left to industry." (Bosley) This assignment was the first to force me in the mindset of a professional. I had a real-world task, even though the resulting document would not be presented to the Deriso Consulting Group. This change in paradigm would be the norm for the remaining of my courses in the MTPC program. Theory would be couched in real-world assignments, allowing me to develop both of the needed skill sets as a professional communicator.

Our assignment was to redesign the title page and comprehensively edit the Executive Summary and introduction. These three documents would be accompanied by a memo to the Deriso Consulting Group's president.

Audience

My philosophy behind the edits was to reduce the content but maintain crucial information. Much of the information in the Executive Summary and introduction could have been presented in a more concise and direct format. This "reduce while maintaining information" approach is especially true for the Executive Summary, which should include only distilled information. The primary audience for the report, Board of Trustees or facilities supervisors, wishes to quickly read the most pertinent information while retaining the option of digging deeper into the document. By reducing the bullet points, the remaining information becomes more poignant and persuasive, allowing a person to scan the Executive Summary and understand the main recommendations without pursuing the rest of the report.

Much like the biowarfare website, the authoritative audience is the teacher assigning the task. However unlike the previous sample, I was on my own to complete the assignment. My group partner Jackson Fisher provided much of the content for the Biowarfare website, leaving me in control of the design. For this assignment, I was responsible for both design and content. Dr. Rothschild would certainly offer help if I had specific questions, but her involvement was more hands-off than that of a supervisor in a work environment. While a supervisor must ensure the product is worth the time and effort I spend, Dr. Rothschild was more interested that I learned editing techniques rather than producing a document for the Deriso Consulting Group.

Process

The main addition to the title page is the table of contents. The report is a fairly long document so a table of contents will help first time users to quickly locate any relevant information for them. Aside from the table of contents, I moved a few titles around to create a more aesthetically pleasing cover page.

I also reduced the introduction by eliminating redundancy and focusing attention on relevant content. However, I did not remove the brief introduction of the methodology of the Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSS); I did restructure the CSS information into one easily viewable table. This table, coupled with the assumption that the recommendations presented in the report would raise customer satisfaction, leads nicely into the rest of the report.

Reflections

I thought the assignment was worthwhile since I felt like a real editor. I had a document, written by someone else, and I had to improve it and explain why I selected these changes. Another major benefit from this assignment was learning editing codes and the difference between substantive vs. copy editing. As a technical writer, I will always use these skills, whether I'm editing a document or a website. I use the editing marks while proofreading documents for IMG. I will even print websites so I may write on the hard copy. Knowing the difference between editing content and correcting grammar helps me while proofreading official statements for IMG.