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Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication Collection

 Collection
Identifier: UA 0339
Finding aid note: Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of materials from the beginning of the Cain Project in 1998 through ten years of its existence at Rice University. Included are proposals, course information, instructional materials, photographs of student work, reports of assessment activities, newsletters, dvds, and the final report of an assessment by off-campus researchers. In addition, the collection includes significant information about the university's composition requirements, testing, and recommendations for university-wide changes. There are reports that led to the formation of the Program in Writing and Communication in 2012.

Dates

  • 1998 - 2009

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This material is open for research. Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish materials from the Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication Collection must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library.

Biographical / Historical

The Cain Project came into being because of a generous gift to Rice made by venture capitalist Gordon Cain. Having been drawn to Rice by a business interest in the work of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Richard Smalley, and making the acquaintance of Dr. Linda Driskill of the English Department, Mr. Cain, whose experience had convinced him of the importance of successful communication in an engineering career, pledged five million dollars over ten years to be used for communication training for Rice students in science and engineering courses. Mr. Cain pledged the gift in March 1998.

Rice Provost David Auston appointed the chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, Professor Ahmad Durrani, to lead a committee of faculty to oversee development of what became known as the Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication. Dr. Linda Driskill, Professor of English, became the project director. Gradually additional faculty joined the program. Dr. Tracy Volz was hired to develop instruction in oral and visual communication. Dr. Jan Hewitt was recruited to work with thesis-writing graduate students in workshops that met regularly to improve the clarity and accuracy of their written communication. When an interest on the part of students to turn their ideas into business ventures was recognized, Dr. June Ferrill was hired to teach a course developed under the auspices of the Cain Project, New Venture Communication. In addition, Dr. Mary Purugganan joined the staff to work with faculty in particularly the biosciences on incorporating communication instruction activities in their courses.

A consequence of requiring more writing in course assignments was an increase in the work required to respond to and evaluate what students did. The Cain Project took on the task of training students to assist faculty in these courses by working as writing mentors and graders.

Over the years additional specialists in communication instruction contributed to the Cain Project by presenting workshops and taking appointments as visiting faculty. Through the Cain Project, Rice was one of ten universities and six professional organizations that formed the Consortium for the Study of Engineering Education. In 2002 the Cain Project hosted the Sixth National Conference on Writing Across the Curriculum.

In addition to supporting communication instruction in existing particular courses, Cain Project faculty also developed short (two-hour) courses that were open to being signed up for by students in all departments. A series in the fall semester included the following: “Presenting Your Research,” “How to Recognize and Avoid Plagiarism,” “How to Write a Paper for Publication,” “How to Plan, Write, and Defend Your Thesis,” and “Data Display: How to Effectively Present Your Findings.”

The funding provided by Gordon Cain supported the Project’s activities through 2008. In March 2003 Director Driskill presented to the University administration a detailed proposal to be the basis for seeking funding to expand the Project’s work to a University-wide program titled Communicating in the Majors: Writing, Oral Presentations, and Visual Design. Although there was widespread faculty support for continuing and expanding the Cain Project, whatever fundraising efforts were undertaken were not successful.

Obtaining a formal thorough evaluation of the Cain Project was accomplished by hiring the Pennsylvania firm KSA Communication Design & Research, Inc. The firm’s report, “Engineers as Professional Communicators: Assessing the Impact of the Cain Project on Undergraduate Student Performance in Professional Writing and Public Speaking at Rice,” was submitted on March 31, 2009. Its conclusion was decidedly positive. The authors wrote, “We strongly recommend that Rice continue its commitment to teaching professional communication in the engineering classroom. This study shows that for sustained improvement in the three genres studied here, engineering students require an even more extensive faculty commitment to professional communication.”

Extent

1 Linear Feet ( (1 box))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Overview

The collection consists of materials that represent what the Cain Project was, from proposals to teaching materials, reports, photographs, and assessments. It also includes records relating to University-wide communication requirements during the period of the Cain Project (1998-2008).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was transferred from Dr. Linda Driskill, Professor of English, Rice University.

Subjects

Record Groups

Related Names

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication Collection, 1998-2009
Status
Completed
Author
Lee Pecht
Date
2014
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository

https://library.rice.edu/woodson
Contact:
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA

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Harmful Content Statement
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Physical Address: 6100 Main, Houston, Texas 77005-1827
Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892