MyCI: Crossing the Border of student and communication instructor relationships

In 2010, the Engineering Communication Program (ECP) teamed up with Engineering Strategic Communication to find a visual way to resolve ECP's identity issues. We wanted to integrate the university and our Faculty's recently developed “brand” in order to represent ourselves visibly as part of the engineering world, and so developed a type treatment of our name, and an insignia that introduced an acronym for communication instructors - MyCI. It was intended to resolve the confusion between TAs and Communication Instructors by introducing a mnemonic, an easy to say, easy to remember counterpart to the acronym for Teaching Assistant, while reinforcing the idea that developing a relationship with a Communication Instructor helps the learning process. We are investigating student response to the insignia before beginning work with their CIs, and as they become more familiar with the program. Our study consists of a survey administered at three points in first year, as well as focused interviews. Results will provide information about the degree to which students can identify and differentiate Communication Instructors and instruction from other parts of their academic experience, and the effectiveness of the MyCI insignia in transmitting accurate information about ECP and its instructors.