Mike McGuire's Professional Profile

Professional Overview

I am teacher, a writer, and a consultant with over 12 years of professional experience. I have a masters degree in writing and currently am on the faculty of Moraine Valley Community College in southwest Chicagoland where I teach a variety of writing courses. In just recent years, I have been dedicating much of my professional life to teaching. However, I continue to take contract projects, as with teaching, I find myself very available in the summer months and at times throughout the rest of the year. I am experienced in designing and developing technical, corporate, and professional communication pieces of many types, including end-user documents, training materials, proposals, business process maps, and marketing communication pieces. I am versed in the production management of both print and online materials. In recent years, I have worked extensively in knowledge management and information architecture, leading teams and managing enterprisewide knowledge-driven initiatives. A skilled and seasoned project manager with a knack for working with people at many different levels, I am able to work strategically and tactically to achieve objectives. With many years in the field of IT/management consulting, I have a strong business and technical acumen. With several years now working in higher education, I understand the needs of people, institutions, and community and believe in their ability to help themselves. I am a big-picture thinker who never discounts the details. I am a highly motivated leader dedicated to excellence in all things and to the success of my clients and my students.

Areas of Expertise

Work Experience

Moraine Valley Community CollegePalos Hills, IL
Composition/Communications/Literature Professor
Writing Center, Co-Director
Fall 2004 — present

Roles, Responsibilities, & Achievements

• Co-Direct the Moraine Valley Writing Center
• Teach a broad range of writing courses, including Composition I, Composition II, Introduction to Fiction, Creative Writing Fiction, Creative Writing NonFiction, and Film as Literature in both traditional and online formats
• Chaired department subcommittee charged with revising department assessment criteria to match contemporary theory and practices in composition studies
• Worked to develop a Creative Writing Nonfiction course
• Worked to develop a Film as Literature Course
• Developed and taught a "contextualized" composition course for students in the automotive technology program; this project is designed to improve retention rates with this population of students
• Designed, developed, and implemented a grade norming process for composition faculty

Lynn Troyka Inc./Prentice Hall
Writer/Editor/Consultant
Fall 2003 — Summer 2004

• Researched, designed and wrote content for 2 parts (10 chapters) of a forthcoming business communications handbook (still unpublished)
• Created original artwork for 2 parts (10 chapters) of a forthcoming business communications handbook (still unpublished)
• Conducted audience analysis for key chapters by facilliatating focus groups, interviews, and other research activities
• Revised/edited several chapters of a forthcoming business communications handbook (still unpublished)

Kishwaukee CollegeMalta, IL
Professor of English and Professional Communications
Fall 2002 — Summer 2004

Roles, Responsibilities, & Achievements:

• Teach a range of writing courses (face-to-face and online) including technical writing, professional communication, and first-year rhetoric and composition
• Manage the needs of 100+ students across five course sections per semester
• Teach "from a distance" via alternative modes of web-based delivery and e-learning
• Develop new curricula
• Serve on institutional and department-level committees, including Marketing, Institutional Self-Assessment, and Hiring
• Chair institutional task force charged with redesigning the college intranet, serving the information needs of over 300 administrators, faculty, and staff

MIT Consultants Ltd.Arlington Heights, IL
MCS/KM Practice Lead, Technical Services Manager, Consultant
September 1999 — January 2003

As a practice lead, I specialized in project management, human performance, corporate communications, organizational behavior, organizational learning, change management, documentation control, knowledge management, and documentation and training. In this role, I was afforded the opportunity to work with and lead teams in consulting projects that spanned across a number of industries and sectors including bio/pharma, chemicals, consumer products, financial services, manufacturing,contract packaging, apparel & footwear, telecom & media, education, and government. I've led projects—and some enterprisewide initiatives— for clients such as SBC/Ameritech, Abbott Laboratories, The Florsheim Group, Argonne National Laboratories, Shell Chemicals, and CBS Viacom.

A few project details:

• Argonne National Laboratories—documented and analyzed business processes of the Advanced Photon Source (APS), exposing hidden risks in the way the organization managed information and knowledge; upon further analysis, my team was able to recommend a KM risk reduction plan and implement a best-fit product data management system to support the new processes and to meet the business needs of the organization.
• Shell Chemicals— led the development and proposal of a proprietary method for quantifying the value of IT within the overall M&A deal valuation process; subsequently, I designed a workshop to train client-side executives and M&A team members on how to use the methodology and associated tool sets; this project was valued at over $289, 000.
• The Florsheim Group— managed a team of knowledge transfer professionals whose task it was to capture and transfer knowledge from IT personnel prior to a full-scale outsourcing of the in-house IT department; my team conducted over 100 interviews and knowledge transfer sessions in a high-stress, fast-paced, often antagonistic setting; in the end, the cut-over occurred without any interruption to the business; the KT effort was named as a major contributing factor in this success.
• SBC/Ameritech—managed a team of 15 business and technical consultants and served as a liaison between the client-side manager and external partners, working together to develop a proprietary document and content management system to service a user community of over 8,000 individuals; this project was valued at approximately $8 million.
• Internal Knowledge Management— led an internal company-wide initiative to capture, catalogue, validate, disseminate, and capitalize from internal tacit knowledge; this ongoing program included the redesign of key business processes, the design and implementation of a web-based knowledge sharing network, the architecture of information, the building of communities of practice, the facilitation of ongoing "lessons-learned" sessions, the creating/sustaining of corporate myths, and the fostering of new corporate culture, which rewarded the ongoing sharing of knowledge; this was an intensive, ongoing program which, in time, transformed the company culture, increased productivity, improved operational effectiveness, and impacted the bottom line.

The Vista Technology Group Ltd.St. Charles, IL
Manager of Technical and Marketing Publications
June 1998 — September 1999

As the head of the technical communications department at Vista, an ERP software development company servicing the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, I held sole accountability for the design and development of all end-user documentation and training materials. I maintained and managed multiple versions of user guides, on-line help systems, training workbooks, and multimedia computer based training.

Some of the key products and services delivered:

• Training Materials—developed workbooks, flip books, exercises, scripts, visual aides and instructor guides for corporate training programs
• Computer-based Training—designed instructional scripts, screen flow designs, interactive exercises, quizzes, and delivery strategies for multimedia training programs
• User Guides and Online Help—designed and wrote user guides and reference manuals for a variety of products; designed and developed online help systems

Renaissance Worldwide Inc.Chicago, IL
Technical Communications Consultant
April 1997 — June 1998

At Abbott’s Pharmaceutical Product R&D division, I worked in Training and Support Services. My primary responsibility was to develop user documentation for database and laboratory automation systems. Part of a client centered team, I worked closely with system developers and end-users to better meet their documentation needs. I also developed and delivered corporate and technical training programs.

Some of the key products and services delivered:

• Training Classes and Materials— designed and developed custom training curricula for adult learners in a corporate setting; developed teaching strategies; designed, developed, and produced custom learner and instructor materials; delivered classes to learners with various needs at various levels ranging from executives to administrative support personnel
• Technical User Documentation—designed, wrote, and produced user documentation for database and laboratory automation systems for scientists in a research and development community
• Help Desk Solution Documents—supported the Abbott PPRD Help Desk by writing “solution documents,” designed to assist help desk representatives expedite the issue resolution process

Software Skills

Experienced with the following computer operating systems:

• Windows
• Macintosh OS

Experienced with software including but not limited to the following:

Professional Associations

Society for Technical Communication (STC)
Chicago Chapter
Member in good standing since 1998

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC)
Member in good standing since 1998

Education

Northeastern Illinois University
Master of Arts
English Composition and Rhetoric
Degree conferred May 2002

University of Illinois at Chicago
Bachelor of Arts Degree
Double Major: English and Psychology
Degree conferred December 1994

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