I'm a fifth-generation Texan with lifelong interests in the state’s political history and governance. My curiosity about government agencies and technology began in high school when I landed an internship at NASA/Johnson Space Center in my hometown, Houston. Since then, I've held positions in public policy implementation and development in State of Texas agencies. I currently teach Technical Communication courses to undergraduate and graduate students at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. I also research the invention and style of public policy documents. My CV/Resume highlights my research, teaching, and work experience in government agencies. Feel free to contact me at mfw@txstate.edu if you have questions about my courses or research.
Recent Publications
My textbook with Libby Allison, Writing for the Government, is part of The Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication and introduces students and practitioners to the various genres of technical communication created by federal, state, and local government agencies. This book provides real-life examples of government regulations, preambles, handbooks, policy memorandums, policy reports, request for proposals, and websites. The textbook also includes case studies that examine intergovernmental communication during Hurricane Katrina, the use of technical communication in environmental agencies, and technical communication between non-profits and government agencies.
My new book, From Black Codes to Recodification: Removing the Veil from Regulatory Writing, is part of the Baywood
Technical Communication Series. This book examines Texas regulations from
the Texas Black Codes of 1866, some of the most deceptive regulations in
Texas history, to contemporary Texas Child Care Licensing regulations,
which perhaps symbolize some of the most audience-friendly contemporary
regulations in Texas. A discourse analysis of historical regulations and
contextual inquiry into contemporary public policy writing will show how
regulatory invention has evolved and how changes in these processes affect
the perceptions of a contemporary African-American audience—an audience
with an oral tradition for whom regulations were an introduction to
technical documents, and an audience negatively affected by historical
regulations.
