Mack Essay Contest

Description
In his will the late William H. Mack left funds

"for the purpose of making possible, annually, the awarding of a cash prize to that student, or those students, who shall be judged to have submitted the best all around paper or papers in a College-wide authorized, Department-sponsored Student Writing Contest, in which participating contestants shall be free to write upon any subject of their own choosing excluding only the strictly engineering kind of subject, in any of the conventional literary forms, excepting the form known as a "technical report".

Thus, the contest committee invites students to submit essays or papers on any subject except engineering.

Eligibility

1. All engineering undergraduates enrolled for at least one term between January 2008 and January 2009 are eligible.
2. A student may not submit a manuscript that has won a previous award.
3. Students may not submit collaborations or translations.
4. if an entry receives a Mack Award, the author must agree to sign the following statement:

In the case of publication of the manuscript submitted by me in the Mack Essay Contest and forming the basis for the award I have received, I agree to indicate in a footnote or otherwise that this manuscript was granted a prize in the Mack Essay Contest for 2009 in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.

How to Enter

The entry form should be filled out and then placed in a sealed envelope which bears on the outside the author's fictitious name. The envelope bearing the author's fictitious name and three (3) copies of the manuscript bearing the author's fictitious-but not the author's real name- name should be delivered to the Technical Communication Program office, 301 EPB, by Noon, Friday, January 9, 2009. Only one entry per person will be accepted in the Mack Essay Contest.

Deadline

Manuscripts must be delivered to the Technical Communication Program, 301 Engineering Programs Building, no later than Noon, Friday, January 9, 2009.

Information

The Mack Committee welcomes inquiries regarding the contest. For information, contact Mary Gilbert, 764-1427 or maryagt@umich.edu

Requirements for Manuscript

A student may submit only one essay, and this must be double-spaced. An essay should be printed on 8.5" by 11" paper, on one side of the paper only, with a left hand margin of at least one and one-quarter inches. Essays should be edited for correctness in spelling, diction, grammar, and punctuation, and adequacy of footnotes or bibliography, as defined by a standard reference.

Three copies of each manuscript must be submitted, and each bear the fictitious name (and not the real name) by which the writer chooses to identify himself or herself.

Note: Authors should consider the possible advantages of entering the annual Hopwood contest in the College of LSA in addition to the Mack Contest.

Major Criteria

1. Whether it meets the terms of the will quoted above
2. Originality of the subject
3. Grasp of the subject
4. Effectiveness of focus and organization
5. Clarity and effectiveness of expression

Minor Criteria

1. Proper acknowledgment of sources and borrowed material, if any
2. Correctness in spelling, diction, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure

Permission to Publish

All entry forms must be accompanied by a signed Permission to Publish form.

Footnote Agreement

All entry forms must be accompanied by the signed footnote agreement form.

Disclaimer

Decisions of the judges are final. Judges reserve the right not to award prizes if submissions do not meet required standards.