Program Overview

Graduate Certificate in Technical Writing and Professional Communication

Overview

The graduate certificate offers students and professionals an interdisciplinary program that focuses on communication in non-academic professions, particularly business, government, high technology industries, and the non-profit sector. It centers on the competencies necessary for successful technical communication (writing, rhetorical analysis, editing, and document design) as well as on the key print and digital genres of the workplace (reports, project proposals, grant proposals, feasibility studies, web sites, presentations, correspondence, and manuals). The certificate serves not only students who wish to be technical writers but also those from a range of disciplines who wish to add value to their graduate degrees by acquiring a supplementary credential.

Certificate Requirements

The certificate recognizes the multiple demands of written, oral, and digital communication in the workplace, as well as the interdisciplinary character of writing and communication studies in the academy. Thus, while centered on writing, the certificate also includes course options in rhetoric, communication, design, digital media, speech, and group dynamics. It emphasizes the rich theoretical and rhetorical principles that govern effective communication across a range of contexts as well as the pragmatic skills needed in the workplace.

• The certificate requires four courses (12 credits) in two categories: one in writing (ENGL759) and three in electives.
• Students map out a coherent plan of study with the certificate coordinator for submission to the Graduate School. The structure of the certificate is flexible enough so that most students, with advance planning, can pursue it without impeding regular degree progress.

Courses

The certificate requires four courses (12 credits).

• Most of these courses are offered on a rotating basis rather than every semester.

Technical Writing and Professional Communication Student Learning Outcomes

• Students are able to produce two or more types of technical communication that are rhetorically adapted to different purposes, audiences, genres, and contexts.
• Students are able to use the principles of document design to produce appropriate and effective texts and images. Examples of these texts and images may include PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, brochures, infographics, videos, and others.
• Students are critically aware of several current major issues and related scholarship in the field of technical and professional communications or in field(s) and/or discipline(s) that use technical and professional communication.
• Students are able to engage in several communication processes essential to technical communication such as usability studies, client projects, service projects, empirical research, and others.

Participating Departments

• Department of English
• Department of Communication Studies, Theatre and Dance
• A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Department of Art
• College of Education