English Professional and Technical Writing Minor and Certificate

The English Professional and Technical Writing (PTW) program provides students with several options.

1. The Professional and Technical Writing Minor for All Non-English Majors
   Other students in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and students in the College of Business and the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences may select a minor in Professional and Technical Writing by completing 24 credit hours in professional and technical writing courses. Course requirements for the minor may be found at the bottom of this page.
2. Students may include Professional and Technical Writing as part of a Distributed Studies, BA  degree. See that program description and speak to an advisor for details.
3. The Professional Writing Certificate for Unclassified Students
   Unclassified students and students with a baccalaureate degree may earn the Certificate in Professional and Writing by completing 24 credit hours in selected professional writing courses. The Program therefore makes available to those already involved in writing for business and industry the opportunity to further develop professional skills important to their careers.
4. The Professional Writing Emphasis for English Majors
   English majors may select the Professional and Technical Writing Emphasis. See the English, BA  page for complete details.

PTW Outcomes Statements

Research (critical thinking, reading, and writing)

Students will show they can

• Use research methods to gather information
• Evaluate, analyze, navigate and synthesize appropriate primary and secondary sources
• Identify reader/user/viewer expectations
• Interpret findings and articulate results
• Produce appropriate and ethical text and graphics for displaying research data and findings

Practices and processes

Students will show they can

• Conduct user/reader/viewer analysis
• Focus on a defined purpose
• Meet the needs of the readers/users/viewers
• Respond appropriately and ethically to different rhetorical situations
• Understand writing as a collaborative and iterative process of research, discussion, negotiation, writing, and editing
• Manage projects in stages
• Evaluate and use appropriate strategies for production, revision, editing, proofreading, and presenting

Knowledge of conventions and genres

Students will show they can

• Write in multiple genres
• Evaluate ethically how each genre shapes content and usability
• Control such features as tone, syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Identify the main features and uses of writing in a specific field
• Document resources as defined by a specific field

Collaborative learning

Students will show they can

• Participate collaboratively with others in the iterative process of research, discussion, negotiation, writing, and editing
• Participate and communicate effectively in a community
• Integrate their own ideas with those from various stakeholders
• Balance the advantages of relying on others with the responsibility of doing their parts

Technological literacy

Students will show they can

• Critically and ethically choose from a variety of technologies in order to address specific rhetorical situations and a range of readers/users/viewers needs
• Engage in a critical perspective of technology, its uses and contexts
• Analyze technology as a physical tool, and as a socially constructed system
• Use various software for writing, editing, and designing