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Professional Writing Program

Professional Writing Program

The Department of English offers three writing courses for juniors and seniors majoring in a variety of technical, scientific, and management-oriented fields:

  • ENG 331 Communication for Engineering and Technology
  • ENG 332 Communication for Business and Management
  • ENG 333 Communication for Science and Research

These courses introduce students to the kinds of communication tasks they can expect to perform after graduation and in the workplace; instruction emphasizes the needs of various professional audiences, strategies of adapting organization and style to those needs, and ways of supplementing written communication with oral reports and visual aids. Since the rhetorical principles that form the basis for these three courses are similar, students are not permitted to receive credit for more than one of them.

Certificate in Professional Writing

Our program offers a non-degree seeking (NDS) certification in Professional Writing. This undergraduate-level program is for on-the-job professionals and others interested in sharpening their written communication skills.

Communication in the Workplace

The Professional Writing Program conducts research to keep our courses current and relevant for students. We utilize a research methodology involving large-scale collaboration between students and faculty. Through the use of surveys and interviews, we analyze qualitative and quantitative data to determine trends in professionals’ writing practices. Currently, six Communication in the Workplace reports have been published.