Technical/Professional Communications Minor
Students completing the Technical/Professional Communications Minor will possess a well-rounded education that will help them become lifelong learners adaptable to and conversant with changing workplace dynamics.
What is the Technical/Professional Communications Minor?
Technical/Professional Communications is an exciting eighteen-hour interdisciplinary minor offering state-of-the-art preparation for the professional workplace--a perfect complement to almost any major. This program is one of the most comprehensive minors of its kind.
The Minor's flexible interdisciplinary design provides students with a combination of the intellectual capabilities and highly marketable professional skills they need to embark on a successful career. Courses offered include two core courses, in technical writing and computer systems, and a variety of additional courses ranging from computer design to advertising copy writing, from advanced technical writing to web design.
Students completing the Technical/Professional Communications Minor will possess up-to-date knowledge and skills that, combined with their major, can lead to careers as a business analyst, editor, market researcher, technical reporter, web developer, media specialist, ad writer/designer, and publications manager. In addition, these skills are often sought as a technical component in many professional positions that are not primarily technical: grant writer, researcher, and marketing manager, among many others.
What is the curriculum?
Students must complete 6 credit hours by taking two of the following core courses, one in writing and one in computer systems:
CSC 103 Overview of Computer Science
OR
CSC 110 Computer Science I (Computer Science Majors only)
OR
ISM 142 Business Computer Systems
AND
ENG 238 Technical/Professional Writing I
The remaining 12 credits may be completed by taking any of the following courses (excepting internships, no more than two courses per department can count for minor credit):
ART 217 Computer Design I (Page Composition)*
ART 306 Computer Design II (Illustration)
ART 319 Computer Design III (Painting and Photo Manipulation)
ART 425 Computer Design IV (Multimedia)
ART 430 Computer Design V (Web Design)
ART 435 Computer Design VI (Book and Portfolio Design)
COM 112 Media Writing*
COM 224 Electronic Media Writing
COM 285 News Writing and Reporting
COM 290 Advertising Copywriting
COM 425 Feature Writing
CSC 434 Web Programming**
ENG 323 Reviewing the Arts for Publication
ENG 438 Technical/Professional Writing II (pre-requisite: ENG 238)
HCS 350 Theories of Organizational Communication
PHL 332 Ethical Issues and Computer Technology
Optional Internship (up to 3 hrs.):
upon completing 12 course hours, with permission of Minor Director.
Other courses may be approved on an individual basis, with permission of the Director and following syllabi review.
* pre-requisite to any other courses in that department
** Computer Science majors only
Who can take the
Technical/Professional Communications Minor?
Any undergraduate student--from the Colleges of Business, Arts & Sciences and Education and Human Services--can register for the Technical/Professional Communications Minor. This flexible program can readily fit into most four-year degree plans.