Twin Cities campus

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Twin Cities Campus

Technical Communication Postbaccalaureate Certificate

Writing Studies Department
College of Liberal Arts
Link to a list of faculty for this program.
Contact Information
Department of Writing Studies, 215 Nolte Center, 315 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455; (612-624-3445; fax: 612-624-3617)
Email: WRIT@umn.edu
Website: https://cla.umn.edu/writing-studies
  • Program Type: Post-baccalaureate credit certificate/licensure/endorsement
  • Requirements for this program are current for Spring 2017
  • Length of program in credits: 15
  • This program requires summer semesters for timely completion.
  • Degree: Technical Communication Pbacc Cert
Along with the program-specific requirements listed below, please read the General Information section of this website for requirements that apply to all major fields.
Certificate courses are taught by graduate faculty who themselves have active research agendas. The program, whenever possible, provides opportunities for students to apply knowledge to solve community and industry problems within the field of technical communication through authentic learning opportunities in the program's courses.
Program Delivery
  • completely online (all program coursework can be completed online)
Prerequisites for Admission
International applicants must submit score(s) from one of the following tests:
  • TOEFL
    • Internet Based - Total Score: 79
    • Internet Based - Writing Score: 21
    • Internet Based - Reading Score: 19
    • Paper Based - Total Score: 550
  • IELTS
    • Total Score: 6.5
  • MELAB
    • Final score: 80
Key to test abbreviations (TOEFL, IELTS, MELAB).
For an online application or for more information about graduate education admissions, see the General Information section of this website.
Program Requirements
Use of 4xxx courses toward program requirements is permitted under certain conditions with adviser approval.
A minimum GPA of 2.80 is required for students to remain in good standing.
Fall Term Courses
WRIT 5001 - Foundations and Futures of Technical Communication (3.0 cr)
WRIT 4662W - Writing With Digital Technologies [WI] (3.0 cr)
Spring Term Courses
WRIT 4562 - International Professional Communication (3.0 cr)
WRIT 5112 - Information Design: Theory and Practice (3.0 cr)
Summer Term Course
WRIT 5561 - Editing and Style for Technical Communicators (3.0 cr)
 
More program views..
View college catalog(s):
· College of Liberal Arts

View future requirement(s):
· Spring 2023
· Fall 2022
· Spring 2021
· Fall 2019
· Fall 2018

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WRIT 5001 - Foundations and Futures of Technical Communication
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Fall
This course offers an overview of the field of technical communication. Students learn about the history of the field including job titles, industries that hire technical communicators, and trends in the field. Students also learn about research methods (including audience analysis and usability testing); software and apps commonly used in technical communication; social issues in technical communication (including legal, ethical, and organizational); and international issues (including writing for regulated environments such as in the medical device industry). Projects are multi-modal and include written reports; slide presentations with and without voice recordings; visual communication including user documentation and movies. Some projects are done individually but most are done in virtual teams. Weekly discussion forums provide students with opportunities to lead and summarize key themes from each week?s topic. Students in this class participate within a community of technical communication professionals and typically have a background in technical communication, medical/science communication, engineering, software, usability, customer support, writing and communication, marketing, or similar area.
WRIT 4662W - Writing With Digital Technologies (WI)
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: Writ 4662W/Writ 5662
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
WRIT 4662W is an advanced level Writing Studies course that explores various digital writing technologies and provides multiple opportunities to assess writing situations and make appropriate decisions about digital form and production. Students will learn the basic building blocks of writing in Internet environments (text, sound, images, video) as well as the vocabularies, functionalities, and organizing structures of Web 2.0 environments, how these impact understanding and use of information, and how to produce these environments (i.e., multimedia internet documents) for interactivity and use. This course includes design projects and practice with apps, markup language, content management systems, video, and social media. prereq: Jr or sr or instr consent
WRIT 4562 - International Professional Communication
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
This course prepares students to navigate the increasingly global nature of communication and the challenges and opportunities it presents. Students learn how to develop content for and work with clients and colleagues from other cultures, communicate with multicultural audiences, and collaborate in virtual global teams using multiple synchronous and asynchronous technologies. The course includes work with peers and international scholars from various parts of the world. Projects include a metaphorical comparative analysis of cultures; management (global virtual team work) of a translation project with students from another country; interviews with managers/employees in multinational corporations; and curation work with an international archive on emerging technologies.
WRIT 5112 - Information Design: Theory and Practice
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Every Spring
This course examines how verbal, visual, and multimedia content can be designed and combined to create meaning, improve comprehension, and make information more usable. Emphasis is placed on the rhetorical roles of visual elements in print and digital communications, and how technical communicators can use visual means to reach audiences, convey information, and achieve rhetorical goals. Students read and discuss theory, practice information design skills, and apply both to real communications projects suitable for inclusion in a professional portfolio. Projects focus on print and web content design and development; the information design process (plan, design, develop, layout, testing); project planning toward deliverables (web sites, signage, wayfinding); and universal design (color, symbols, etc.)
WRIT 5561 - Editing and Style for Technical Communicators
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Summer
In this course, students learn strategies for editing and revising writing for technical and non-technical audiences. Students practice three levels of editing skills: proofreading, copyediting, and comprehensive editing. Strategies include advanced grammar and style, editing tools, quantitative data, global documents, and various style guides. Students also examine an editor?s role with authors, in organizations, in global contexts, and in ethical situations. Editing projects focus on the three levels of editing, using proficient methods, collaborating between authors and editors, identifying audience and contexts, editing documents according to style guides, and using rhetorical principles to analyze and edit final documents.