Graduate Certificate [Online] Technical & Professional Communication (TPC)

Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) Certificate

Program Type: Post-Baccalaureate Certificate

The Graduate Certificate in Technical and Professional Communication aims to provide post-graduate training in technical and professional communication, digital rhetoric, medical rhetoric, discourse analysis, and editing. The department introduces students to a diverse range of graduate-level work, including critical theory, graduate literary studies, and contemporary practices in grammar and rhetoric. The program allows students to explore critical theories and hone their critical reading, thinking, writing, and editing skills. It also offers a solid foundation for those seeking a Ph.D. in such disciplines as Technical and Professional Communication or English Studies, Technical and Professional Discourse, or who wish to work as technical communicators in the professional industry. 

Admissions Requirements:

  • B.A. or B.S degree from a regionally accredited college or university
  • Cumulative GPA of 2.50 or higher from the undergraduate degree-granting institution
  • Completed Graduate College application, including official transcripts from all colleges and/or universities attended, and application fee

Additional Admission Requirements:

  • Writing Sample (undergraduate research paper, workplace writing sample)
  • Curriculum Vita and/or Resume

For the Technical and Professional Communication certificate, you can contact: Program Director: Dr. Flourice Richardson
          GCB A434 |  336-285-3513 |  fwrichar@ncat.edu 

 

How to Apply? 

Graduate Application Deadlines

  • Fall Admission:
    • Domestic Applicants: July 1
    • International Applicants: April 1
  • Spring Admission:
    • Domestic Applicants: November 1
    • International Applicants: September 1

General Information for The Graduate College

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The 1st HBCU with a graduate certification in Technical and Professional Communication
Department of English at NC A&T State University

Required Courses (6 Credit Hours):

This required course introduces students to the history and theory of technical and professional communication as well as a variety of problem-solving strategies for technical scientific communication. The course also introduces students to principles of effective writing and includes practice in writing short reports, proposals, and other documents in technical and scientific fields. This course is designed to introduce students of technical and professional communication to some central works in the field, familiarize them with some of the prominent theorists, and present some of the notable theoretical approaches. Our inquiries will be grounded in application, with frequent references to the practice of technical and professional communication, and to the artifacts (manuals, online help, Web pages, Social medial, and so forth) that technical and professional communicators produce on the job.

This course addresses the responsibilities of people who manage technical and scientific communication systems, including in-house communication departments, independent companies, organization-wide information policies, professional journals, and other publications. By reading, speaking with practicing managers, and analyzing case studies, students will learn about the strategies used by managers of such systems.

Select Three Courses (9 Credit Hours) of Electives from:

Race is a multi-faceted concept and reality that can function as a representation or a mediating cultural and political technology. Indeed, Chun and many critical race scholars argue that race is a significant organizing force in our everyday lives. In effect, race is similar affect the way we mediate our beliefs and actions in the world. Conversely, both rhetoric and digital technologies have central roles in developing race and racism in the 21st century. This seminar will explore how race, rhetoric, and technology are interconnected in fundamental ways of writing. This course will draw on work from a variety of fields such as Communications, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and artistic/critical productions from popular culture. Students will be encouraged to create intersections between readings and their own scholarly interests.

The terms discourse and discourse analysis carry a rage of meanings, often depending on the disciplinary and/or theoretical perspective of the individual using them. There is a cluster of meanings for these terms as they are used within cultural studies and a different (though sometimes overlapping) set of meanings as they are used with linguistics. This course is taught from a social linguistic perspective, so a linguistic approach will predominate, but students will also survey variety of theoretical and methodical approaches to discourse analysis. It is assumed that students will have some familiarity with the structure of English grammar, but it is not expected for students to have previous studies in linguistics or in discourse analysis.

This course addresses the roles, responsibilities, and practices of an editor. Students learn how to establish effective relationships with authors, edit manuscripts to make them clear to readers or consistent with the policies of an organization, mark copy for typesetters, edit online, and create and use style guides. In addition to editing the printed document, students will also learn to edit online documents and design evaluation strategies.

This course examines the discursive practices of activism and focuses on the rhetorical practices through which people organize. It also looks at the role technical communication plays in the world of advocacy for underrepresented groups. Students will identify and study the rhetorical practices of social movement groups that work on behalf of underrepresented groups in society.

This course introduces the principles of rhetoric/s of public writing and public policy. Drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship, we will query notion(s) of public(s), the relationship of private and public spheres, and how counter publics emerge in response to dominant publics and cultural hegemony. We will examine the intersection of democracy, agency, and public rhetoric as well as consider various methodologies for analyzing and critiquing the circulating and networked discourses of the public sphere. Students will gain a broader understanding of how discursive controversies arise when communal ideals and policies are challenged in response to emerging rhetorical situations as well as how citizens in local communities become active participants in the formulation of policies that affect their lives. This course introduces theories and strategies of civic engagement, how texts engage and encourage participation in communities, and how texts circulate to shape and influence publics. Ultimately, we consider how to engage publics to actively participate in deliberations and the power relations, ethics, politics, economics, and history that influence these deliberations.

This class will focus on formulating arguments, presenting data and conveying medical information and is designed to help clinicians, clinical investigators, researchers and allied health professionals achieve their personal writing and career objectives. We will study the intersectionality of race, class, and gender and explore how it affects the rhetoric of health and medicine. This class also investigates persuasion in contemporary medicine/health care from clinical settings through mass media. Case studies explore contagion, health policy, the body, death, and biopower. The course requires extensive discussion of readings and an original research project.

Career Paths in TPC

Writing & Editing

  • Technical Writer
  • Content Writer
  • Copywriter/Editor

Specialized Industries

  • Healthcare Communicator
  • Environmental Communicator
  • Legal or Financial Technical Communicator

Digital & UX Communication

  • UX Writer
  • Information Architect
  • Content Strategist

Education & Training

  • Instructional Designer
  • Academic Program Coordinator

Corporate & Organizational Communication

  • Corporate Communications Specialist
  • Proposal Writer
  • Policy Writer
For more detailed information, visit Graduate Programs in English