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MSOE Certificate Programs
Technical Communication Certificate Program

Overview

The need to communicate technical and business-related information has never been greater. Technology has become an integral part of our lives, especially in the workplace.

Business and industry need individuals who have outstanding communication skills with basic knowledge of specific technical and management areas that can function as the link between the expertise of managers and technical personnel and the needs of various audiences such as customers, employees, suppliers, and the general public. In today's industry, individuals may have excellent communication skills, but lack business or technical knowledge of the products or services offered and utilized by their company.

Benefits: You will learn how to...

Meet the technical literacy or business comprehension needs required in specific fields.
Enhance your previously acquired communication skills.
Develop, design, and deliver written documents and oral presentations conveying technical or business descriptions, operating instruction pamphlets, employee training seminars.
Develop materials, productions, annual reports and business plans.

Who Should Attend?

Sales/marketing employees, copywriters, graphic designers, teachers, and technical writers would all benefit from this certificate. This certificate is designed for individuals with liberal arts or other degrees and good organizational, writing and speaking skills that want to develop their technical IQ and increase their business acumen. This certificate will be especially helpful to those who wish to jump-start their career or work in the rapidly increasing technology fields.

This certificate will help you if you would like to enter the growing and marketable field of technical communication and work as any of the following:

Technical Writer
Technical Trainer
Software Specialist
Multimedia Developer
Systems Analyst
Software Documentation Specialist

This certificate can take you there!

Schedule / Course Descriptions

Courses are offered on a quarter system as described on the MSOE Academic Calendar. For individual course offerings and starting dates, please see the Timetable of Classes or contact the Enrollment Management office.

Technical Composition – EN-132
Desktop Publishing – TC-172
Research Methods – TC-261
Advanced Technical Writing – TC-332
Visual Design Techniques – TC-321 or
Writing And Editing For Publication – TC-432
Professional Presentation Techniques – TC-342 or
Marketing Communication – TC-381

Prerequisites
An associates degree, a bachelor's degree or three years work experience. Prerequisite courses may be required for the bachelor's degree, even if the course requiring the prerequisite has already been taken as part of the certificate program. Determination of prerequisite requirements for students transferring from the TC certificate into the TC bachelor's degree rests with the academic advisors.

EN-132 Technical Composition
The purpose of this course is to acquaint students with the principles of effective, audiencecentered technical communication and provide them with practice in writing letters, memoranda, proposals, and an informal and a formal report. The course also requires students to become familiar with accepted research techniques and to apply them in a written formal report and in an oral presentation. Students also learn the principles of graphical design and the importance of visual representation in technical communication, both oral and written, and students are expected to incorporate appropriate graphics into their written and oral communication. Finally, students are taught how to organize and present technical material orally in an effective manner. (prereq: EN-131)

TC-172 Desktop Publishing
This course combines classroom discussion and a “hands on” computer lab to prepare students to design and develop page layouts on a Macintosh computer system. Students completing this course become literate in computer terminology through discussions on historical computer development, different operating systems, and computer hardware/software. In addition, the principles of page design and layout techniques are examined. The lab portion of the course allows students to use and learn several software programs at various levels, including Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and scanning software. After completing this course, students are able to use the desktop computer and various software programs in combination to create professional looking documents.

TC-261 Research Methods
This course will introduce students to the basics of the scientific method of conducting primary research. Research methods and design will be explained and techniques for gathering information will be explored. (prereq: EN-132)

TC-321 Visual Design Techniques
This is a survey course encompassing the fundamentals of visual communication, computer graphics, traditional techniques and their application to communication design. Production exercises include creation of 35mm slides, video, pre-press graphics and Web page design. Effective applications of typographic design and color are integrated throughout the course. (prereq: EN-132 or advanced writing skills)

TC-332 Advanced Technical Writing
This course gives the student practical experience in developing and preparing user documentation. The major requirement for this course is researching, writing, and producing a user manual. In addition, students will be responsible for a number of writing assignments, both individual and group. These include, but are not limited to, such assignments as proposals, client communication, meeting minutes, literature reviews, and task analysis. (prereq: EN-132 or TC-1111)

TC-342 Professional Presentation Techniques
This subject acquaints the student with various types of professional presentation techniques used in industry. Being able to effectively communicate; organizing and developing ideas; using communication media; applying guidelines for evaluating, selecting, planning, designing, and delivering presentations in a business environment are emphasized. Projects are correlated to the topics covered to develop advanced presentation techniques and delivery skills. (prereq: EN-241)

TC-381 Marketing Communication
This course focuses on integrated marketing communications, which includes synchronized communication management, multichannel communication flow, message consistency, measurement, and tailored relationship-building messages. It tightly integrates the marcom function with marketing and sales objectives, concentrating on controlling the communication pathways with the customer. Primary emphasis is on writing a full range of marcom techniques.

TC-432 Writing and Editing for Publication
This course introduces students to the publishing industry and provides an overview of the entire process of publication, from the topic proposal stage through the printing and distribution of the final published product. All forms of publishing are covered “books, magazines (consumer, literary, trade), refereed professional journals, newsletters, and electronic venues” and students develop strategies for targeting specific outlets for their work. Students write a series of individual query proposals, reviews, and articles, and they produce a newsletter issue, participating in all phases of the editing process from initial brainstorming and audience analysis to printing and distribution of the final publication.