The University of New Mexico’s English Department launched its Graduate Certificate in Technical and Professional Communication (GCERT TPC). The 15-credit certificate is designed to prepare community members who already possess undergraduate or graduate degrees with a specific writing- and communication-related credential to help them improve their written communication skills in their existing workplace or to transition careers. For individuals in engineering and science fields, as well as the business and non-profit sector, the skills in proposal and grant writing, usability and user-centered design, and ethics in technical and professional communication offered by the GCERT’s courses will prepare Certificate holders to lead in their current and future workplaces and community service contexts.
“We are very excited to serve New Mexicans who want to improve their writing, their visual communication skills, and their confidence as persuasive, audience-oriented communicators,” says Dr. Julianne Newmark, Technical and Professional Communication program Director. “I regularly receive emails from mid-career professionals in the Albuquerque community who want to enroll in our undergraduate TPC classes or to complete our undergraduate TPC certificate. But that’s not an option for those who already hold a degree. This GCERT allows us to fill a real need in our community and beyond. And, the classes that comprise the Cert are available in fully online formats, which makes the Cert broadly accessible.”
The 15-credit Certificate has two tracks, the “General” track and the “Proposal and Grant-Writing” track. Both tracks include five classes, two of which are required courses for the General GCERT: a Foundations course and an Ethics course. There are five required in the “Proposal and Grant-Writing” track. Many courses from the English Department’s Rhetoric and Writing Program serve as electives, ranging from Visual Rhetoric to Editing.
“This GCERT is available to students who are brand-new to our campus, virtually or in-person, as well as to existing graduate students from across UNM,” says Newmark, adding “To be able to enhance our fellow New Mexicans’ skills in ethical technical communication is a goal we’ve long had as faculty members in our Rhetoric and Writing Program. We can’t wait to grow this program and serve our community through it.”
Those interested in the GCERT TPC can learn more about it on the UNM English website (english.unm.edu) or by contacting Dr. Newmark (newmark@unm.edu) and can apply for admission online (apply.unm.edu) for Fall or Spring enrollment. The UNM English Department is home to an Undergraduate English Major, Minor, and Certificate, as well as an MA, MFA, and Ph.D.—plus the new GCERT. With nearly 40 Ph.D.- or MFA-holding full-time faculty, the Department is equipped to offer cutting-edge online and face-to-face learning in Technical and Professional Communication, Creative Writing, and Literary Studies.
