Undergraduate Certificate in Professional Writing
Undergraduate Certificate in Professional Writing (16-ENGL-CPW)
The undergraduate certificate program in Professional Writing is for non-degree-seeking students who wish to sharpen their publication skills and master the fundamentals of editing and writing for the workplace. The two required courses in editing and technical document design address editing, revision. planning, drafting, and designing documents for publication. Students choose three additional elective courses for the program based on their interests. and may focus their elective courses in journalism. technical writing, or creative writing.
Admissions Requirements
Applicants must have completed the first year of college English or equivalent (credit, transfer credit, or credit by exam). Applicants must be enrolled as Non-Degree Studies (NDS) students and should not be concurrently seeking a degree at NCSU during the time of certificate courses. Applicants must submit an online form to the director of Professional Writing to begin the process of enrollment, and should be enrolled as NDS students by the deadline for NDS course registration.
Program Coordinator
Jamie Larsen
Director of Professional Writing
104 Tompkins Hall
jlarsen@ncsu.edu
919-515-4118
List of Eligibility Requirements for the Undergraduate Certificate in Professional Writing
- Non-degree student status
- There are no other required examinations, presentations, or external learning experiences except those required by the courses listed.
- A total of 15 hours is required.
- Satisfactory completion of the certificate program requires:
- Completion of the coursework noted above.
- A grade of C- or better in all courses used to satisfy the certificate requirement.
- An overall GPA of2.0 or better for all courses used to satisfy the certificate requirements.
Plan Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses (2): | ||
| ENG 214 | Introduction to Editing | 3 |
| ENG 314 | Technical Document Design and Editing | 3 |
| Concentration Courses (6 hours in one concentration): | 6 | |
| General Writing Courses | ||
| Scientific and Technical Writing Courses | ||
| Journalism Courses | ||
| Creative Writing Courses | ||
| Data Science and AI Courses | ||
| Additional Elective | 3 | |
Choose an additional three credits from any of the above concentrations | ||
| Total Hours | 15 | |
General Writing Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 317 | Designing Networked Communications | 3 |
| ENG 323 | Writing in Rhetorical Traditions | 3 |
| ENG 331 | Communication for Engineering and Technology | 3 |
| ENG 332 | Communication for Business and Management | 3 |
| ENG 333 | Communication for Science and Research | 3 |
| ENG 350 | Professional Internships | 3 |
| ENG 426 | Analyzing Style | 3 |
Scientific and Technical Writing Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 421 | Computer Documentation Design | 3 |
| ENG 425 | Analysis of Scientific and Technical Writing | 3 |
| ENG 517 | Advanced Technical Writing, Editing and Document Design | 3 |
| ENG 518 | Publication Management for Technical Communicators | 3 |
Journalism Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 316 | Introduction to News and Article Writing | 3 |
| ENG 416 | Advanced News and Article Writing | 3 |
| ENG 417 | Editorial and Opinion Writing | 3 |
Creative Writing Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 281 | Introduction to Creative Nonfiction | 3 |
| ENG 288 | Fiction Writing | 3 |
| ENG 289 | Poetry Writing | 3 |
| ENG 330 | Screenwriting | 3 |
| ENG 381 | Creative Nonfiction Writing Workshop | 3 |
| ENG 388 | Intermediate Fiction Writing Workshop | 3 |
| ENG 389 | Intermediate Poetry Writing Workshop | 3 |
| ENG 430 | Advanced Screenwriting | 3 |
Data Science and AI Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| DSA 202 | Introduction to Data Visualization | 1 |
| DSA 205 | Data Communication | 1 |
| DSA 220 | Introduction to AI Ethics | 1 |
| DSA 225 | Data Science for Social Good | 1 |
| DSA 235 | Introduction to Data Science for Cybersecurity | 1 |
| DSA 295 | Introductory Special Topics in Data Science | 1-3 |
| DSA 405 | Data Wrangling and Web Scraping | 1 |
| DSA 406 | Exploratory Data Analysis for Big Data | 1 |
| DSA 412 | Exploring Machine Learning | 1 |
| DSA 495 | Special Topics in Data Science | 1-3 |