The Professional Writing – Communications program will prepare you to work as a versatile communications professional. This graduate certificate program will combine assessing audience needs and delivering thoughtful and relevant content with effective project management techniques as you develop the skills to write and produce copy for a variety of professional settings and styles.

The innovative courses in this program will encompass a wide range of communications disciplines and vocational skills, including:

• Web copywriting
• Technical writing
• Proposal writing
• Writing for social media
• Content marketing
• Presentations and speech writing
• Content management
• Information design and data visualization
• Digital storytelling

As a Professional Writing – Communications student, you'll have the advantage of creating a diverse and professional portfolio that will include training modules, complex visual aids (such as infographics) and compelling layouts for various print and virtual platforms (brochures, newsletters, websites and more). With your well-rounded training, you'll be able to launch a writing career that will go the distance, taking on a range of roles in both the profit and non-profit sectors

Program Highlights

• The Content Bootcamp, an intensive two-week workshop at the beginning of the first semester, will build on your academic writing skills, polishing your writing for a professional audience.
• A vocational program at its core, Professional Writing – Communications will prepare you for a writing career with longevity. As such, in every course you'll produce professional quality work so you graduate with a polished and diverse portfolio.
• Unique second-semester course components will include creating training modules, implementing training programs, and leading virtual or live training sessions to complement the content and documentation created in first semester courses.
• The Digital Storytelling course, a standout feature, will encourage you to think critically about the future of communications and its role in business, technology and society in general. You'll have the opportunity to collaborate on a creative communications project, exploring what it means to be a communicator in a digital world.
• A field placement in the final semester will provide you with valuable experiences in a variety of industries. Program faculty will work with you to place you in an organization relevant to your long-term career goals.

Career Outlook

• Technical writer
• Communications coordinator
• Social media officer
• Editor
• Web copywriter
• Proposal writer
• Instructional designer
• Report writer/business analyst

Areas of Employment

• Arts and culture
• Retail and e-commerce
• Government and non-profit
• Finance
• Marketing
• Software development and IT
• Medicine
• Science
• Web design