[for the catalog]
M.A. in English: Professional Writing
The M.A. in English with emphasis in Professional Writing reflects the expertise of our faculty and the
career ambitions of our students, who are either already working in, or desire to work in, professional
positions involving writing and documentation, in business, industry, and government. The professional
writing emphasis focuses on students mastering procedures and techniques to create and publish readerdriven writing typical of the workplace, such as proposals, specifications, procedures, reports, formal
correspondence, and white papers. With this degree and the skills acquired in getting it, our graduates are
well prepared to succeed in securing high-paying jobs in a variety of corporate and government settings.
The M.A. in English: Professional Writing consists of the following 36-hour program, all of which are
exclusively online courses:
Foundations (3 hours)—select one of the following courses:
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ENG 502: Advanced Technical Writing
ENG 522: Rhetoric and Writing in Professional Communities
Technical Editing (3 hours)—select one of the following courses:
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ENG 517: Professional Editing
ENG 549: Document Design and Usability Testing
Workplace Environment (3 hours)—select one of the following courses:
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ENG 569: Document Project Management
ENG 605: Writing Effective Proposals
ENG 606: Issues in Technical and Professional Writing
Research and Application Project (6 hours)—one required course (ENG526), plus one other directed
project (ENG599, ENG608, ENG685):
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ENG 526: Advanced Professional Writing (required)
ENG 599: Special Topics
ENG 608: Fieldwork Experience
ENG 685: Graduate Research
The directed project (599, 608, or 685) must be completed under the direction of a member of the
Professional Writing faculty. The project is not a faculty-designed course, but a student-designed project
in which the student identifies a problem, proposes a course of action to solve that problem, and designs
a plan of study to research, develop, and support the solution to the problem. This is written up as a
formal capstone project. The methods for designing, developing, and writing the capstone project are
taught in ENG 526. These 15 hours constitute the Professional Writing core.
The remaining 21 hours to earn the M.A. are chosen with advisor approval and are based upon the
professional goals of the student. A wide range of other ENG courses, as well as courses in
Communication, Education, and a host of other disciplines can be used as electives in a coherent program
of study, with the advisor’s approval.