Technical Communication is a professional program designed to prepare you for a successful career as a technical writer for business, industry, or government, both regionally and nationally. You focus on essential technical communication skills while building expertise in graphic design and public relations. You’ll learn how to make technical information available and understandable to people who need it.
For more information, contact Teena A. M. Carnegie, PhD at tcarnegie@ewu.edu.
The following information comes from the official EWU catalog, which outlines all degree requirements and serves as the guide to earning a degree. Courses are designed to provide a well-rounded and versatile degree, covering a wide range of subject areas.
Technical Communication Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Note: two years of a single high school world language or one year of a single college-level world language is required.
| Required Communications/Public Relations | ||
| CMST 461 | INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY | 5 |
| CMST 465 | PUBLIC RELATIONS WRITING | 5 |
| Required Design | ||
| DESN 216 | DIGITAL FOUNDATIONS | 5 |
| DESN 368 | WEB DESIGN 1 | 5 |
| or DESN 338 | USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN 1 | |
| DESN 378 | WEB DESIGN 2 | 5 |
| or DESN 348 | USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN 2 | |
| Required Marketing | ||
| MKTG 310 | PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING | 4 |
| MKTG 400 | BUYER BEHAVIOR | 4 |
| or MKTG 413 | INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS | |
| or MKTG 472 | GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT | |
| Required Technical Communication | ||
| TCOM 205 | INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION (students must complete this course with a grade ≥C) | 5 |
| TCOM/SUST 300 | WRITING FOR THE PROFESSIONS | 5 |
| TCOM/JRNM 305 | PRINT LAYOUT AND CONTENT DESIGN | 5 |
| TCOM/ENGL/JRNM 309 | GRAMMAR FOR PROFESSIONAL WRITERS | 5 |
| TCOM 404 | INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCEDURES | 5 |
| TCOM 405 | USABILITY | 5 |
| TCOM 407 | PROPOSAL WRITING | 5 |
| TCOM 409 | EDITING IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION | 5 |
| TCOM 424 | CONTENT MANAGEMENT | 5 |
| TCOM 495 | TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION INTERNSHIP | 5-15 |
| Senior Capstone | ||
| TCOM 490 | SENIOR CAPSTONE: ISSUES IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION | 5 |
| Total Credits | 88-98 | |
The following plan of study is for a student with zero credits. Individual students may have different factors such as: credit through transfer work, Advanced Placement, Running Start, or any other type of college-level coursework that requires an individual plan.
Courses may be offered in different terms and not all courses are offered every term, checking the academic schedule is paramount in keeping an individual plan current. There may be some courses that have required prerequisites not listed in the plan, review the course descriptions for information. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.
All Undergraduate students are required to meet the Undergraduate Degree Requirements.
This major requires the completion of the World Language requirement. Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree must complete two years of a single language in high school or one year of a single language in college.
| First Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| ENGL 101 | 5 | ENGL 201 | 5 | MATH 107 | 5 |
| Humanities & Arts BACR 11 | 5 | Humanities & Arts BACR 21 | 5 | Diversity - graduation requirement1 | 5 |
| Social Science BACR 11 | 5 | Natural Science BACR 11 | 5 | Social Science BACR 21 | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Second Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| Global Studies - graduation requirement1 | 5 | Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 5 | Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 5 |
| Natural Science BACR 21 | 5 | Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 5 | Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 5 |
| Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 5 | Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 5 | Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Third Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| CMST 461 | 5 | CMST 465 | 5 | DESN 368 or 338 | 5 |
| DESN 216 | 5 | TCOM 300 | 5 | TCOM 404 | 5 |
| TCOM 205 | 5 | TCOM 309 | 5 | TCOM 405 or 424 | 5 |
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Fourth Year | |||||
| Fall Quarter | Credits | Winter Quarter | Credits | Spring Quarter | Credits |
| DESN 378 or 348 | 5 | MKTG 400, 413, or 472 | 4 | TCOM 405 or 424 | 5 |
| MKTG 310 | 4 | TCOM 305 | 5 | TCOM 490 (Senior Capstone - graduation requirement) | 5 |
| TCOM 409 | 5 | TCOM 407 | 5 | TCOM 495 | 5 |
| Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 1 | Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective | 1 | ||
| 15 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Total Credits 180 | |||||
University Graduation Requirements (UGR) and Breadth Area Course Requirements (BACR) courses may be less than 5 credits and additional credits may be required to reach the required 180 total credits needed to graduate. Students should connect with an advisor to ensure they are on track to graduate.
University Competencies and Proficiencies
English
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning
Placement and Clearance
Prior Learning/Sources of Credit AP, CLEP, IB
General Education Requirements (GER)
Breadth Area Core Requirements (BACR)
Humanities and Arts
Natural Sciences
Social Sciences
University Graduation Requirements (UGR)
Diversity Course List
World Language (for Bachelor of Arts)
Global Studies Course List
Minor or Certificate
Senior Capstone Course List
Application for Graduation (use EagleNET) must be made at least two terms in advance of the term you expect to graduate (undergraduate and post-baccalaureate).
Use the Catalog Archives to determine two important catalog years.
Requirements in Degree Works are based on these two catalog years:
Students who earn a BA in Technical Communication from EWU should be able to:
Cross-listed: ENGL 300, SUST 300.
Pre-requisites: ENGL 201.
This course focuses on analyzing and creating effective communication practices for professional writing. Communication projects such as proposing new research projects, creating and integrating data graphics into professional reports, and reporting data to recommend problem-based solutions through reports and presentations will be emphasized in this course.
Cross-listed: JRNM 305.
This course emphasizes content-driven design and layout, and it focuses on the basic principles and skills needed in journalism and technical communication when writing and publishing content. In this course, students will develop and practice the content design and layout skills necessary to succeed in a variety of professional settings.
Pre-requisites: TCOM 205.
In our technologically rich world, instructions and procedures pervade our professional lives. In this course, students will learn the art and practice of how to write, design, test and deliver instructions and procedures. Skills learned in this course are highly desired in a variety of settings including government, industry, corporate and non-profit agencies.
Pre-requisites: TCOM 404.
In this course, students will learn the principles and practices of content management. They will learn associated technologies as well as how to write, design and integrate content to fulfill organizational goals and how to communicate consistent information through multiple formats, delivery channels, and devices.
For a full list of the TCOM elective courses offered, head over to the catalog.
