Bachelor of Arts in Technical Communication

About

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.

Curriculum Map

What You'll Learn

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 461INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC RELATIONS THEORY5
CMST 465PUBLIC RELATIONS WRITING5
Required Design
DESN 216DIGITAL FOUNDATIONS5
DESN 368WEB DESIGN 15
or DESN 338 USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN 1
DESN 378WEB DESIGN 25
or DESN 348 USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN 2
Required Marketing
MKTG 310PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING4
MKTG 400BUYER BEHAVIOR4
or MKTG 413 INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
or MKTG 472 GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Required Technical Communication
TCOM 205INTRODUCTION TO TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION (students must complete this course with a grade ≥C)5
TCOM/SUST 300WRITING FOR THE PROFESSIONS5
TCOM/JRNM 305PRINT LAYOUT AND CONTENT DESIGN5
TCOM/ENGL/JRNM 309GRAMMAR FOR PROFESSIONAL WRITERS5
TCOM 404INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCEDURES5
TCOM 405USABILITY5
TCOM 407PROPOSAL WRITING5
TCOM 409EDITING IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION5
TCOM 424CONTENT MANAGEMENT5
TCOM 495TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION INTERNSHIP5-15
Senior Capstone
TCOM 490SENIOR CAPSTONE: ISSUES IN TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION5
Total Credits88-98

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 QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
ENGL 1015ENGL 2015MATH 1075
Humanities & Arts BACR 115Humanities & Arts BACR 215Diversity - graduation requirement15
Social Science BACR 115Natural Science BACR 115Social Science BACR 215
 15 15 15
Second Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
Global Studies - graduation requirement15Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5
Natural Science BACR 215Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5
Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective5
 15 15 15
Third Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
CMST 4615CMST 4655DESN 368 or 3385
DESN 2165TCOM 3005TCOM 4045
TCOM 2055TCOM 3095TCOM 405 or 4245
 15 15 15
Fourth Year
Fall QuarterCreditsWinter QuarterCreditsSpring QuarterCredits
DESN 378 or 3485MKTG 400, 413, or 4724TCOM 405 or 4245
MKTG 3104TCOM 3055TCOM 490 (Senior Capstone - graduation requirement)5
TCOM 4095TCOM 4075TCOM 4955
Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective1Elective - certificate, minor, or general elective1 
 15 15 15
Total Credits 180
1

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)

  • Minimum Credits—180 cumulative credit hours 
    • 60 upper-division credits (300 level or above)
    • 45 credits in residence (attendance) at Eastern, with at least 15 upper-division credits in major in residence at Eastern
  • Minimum Cumulative GPA ≥2.0

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:

  1. The catalog in effect at the student's first term of current matriculation is used to determine BACR (Breadth Area Credit Requirements) and UGR (Undergraduate Graduation Requirements).
  2. The catalog in effect at the time the student declares a major or minor is used to determine the program requirements.

Students who earn a BA in Technical Communication from EWU should be able to:​

  • analyze communication problems to create effective technical communication;
  • apply project management practices;
  • conduct research to solve problems related to technical communication;
  • contribute effectively to a collaborative technical communication team;
  • deliver well-organized technical communication presentations;
  • edit documents for technical communication contexts;
  • use various software to design multi-channel technical communication;
  • write user-centered technical communication.

Sample Courses

TCOM 300. WRITING FOR THE PROFESSIONS. 5 Credits.

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.

Catalog Listing

TCOM 305. PRINT LAYOUT AND CONTENT DESIGN. 5 Credits.

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.

Catalog Listing

TCOM 404. INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCEDURES. 5 Credits.

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.

Catalog Listing

TCOM 424. CONTENT MANAGEMENT. 5 Credits.

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.

Catalog Listing

Technical Communication Electives

For a full list of the TCOM elective courses offered, head over to the catalog.

Contact Us

For questions regarding the BA in Technical Communication please contact:

Teena A. M. Carnegie, PhD

Professor
Photo of Teena A. M. Carnegie, PhD
Patterson Hall 211C

Kate Crane, PhD

Assistant Professor
Photo of Kate Crane, PhD
Patterson Hall 211H