Program Competencies

By graduation, students in the Professional Writing major should be able to:

• Meet program standards for accurate use of basic written English including spelling, punctuation and grammar.

• Write clearly and effectively for a wide variety of practical purposes and a variety of audiences.

• Understand writing as a public act with social, ethical and political consequences.

• Listen and observe attentively.

• Investigate and explore new material and new experiences.

• Compose, manage, archive and transmit drafts of writing electronically.

• Collaborate with other writers, offering perceptive and constructive criticism, and accepting and weighing responses and comments to their own writing.  

• Conduct research using published materials, online materials and personal interviews.

• Conceive and develop their own ideas for writing, and find interesting and useful ways to pursue writing projects assigned to them.

• Discuss and write about their own assumptions, thought processes and actions.

• Develop an electronic portfolio that presents their work in an attractive and professional manner.

• Follow the process of submitting their writing for publication and/or performance.