The Professional and Technical Writing (PTW) minor offers exciting, hands-on opportunities for guided practice in planning, designing, developing, producing, and editing the kinds of visual and verbal communication expected in the workplace. Writing is a foundational skill in most professional fields. In this program, students extend this foundational skill by preparing a vast array of deliverables in a variety of genres and media while learning the essential importance of process, audience analysis, user-centered design, visual rhetoric, strong grammar skills and professional practice.
Students work with clients to create written and digital solutions to workplace challenges. Past clients include Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, The Florida Aquarium, Save the Manatee, ReachUP, The Blunt Space, and Parents and Children Advance Together (PCAT).
The PTW minor is a strong pairing with majors in the sciences, social sciences, public health, legal studies, business, global studies, interdisciplinary programs, leadership studies, humanities or any field where professional writing is an expectation.
Program Goals
The program goals are as follows:
- Students will demonstrate advanced English grammar and editing skills
- Students will understand and employ appropriate genre conventions
- Students will design and produce oral, visual, and written communication intended for professional and public contexts
- Students will understand how audience, purpose, and context affect professional communication
- Students will understand the ethical implications of workplace and public writing
Program Curriculum
The PTW minor consists of two required courses and twelve credits of electives. View the UTampa catalog.
Required courses: (8 crs)
- WRI 281: Technical Writing (4 crs)
- WRI 381: Professional Editing (4crs)
Electives: (12 crs)
ENG 205: Advanced Grammar (4 crs)
WRI 220: Digital Writing and Culture (4 crs)
WRI 230: Special Topics in Writing (1-4 crs)
WRI 242: Publication Editing and Design (4 crs)
WRI 245: Yearbook Publication (2 crs)
WRI 376: Advanced Publication Practicum (4 crs)
WRI 385: Visual Rhetoric (4 crs)
WRI 485: Directed Study in Professional Writing (1-4 crs)
WRI 490: Writing Internship (1-4 crs)
