Proposal for a New Academic Certificate Program
Proposalforthe Initiationof aNewInstructionalProgramLeadingto an
Undergraduate Certificate in Scientific, Technical and Professional Communication (STPC)
OregonState University
Collegeof Liberal Arts
School of Arts and Communication
School of Writing, Literature, and Film
CPSProposal# 94924
April2016
1. Program Description
a.
CIP Number:090908Title: Technical and Scientific Communication
Definition: A program that focuses on the communication of technical and scientific knowledge to a variety of audiences through print, video, and digital media; and that prepares individuals to function as technical writers and editors, documentation developers, web designers, and usability specialists. Includes instruction in scientific and technical writing and editing, graphic and information design, web design, audience analysis, document usability and field testing, publications management, and applications to specific technical fields.
(Source: US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, CIP 2010 ed.)
b. Brief overview (1-2 paragraphs) of the proposed program, including its disciplinary foundations and connections; program objectives; programmatic focus; degree, certificate, minor, and concentrations offered.
In all fields of research and in all professional programs, students and employees are continually called upon to articulate the value of their work, communicate with colleagues, and explain complex information to a broader public. Further, communicating difficult-to-understand material requires more than content-knowledge, but rhetorical strategies and the ability to make best use of a range of various genres and media. The field(s) of scientific and technical communication encompass both the study of these practices as well as the communication strategies themselves, promoting communicative habits and tactics that can help employees represent their work, engage and connect with others, and empower the public. Scientific and technical communication involves valuable tactics that do more than state “just the facts,” but provide nuanced and powerful representations of information and values through rhetorical analysis, user-centered design, and the visual representation of data. Students who complete the Undergraduate Certificate in Scientific, Technical, and Professional Communication will be able to communicate their work and the work of others through effective written, oral, and various multimedia platforms.
The School of Writing, Literature and Film and the School of Arts and Communication propose an interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate, which must be taken in conjunction with a degree program, in response to growing student and faculty interest in scientific and technical communication. The core will consist of courses in Writing, Communications, and New Media Arts. These courses are production-oriented and focused on writing and communication skills that students will transfer into other work. Electives are divided between coursework in these and other fields, including one course from the Writing Intensive Curriculum (WIC) and up to six credits in upper-division courses in Writing and Communication. The program is capped by a one-credit course (face-to-face and Ecampus) focused on the creation of a portfolio of technical and scientific communication materials that will be valuable for students as they begin their careers.
Table 2.Program Summary
Table 1. Proposal Summary
NEW: Undergraduate Certificate ProgramProgram Title:
Scientific, Technical, and Professional Communication (STPC)
- Degree/Certificate Types: Undergraduate Certificate
- Program Level: Undergraduate; Concurrent program that must be completed in conjunction with a degree program
- Master of Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) Participant: NA
- Academic Home:
School of Writing, Literature, and Film
College of Liberal Arts
- Contacts: Ehren Pflugfelder (7-5736; )
- Option(s):
- Undergraduate Option(s): NA
- Graduate Options: NA
- Areas of Concentration: NA
- Minors:
- Undergraduate: NA
- Graduate: NA
- CPS #: 94924
- CIP #: 09.0908 / Title: Technical and Scientific Communication
- SIS #: XXX - To be assigned by the Registrar’s Office
- College Code: 10
- Course Designator: WR and COMM (Existing course designators)
- Courses: See proposal for list of required and elective courses
- Program Total Credit Hours: 28 (minimum)
- Pre-Professional/Professional Model: NA
- Thesis or Non-Thesis: NA
- Delivery Mode(s): On-Campus (Face-To-Face) and Online Delivery by Ecampus
- Location(s): OSU-Main (Corvallis) and Ecampus
- Enrollment Anticipated (by the fifth year): ~25 students enrolled
- Degrees or Certificates Awarded (by the fifth year): ~20 awarded per year
- Accreditation: NA
- Program Unique to Public Higher Education Institutions in Oregon: Yes
- Proposed Effective Term: Fall Term 2016 (Banner: 201701)
c. Course of study – proposed curriculum, including course numbers, titles, and credit hours.
Scientific, Technical, and Professional Communication
Undergraduate Certificate Curriculum
Students complete both required courses, at least 12 credits of core classes, one 3- or 4-credit WIC course, up to 6 credits of electives, and a one-credit portfolio course (face-to-face or through Ecampus). The portfolio course, WR/COMM 435, will be developed inthe fall of 2016.
1. REQUIRED courses: (students complete both courses(6 credits total) from this list)
Course Name / Ecampus / InstructorWR 327.*Technical Writing (3) / Yes / EhrenPflugfelder
WR 362.*Science Writing (3) / Yes / EhrenPflugfelder
2. CORE courses: (students complete at least 12 credits from this list)
Course Name / Ecampus / InstructorWR 201.*Writing for Media (3) / Yes / Jillian Saint Jacques
WR 214. *Writing in Business (3) / Yes / Sara Jameson
WR 303.*Writing for the Web (3) / No / Ehren Pflugfelder
WR 330.*Understanding Grammar (3) / Yes / Isabelle Brock
COMM 218.*Interpersonal Communication (3) / No / Colin Hesse
COMM 316.Advanced Persuasion (3) / No / Judith Sanders
COMM 322. Small-Group Problem Solving (3) / Yes / Erin Gallagher / 2016 Hire in Interpersonal Communications
COMM 326.Intercultural Communication (3) / Yes / Elizabeth Root
COMM 324. Communication in Organizations (3) / No / Erin Gallagher / 2016 Hire in Interpersonal Communications
NMC 240.Survey of Social Media (3) / Yes / Dan Faltesek
NMC 260.New Media Futures (3) / No / Dan Faltesek
3. WRITING INTENSIVE COURSE (students complete one WIC course, preferably from their primary discipline and major program of study. These courses can either be 3 or 4 credits).
4. ELECTIVES (students complete up to 8 credits from this list)
Course Name / Ecampus / InstructorWR 402.Independent Study (1-2) / No / Variable
WR 414.Advertising and Public Relations Writing (4) / Yes / Jillian Saint Jacques
WR 448.Magazine Article Writing (4) / No / Sara Jameson
WR 462. Science Writing (4) [soon to be Environmental Writing, pending review and approval] / No / Ehren Pflugfelder
WR 466.Professional Writing (4) / No / Ehren Pflugfelder
WR 493.^The Rhetorical Tradition (4) / No / Vicki Tolar Burton
WR 495.^Introduction to Literacy Studies (4) / No / Anita Helle
WR 497.Digital Literacy and Culture (4) / No / Ehren Pflugfelder
COMM 402. Independent Study (1-2) / No / Variable
COMM 414. Communication Research Methods (3) / No / Colin Hesse
COMM 416.Ethnography of Communication (3) / Yes / Elizabeth Root
COMM 426.Intercultural Communication (3) / Yes / Elizabeth Root
COMM 437.Health Communication (3) / No / Colin Hesse
COMM 454.Advanced Argumentation (3) / No / Greg Walker
COMM 464.Rhetorical Criticism (3) / Yes / Mark Moore
FES 493.Environmental Interpretation (4) / Yes / Dave Stemper
AG 351. Communicating Agriculture to the Public (3) / No / Kellie Strawn
5. One-credit elective CAPSTONE PORTFOLIO courses.
COMM 435. Scientific, Technical & Professional Communication Capstone (1) [Pending
review and approval]
WR 435 Scientific, Technical & Professional Communication Capstone (1) [Pending
review and approval]
d. Manner in which the program will be delivered, including program location (if offered outside of the main campus), course scheduling, and the use of technology (for both on- campus and off-campus delivery).
This certificate will be offered on the OSU campus and online through Ecampus. The certificate can be completed entirely face-to-face on the main campus or through a mixture of face-to-face or online courses (hybrid)courses. The one-credit portfolio course will be offered face-to-face and through Ecampus.
e. Ways in which the program will seek to assure quality, access, and diversity.
The one-credit portfolio course (WR 435 or COMM 435), along with providing a way for students to build their professional portfolio, will also facilitate in assessment. Because students will gather representative materials from certificate coursework for the portfolio, it will show evidence of the certificate’s outcomes. Faculty in the certificate program will be able to monitor and assess the quality of materials students create in the certificate program, and will plan for programmatic assessment (which will involve several core faculty assessing portfolios against certificate outcomes). The portfolio course will also include an exit survey, where students are able to express their perspective of the value of specific courses and experiences in the certificate.
Program faculty includes several professors who actively publish on the topic of scientific and technical communication. They have been meeting for the past two years and will ensure program quality. They will communicate every winter to plan the following year's classes in order to ensure that listed courses are available. Additionally, a new hire in Writing, Literature, and Film in the field of second language writing studies and two new hires in Arts and Communication in the fields of scientific visualization and organizational communication, respectively, will contribute courses to this certificate.
Finally, the fields of scientific and technical communication have a longstanding focus on transnational communication strategies and have been deeply engaged in the globalized workplace. In part because this communication work involves complex cultural, social, environmental, and economic concerns, scientific and technical communicators share in the responsibility for globalization’s effects. These fields have addressed the ongoing challenges of providing underserved or underprivileged groups with the knowledge and skills needed for making decisions in their lives while using technical information. This program is committed to ensuring diversity, both in recruiting students into the certificate program and in developing courses.
f. Anticipated fall term headcount and FTE enrollment over each of the next five years.
To the best of our knowledge, we expect the following 2016-2021 enrollments:
Years / Total Aggregate Students Enrolled2016-2017 / 6
2017-2018 / 12
2018-2019 / 18
2019-2020 / 25
2020-2021 / 35
g. Expected degrees/certificate produced over the next five years.
Here is our estimation of completed certificates:
Years / Students Completing Certificate (per year)2016-2017 / 0
2017-2018 / 5
2018-2019 / 8
2019-2020 / 10
2020-2021 / 13
h. Characteristics of students to be served (resident/nonresident/international; traditional/nontraditional; full-time/part-time; etc.)
We expect to attract a variety of students, including traditional and non-traditional, full- and part-time.
i. and j. Adequacy and quality of faculty delivering the program. Faculty resources – full-time, part-time, adjunct.
Scientific, Technical, and Professional Communication
Affiliated Faculty
Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture
Professor Pflugfelder teaches technical, scientific, and professional writing courses and researches technical communication, new media studies, and mobility studies.
Colin Hesse, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Speech Communication
Professor Hesse teaches health communication courses and researches interpersonal communication, psychological and physiological health, and the communication of affection, alexithymia, and family communication.
Daniel Faltesek, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of New Media Communications
Professor Faltesek teaches new media communications courses and researches social media, big data and digital and visual representation.
Tim Jensen, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Writing, and Culture
Professor Jensen teaches new media and advanced writing courses and researches data assessment, and affect theory, and environmental movements.
Elizabeth Root, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Speech Communication
Professor Root teaches courses in intercultural communication and qualitative methods. Her research focuses on issues of university internationalization, cultural identity, and intercultural communication pedagogy.
Greg Walker, Ph.D.
Professor of Speech Communication
Professor Walker teaches courses in conflict management and the environment. His research focuses on negotiation practices in environmental agencies, and in communication between the agencies and the public.
Mark Moore, Ph.D.
Professor of Speech Communication
Professor Moore teaches courses in rhetorical criticism and the history of rhetoric, researching rhetorical practices of tribalism and fan culture.
William Loges, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of New Media Communications and Sociology
Professor Loges teaches courses in media ethics and mass media and researches issues of race and ethnicity, community and social relations, and media and ethics.
Sara Jameson
Senior Instructor II in Writing, Literature, and Film
Instructor Jameson teaches science and nature writing, technical communication, and critical reviewing courses and researches models of basic writing.
Jillian Saint Jacques, Ph.D.
Senior Instructor in Writing, Literature, and Film
Instructor Saint Jacques teaches journalism, adaptation, and film courses and researches models of genre adaptation and gender theory.
Judith Sanders
Instructor in Speech Communication
Instructor Sanders teaches courses in interpersonal communication and persuasion.
David Stemper
Instructor in Forest Ecosystems and Society
Instructor Stemper teaches courses in environmental interpretation and education, and resources and ecosystem management.
Kellie Strawn
Instructor in Agricultural Education and General Agriculture
Instructor Strawn teaches courses in agricultural communication and is the Director of the College of Agricultural Sciences Leadership Academy.
k. Other staff.
One .25 time coordinator/advisor (professional faculty) will be hired by the School of Writing, Literature, and Film in AY 2017-2018. This coordinator will possibly be shared with the planned Applied Journalism minor.
l. Facilities, library, and other resources.
As this proposal comprises a re-organization of currently existing coursework and resources, no new facilities are required. Library holdings are already sufficient for the undergraduate certificate. Oregon State University, with its existing foci on science, technology, and the environment, makes an ideal location for this program. This undergraduate certificate will take advantage of existing expertise in scientific and technical fields while coordinating multidisciplinary coursework and experiences that will enhance each student’s education.
m. Anticipated start date.
Courses are already being offered. Start date of certificate anticipated as Fall Term, 2016.
2. Relationship to Mission and Goals
a. Manner in which the proposed program supports the institution’s mission and goals for access; student learning; research, and/or scholarly work; and service.
The proposed program supports OSU's mission of promoting economic, social, cultural and environmental progress. Science communication has as its core focus the broader articulation of scientific research to the general public, enabling public use and understanding of scientific research and increasing science literacy. Technical communication has at its core a focus on users, their safety, and their quality of life. Much of the work of both scientific and technical communication is directed toward providing functional access to complex information, empowering people to make decisions related to their own well-being and safety, and serving the needs of the public. By producing students who are well-versed in scientific and technical communication strategies, the proposed program will help generate professionals who can not only skillfully perform their jobs, but also communicate the value of their work to the public. Coursework in the certificate program will also assist students in emphasizing the value of regional and global natural resources, especially as those resources connect with human lives and industry. Further, by incorporating courses and coursework on interpersonal and global communication, the certificate will assist students in communicating these concepts in a culturally sensitive manner. These abilities translate across disciplines and will offer new opportunities for students in an array of fields, as they gain experience and expertise in interpersonal, new media, and written communications.
b. Connection of the proposed program to the institution’s strategic priorities and signature areas of focus.
The certificate program will bring new knowledge and potential solutions to all three signature areas:Advancing the Science of Sustainable Earth Ecosystems, Improving Human Health and Wellness, and Promoting Economic Growth and Social Progress. Both scientific- and technical communication-oriented courses will assist students in communicating the value of environmental research and health information to a broader public. Courses within the certificate program will focus on interpersonal communication strategies and professional communication methodologies that can be employed within institutional, industrial, and workplace settings, thereby contributing to institutional success and economic growth.
c. Manner in which the proposed program contributes to Oregon University System goals for access; quality learning; knowledge creation and innovation; and economic and cultural support of Oregon and its communities.
There is a growing interest among students – bothregionally and nationally – tostudy strategies for communication, especially as those strategies are effective in institutional, industrial, and workplace settings. These students are interested in what Robert Reich has called “symbolic-analytic” work. Symbolic-analytic workers rely on skills in abstraction, experimentation, collaboration, and system thinking to work with information across a variety of disciplines and markets. This kind of work exists alongside a range of other skills, mediating between functional necessity and a concern for, and focus on, the general public. Many of the courses identified in this certificate proposal present students with complex problems and provide them with symbolic-analytic strategies for problem-solving. This way of thinking assists students in identifying important goals, establishing ethical concepts, working with others, and innovating throughout the problem-solving process. This certificate programwill group courses that emphasize these strategies together and will enhance the learning and outreach that is already going on.
d. Manner in which the program meets broad statewide needs and enhances the state’s capacity to respond effectively to social, economic, and environmental challenges and opportunities.
This proposed certificate program will respond directly to Oregon’s larger economic and population growth. In recent years, Oregon’s job growth and population growth have exceeded national averages. Since February 2010, the job rate has increased by 13.7% (11.7% national avg.), and GDP increased by 2.4% (1.9% national avg.) (Joint Economic Committee, 2015 Economic Snapshot). In order to keep pace with the increase in employment, especially as the “silicon forest” grows and as Oregon agricultural output expands, companies will be looking to hire graduates with engineering-, science-, and agriculture-related degrees. Students who want to emphasize their commitment to communication in those positions will be supported by the coursework in this certificate program. Perhaps more than ever, Oregon needs people who can understand that success and innovation in these areas come from both knowledge of a particular field and knowledge about how to solve problems, communicate with others, and represent complex information in those same fields. Oregon offers students significant opportunities to launch new ideas, pioneer technical and scientific advances, and communicate those concepts, all while being responsible for the welfare and safety of others.