In today’s uncertain economy, it is more important than ever for workers to be multi-skilled and flexible in their professional areas. The Business and Technical Communications Undergraduate Certificate combines an innovative approach with practical skills in writing, research, communication, and technologies that will enable students to improve their skills for working in a broad range of contexts.

Students will develop competencies in communication that are critical to a wide range of contemporary jobs and organizations:

• Business and technical communication
• Strategic writing skills
• Organizational leadership skills
• Information design
• Project management

The Certificate is available in a traditional face-to-face and online format, and is also available via the University of Wisconsin System’s Flexible Option. The UW Flexible Option offers a new way to earn a college degree or certificate, different from both face-to-face classroom instruction and traditional online instruction. In the UW Flexible Option program, you will:

• Earn credit for what you know
• Advance at your own pace
• Receive personalized support
• Start when you want, at the beginning of any month
• Learn skills employers value

Eligibility

Students who wish to enroll in the Undergraduate Certificate must be admitted to UWM and will have to meet the basic prerequisites of the courses that are equivalent to each given competency set. For ENGLISH 206, that will mean having passed or tested out of ENGLISH 102. All other courses in the Certificate require ENGLISH 206 as a prerequisite. Students concurrently completing a bachelor’s degree receive the Certificate upon completion of their degree requirements; post-baccalaureate special students and non-degree students will be awarded the Certificate upon successful completion of all program requirements.

Program Requirements

To obtain the certificate, students first must complete ENGLISH 206, after which they may study the additional competency sets in any order. Completing the Undergraduate Certificate means having gained credit in all six courses, with a minimum grade point average of 2.500. Students also must meet College of Letters and Science residency requirements, which means that at least nine of their Certificate upper-level (numbered 300 and above) credits must be earned at UWM.