Graduate Portfolio Requirements - MS in Professional Writing & Technical Communication

One of your most useful graduation requirements is your graduation portfolio. This non-returnable assembly of five projects will

• Help you assess your own progress as a writer, designer, and editor, and it may help you decide on a career direction.
• Provide a model for the type of job-hunting portfolio expected by many employers; thus, you may wish to choose projects that demonstrate marketable skills or identifiable subject matter areas such as software documentation or medical writing.
• Enable the graduate faculty to assess how well the MSPWTC program is fulfilling its educational goals.

Format: You can submit your portfolio in hard copy or as an eportfolio. For hard copy portfolios, place all documents in a 3-ring binder and include a title page (the title page may be part of the binder’s front cover). Include an electronic copy of each of the projects in the portfolio (CD or DVD). For eportfolios, submit all of the required components below on a CD or DVD. These components can consist of Word or PDF files, web pages, and other media appropriate to the documentation project.

Submission deadline: First day of final exams for the spring or fall semester. Contact the Coordinator of the MSPWTC. Deliver your portfolio to the English Department in S1045.

Grading/Assessment

The portfolio is assessed on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis by one or more of the graduate faculty. A grade of unsatisfactory will prevent you from earning your degree and will entail a revision and resubmission process.

Portfolio components

• Your current résumé
• Table of contents
• Five projects, each of which must demonstrate at least one of the learning objectives shown below. Be sure to demonstrate all of the learning objectives within your portfolio.
• Separate cover statement or memo for each project indicating the title of the project, the course and semester in which you developed the project, the audience or client for whom you developed the project, and the audience or client need fulfilled by the project. The cover statement should describe the connection of the project to the program’s learning objectives.

Tips: Editing entries should include the "before" and "after" versions of the project. For collaborative projects, explain your role in the project.

Learning objectives for the MSPWTC

• Documentation production and project management—Writing, editing, and delivery of documents in the various print and electronic genres of professional communication.
• Rhetorical analysis—Identifying, assessing, and articulating the theoretical principles that underlie rhetorical choices in professional writing.
• Ethical and global awareness—Analyzing the ethical and global implications of professional communication.
• Research methodologies—Conducting research in technical and professional communication, including audience analysis and usability testing.

---

MSPWTC Degree Coordinator
Moosally, M., Ph.D
S-1037
(713) 221-8254
mspwtc@uhd.edu

Page maintained by CHSS Web Tech.

Last updated or reviewed on 8/11/10