dept of LL&C: programs - graduate: m.s. in technical communication

Kathy Colman,
LL&C Recruitment

Faculty and Staff

Graduate Programs
M.S. in Technical Communication

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Learn About the Program | Get Degree Requirements

The M.S. in Technical Communication combines work in theory, writing, information design, and content production. Our students acquire knowledge of information and product usability, product design, rapid learning of electronic tools, and they gain practice with the information production skills needed to advance in a career as a technical communicator. Our graduates are equipped to keep up with rapid changes in information technology and in information design.

Graduates of the M.S. in Technical Communication gain design skills that resist obsolescence and the capacity to generate content for several electronically-based communication media. Whether producing webpages, multimedia tutorials, electronic wizards, or online help systems, graduates of the M.S. program enter sustained careers in industry.

Learn About the Program

Download a guide about the M.S. in Technical Communication:

Master's Program Guide (.pdf, revised 09.14.2007)

To learn more about the M.S. in Technical Communication at Rensselaer, use our automated Inquiry Wizard. You can request further information be delivered to you as email attachments or by postal mail. You can also use the inquiry system to send an email directly to Kathy Colman, LL&C Recruitment Coordinator.

Degree Requirements

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Program Design | Writing | Theory | Visual Design

Capstone | Electives | Course Rotation

Program Design

The M.S. in Technical Communication requires satisfactory completion of thirty credits of course work. Twenty-one of the required credits must come from courses offered by LL&C. Students must also demonstrate competence with information technologies and gain practical experience as communication professionals.

Many students are able to complete the course requirements in a single academic year; others spend three or more semesters. The Office of Graduate Education allows up to two and a half years to complete this degree.

Writing Requirement:
Theory Requirement:
Visual Design Requirement:
Capstone Requirement:
Open Electives:

six credit hours
three credit hours
three credit hours
three credit hours
fifteen credit hours

To add depth to your communication knowledge and skills, we highly recommend that you include either the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Certificate or Graphics Certificate to the required M.S. coursework. Both certificates increase your skills and marketability. Instead of these certificates, you may choose to take electives in communication, marketing and management (from Rensselaer's Lally School of Management and Technology), or software engineering (from Rensselaer's Department of Computer Science).

Writing Requirement	[ return to top ]

Students must take six credit hours in Writing and will meet this requirement by taking two of the following courses:

Proposing and Persuading
Science Writing
Writing and Editing
Writing for Promotion and Marketing
Course designated as a graduate writing course

Theory Requirement	[ return to top ]

Students must take three credit hours in Theory and will meet this requirement by taking one of the following courses:

Communication Theory
Rhetoric, Culture, and Technology
Theory and Research in Technical Communication and HCI
Course designated as a graduate theory course

Other courses may be designated for this requirement on a semester-by-semester basis.

Visual Design Requirement	[ return to top ]

Students must take three credit hours in Visual Design and will meet this requirement by taking one of the following courses:

Students with an academic background in layout and design may seek a waiver to select an alternative graduate graphics course.

To discuss waivers, please contact Patricia Search.

Capstone	[ return to top ]

Students should build portfolio development into their curricula to serve as a part of the capstone for the M.S. in Technical Communication.

Students selecting to take the Graphics Certificate can use two courses (Hypermedia Design and Development or Interactive Narrative) for this purpose. They may, with the approval of their advisor and of the instructor, elect to do their capstone via an internship in design or an independent study focused on extending the portfolio of work they developed in other courses.

Students using a graphics course to fulfill the capstone requirement must indicate the course as such on both their Office of Graduate Education Plan of Study and their Graphics Certificate Plan of Study. Students must make arrangements with the professor at the beginning of the semester to do appropriate-level projects.

Graduate Graphics Certificate Plan of Study (.doc, revised 08.31.2006)

Those taking the HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) Certificate will use Studio Design in HCI as their capstone course.

Electives	[ return to top ]

Students must complete fifteen credit hours of electives (at least half of which must be at the 6000 or graduate level), chosen in consultation with their advisor.

The Department strongly urges students to take either the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Certificate or Graphics Certificate as part of their elective courses.

Course Rotation	[ return to top ]

This rotation indicates the availability of courses for upcoming semesters. Note that some courses are only offered alternate years.

You may wish to refer to this course rotation grid while developing your personal plan of study.

Fall

WRITING