Shaping the next generation of innovative thinkers and communicators
Designed with your career in mind, the professional and technical communications program prepares you to become an accomplished digital-age communicator. This program fuses written and verbal English language skills with the critial and analytical thinking abilities that today's employers look for.
What is professional and technical communications?
The field of professional and technical communications involves developing transferable skill sets in oral and written communication that prepare you to excel in any professional environment. The ability to communicate complex information clearly and accurately to diverse audiences is integral in many industries, from business to technology to law. Designed with your career in mind, the professional and technical communications program at UNH Manchester prepares you to become an accomplished digital-age communicator.
Why study professional and technical communications at UNH Manchester?
The only program of its kind in the state, professional and technical communications students at UNH Manchester are uniquely prepared with real-world experiences tailored to their own career ambitions—and focused on the applied skills that today’s employers particularly value. You'll not only develop critical thinking and strong written and verbal communication skills, but you'll also learn to communicate and collaborate in specializations of your choice, including new media journalism, creative nonfiction, business writing, legal writing and research, and technical writing.
Potential careers
- Advertising executive
- Author
- Copyeditor
- Copywriter
- Corporate communications manager
- Creative director
- Digital entrepreneur
- Grants manager
- Journalist
- Managing editor
- Marketing or public relations director
- Public information officer
- Technical writer
Curriculum & Requirements
Students in the English Studies: Professional and Technical Communications program study to become accomplished digital-age communicators. You'll develop transferable skill sets in oral and written communication that prepare you to excel in any professional environment. In addition, you'll learn to communicate and collaborate in specializations of your choice — including, among others, new media journalism, creative nonfiction, business writing, and technical writing.
For more information, contact Susanne Paterson, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator or the UNH Manchester Office of Admissions at (603) 641-4150.
This degree plan is a sample and does not reflect the impact of transfer credit or current course offerings. UNH Manchester undergraduate students will develop individual academic plans with their professional advisor during the first year at UNH.
Sample Course Sequence
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| UMST 401 or UMST 402 | First Year Seminar or Transfer Seminar | 1-2 |
| ENGL 401 | First-Year Writing | 4 |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 17-18 | |
| Spring | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning | 4 | |
| ENGL 419 | How to Read Anything | 4 |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| Foreign Language | 4 | |
| PTC 500 | Business Communication | 4 |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| Foreign Language | 4 | |
| ENGL 502 | Professional and Technical Writing | 4 |
| ENGL 595 | Literary Topics (Digital Creative Writing) | 4 |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| Any 500, 600, or 700-level writing, communications, or journalism electives | 4 | |
| ENGL 694 | Special Topics in Creative Writing | 4 |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| ENGL 602 | Advanced Professional and Technical Writing | 4 |
| Any 500, 600, or 700-level writing, communications, or journalism electives | 4 | |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| UMST 500 | Internship | 4 |
| Discovery Course | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| Any 500, 600, or 700-level writing, communications, or journalism electives | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Elective | 4 | |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Total Credits | 129-130 | |
Degree Requirements
All Major, Option and Elective Requirements as indicated.
*Major GPA requirements as indicated.
Major Requirements
For the English Studies: Professional and Technical Communications program at UNH Manchester, students must complete a minimum of 128 credits and satisfy the University's Discovery Program and foreign language requirements, and complete a minimum of 40 credits in major coursework with a grade of C- or higher. The major requirements consist of a minimum of 10 courses. These 10 courses (40 credits) must include the internship requirement.
Students must earn C or higher in ENGL 419 How to Read Anything, ENGL 502 Professional and Technical Writing, and ENGL 595 Literary Topics in order for these classes to count towards the major.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| ENGL 419 | How to Read Anything | 4 |
| ENGL 502 | Professional and Technical Writing | 4 |
| ENGL 595 | Literary Topics (Digital Creative Writing) | 4 |
| Development/Extension | ||
| ENGL 602 | Advanced Professional and Technical Writing | 4 |
| ENGL 694 | Special Topics in Creative Writing 1 | 4 |
| PTC 500 | Business Communication | 4 |
| Specialization/Practice | ||
| UMST 500 | Internship 2 | 4 |
| Select three courses of the following disciplines: | 12 | |
Any 500, 600, or 700 level writing, communications, or journalism electives 3,4 | ||
| Total Credits | 40 | |
- 1
Can be duplicated for credit, provided the topics are different.
- 2
Capstone course. Students must have earned 90 credits before completing the internship for capstone credit. If students wish to do an internship before senior class standing, they must consult with the program coordinator to designate an upper-level course as a capstone course.
- 3
ENGL 791 English Grammar is recommended.
- 4
These courses may be selected from the Communication Arts program and/or other programs, with program coordinator approval.
English Studies Program Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Produce clear, compelling, contextually appropriate and well-supported writing.
- Engage with writing as a rhetorical, collaborative, and recursive process from invention to product.
- Demonstrate versatility in writing and speaking within a variety of academic and professional contexts and platforms (including professional and vocational contexts in the form of internships and/ or capstone projects).
- Expertly read and analyze texts--literary and non-literary--from diverse time periods, genres, and authorial perspectives.
- Recognize language as culturally, historically, and socially constructed.
- Adeptly use information literacy and technology skills.
Explore Program Details
Central to the curricular experience of this program is the requirement to complete either an internship, which places you in a variety of business and organizational settings under the direction of a faculty adviser and workplace supervisor, or a capstone course. Our campus is in the heart of the region’s economic activity — putting unlimited internship opportunities at your feet. We’ve partnered with local businesses to give you the real-world experience that sets you apart. Professional and technical communications majors have interned at many high-profile organizations in the area, including:
- "Best American Experimental Writing"
- Franco-American Centre
- Green Alliance
- Manchester Historic Association
- The Manchester Independent student-run city newspaper
- Mariposa Museum of World Cultures
- New Hampshire Business Review
- New Hampshire Historical Society
- New Hampshire Magazine
Professional and technical communications majors develop the five skills that, according to large-scale polls of employers, are most in-demand in the job market: critical thinking, creative thinking, written communication, oral communication, and the ability to collaborate as part of a team.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects positive growth in many professions associated with the literary arts and literary studies between 2016 and 2026. As a professional and technical communications major, you’ll graduate with a type of expertise and experience that is not just rare, but uncommonly transferable. The skill-sets organizations most covet — the ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and imagine audaciously — are all central to the program, preparing you for a rewarding career or graduate study in publishing, journalism, digital media, advertising, politics, law, education, and more.
Our English minor helps you deepen your appreciation of literary analysis, exploring and writing about print, digital and multimedia texts focusing on a variety of periods and themes.
Acquire skills in professional, technical, and cross-disciplinary writing and communication in our professional writing minor, as well as hands-on learning through an internship at a local business or organization. These skills are highly sought-after by employers, regardless of your major.
Acquire the academic skills necessary to teach English to Speakers of Other Languages outside the K-12 school setting. Our TESOL minor helps to lay a foundation for graduate study in Education and ESOL teaching certification, and to work with international communities, whether at home or abroad.
Program News
