Who We Are

The Business and Technical Writing Program is a division of the Writing Program and the Department of English at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. We offer a series of courses which can be taken for research writing credit, elective credit, and credit toward Writing Certificates. Our research writing courses include Scientific and Technical Writing (302), Writing for Business and Professions (303), Writing for Biology (312), Writing Grant Proposals (315), Writing for Engineers (322), Science Writing (342), and Writing as a Naturalist (352). Computer intensive courses include Web Authoring (425) and Information Design (415).

Contact Us

The offices of the Business and Technical Writing Program are located in the Loree Building, Rooms 004 through 012. Reach us at (732) 932-9273 or bizntech@rci.rutgers.edu.

Courses

01:355:202. TECHNICAL WRITING ESSENTIALS (3)
Training in the skills, purposes and styles of technical writing. Practice with abstracts, definitions, description, and other common forms. More>

01:355:203. BUSINESS WRITING ESSENTIALS (3)
Training in the skills, purposes and styles of business writing. Practice with letters, memos, short reports, electronic messages, and oral presentations. More>

01:355:302. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL WRITING (3)
Practice in research and writing in scientific and technical settings. Focus on an independent project related to the student's field of specialization. More>

01:355:303. WRITING FOR BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS (3)
Practice in management-level research and writing in business and professional settings. Focus on an independent project related to the student's field of specialization. More>

01:355:312. WRITING FOR BIOLOGY / NATURAL SCIENCE (3)
Project-focused course designed to address the needs of students in the biological and natural sciences. Covers grant proposals, research papers, and journal publications. More>

01:355:315. WRITING GRANT PROPOSALS (3)
Theory and practice of grant writing to support research, education, or community. Focus on identifying appropriate sources of grant funding, organizing research, and tailoring projects to specific audiences. More>

01:355:322. WRITING FOR ENGINEERS (3)
Project-focused course designed to address the needs of students in engineering. Covers project proposals, patent applications, technical reports, and other engineering documents. More>

01:355:342. SCIENCE WRITING (3)
Practice in writing about science for general readers and presenting scientific issues or information in the genres common to journals, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. More>

01:355:352. WRITING AS A NATURALIST (3)
Advanced writing course focusing on observing and writing about animals and the natural world. More>

01:355:355. WRITING IN THE PROFESSIONS (3)
Specialized writing training for professional, business, scientific, or technical fields.

01:355:365. TECHNICAL EDITING (3)
Practice editing technical documents for grammar, syntax, organization, style, emphasis, and audience awareness. More>

01:355:375. COLLABORATIVE WRITING PRACTICES (3)
Theory and practice of managing collaborative writing in organizations. Students collaborate on group projects involving planning, writing, presentation, and editing tasks. More>

01:355:396. INTERNSHIP (3)
Application of skills learned in literary studies in professional settings; an appropriately designed academic project resulting in a paper. More>

01:351:399. CASE (1)
Must be taken in conjunction with designated CASE course in writing. One credit community service placement in professional or business writing. More>

01:351:400. CASE (1)
Must be taken in conjunction with designated CASE course in writing. One credit community service placement in professional or technical writing. More>

01:355:402. ADVANCED WRITING WORKSHOP (3)
Advanced work in expository, scientific, technical, or business writing.

01:355:415. INFORMATION DESIGN (3)
Project-focused workshop course using specialized writing software to design and produce a portfolio of user-friendly documents for a specific audience and purpose. More>

01:355:425. WEB AUTHORING (3)
Project-focused workshop course using specialized software to design, research, generate content for, and publish a web site. More>

Certificate Programs In Professional and Technical Writing

The Professional Writing Certificate Program (16-18 credits) will be open to all interested undergraduate students, while the Technical Writing Certificate Program (18-19 credits) will be open to undergraduates with majors or minors in an approved scientific or technical subject area. The primary goal of both programs is to enhance the writing proficiency of business and science students in order to increase their eligibility for employment in professions that require advanced writing competency.

Professional Writing Certificate (16-19 Credits)

The need for college graduates who can research and communicate information at a high level of competence in business, industry, and government is well established. The Professional Writing Certificate is designed to give students a firm grounding in the skills of oral, written, and electronic communication so that they are prepared to enter professions that require extensive writing skills. To obtain a Professional Writing Certificate, students must successfully complete 16 credits in selected courses, including a 1-credit CASE unit or 3-credit Internship. The certificate is administered through the English Department. For further information contact the Director of Business and Technical Writing at (732) 932-9273 or goeller@rci.rutgers.edu.

Technical Writing Certificate (18-19 credits)

The need for technical writers capable of communicating scientific or technically sophisticated information to various audiences is well established, and technical writing skills are in demand in a wide range of fields. This certificate program is designed to give students with a science or technical background a strong grounding in the skills of oral, written, and electronic communication. In order to receive a Technical Writing Certificate, students must successfully complete a major or minor in an approved scientific or technical field (such as biology, engineering, or computer science) and 18 credits in selected courses, including a 3-credit internship. The certificate is administered through the English Department. For further information contact the Director of Business and Technical Writing at (732) 932-9273 or goeller@rci.rutgers.edu.

Required courses (16-19 credits):

Two electives from among the following writing courses (6 credits):

01:355:202 Technical Writing Essentials (3)
01:355:203 Business Writing Essentials (3)
01:355:315 Writing Grant Proposals (3) - may not be counted twice
01:355:342 Science Writing (3)
01:355:352 Writing as a Naturalist (3)
01:355:355 Writing in the Professions (3)
01:355:365 Technical Editing (3)
01:355:375 Collaborative Writing Practices (3)

One of the following research writing courses (3 credits):

01:355:302 Scientific and Technical Writing (3)
01:355:303 Writing for Business and Professions (3)
01:355:312 Writing for Biology and Natural Sciences (3)
01:355:315 Writing Grant Proposals (3) - may not be counted twice
01:355:322 Writing for Engineers (3)

One of the following workshop courses using computers in writing (3 credits):

01:355:402 Advanced Writing Workshop (3)
01:355:415 Information Design (3)
01:355:425 Web Authoring (3)

One course in Computer Science (3-4 credits)

01:198:110 Introduction to Computers and Their Application (3)
01:198:111 Introduction to Computer Science (4)
01:198:170 Computer Applications for Business (3)

One writing internship experience (1 or 3-credit for those seeking a Professional Writing Certificate; 3-credit internship for those seeking a Technical Writing Certificate):

01:355:396 Writing Internship (3)
01:351:399 / 400 CASE (1)

For more information, check our our FAQ page.