About the Program
The Graduate Certificate in Grants & Proposals (G&P) is a 15-hour program with five courses that help students build their credentials in technical communication. The program focuses on developing writing and rhetorical skills for success in nonprofit, academy, and industry environments.
More About the Program
Students in the program will also learn to use tried-and-true and emergent strategies, utilizing tools for composing, editing, and performing empirical research. The certificate also includes electives to enhance interest in specific areas. The diversity of the electives ranges from document design to discourses on topics. Students can also explore the field in-depth by taking Foundations of Technical Communication to determine the feasibility of pursuing the profession and applying to Texas Tech’s world-class MATC or TCR programs.
Program Rationale
The past two decades have witnessed societies becoming global yet polarized with challenges and competing interests causing increasing disparities. Societies need to improve on promoting access to different spaces where people can thrive. Grants help facilitate equitable participation in education, employment, and social justice, to name a few.
Addressing Challenges
Obstacles professionals face include but are not limited to, a lack of funding or finding the ideal matches with funders. The certificate curriculum was designed to empower students to navigate the field, locate and assess grants and proposals, achieve results, and evaluate from there. Artificial intelligence raises hard questions and debates across spaces, but it can efficiently streamline processes. The program is committed to guiding the best practices embracing social responsibility and cultural competence. Regardless of technological advances, the tantamount importance of maintaining the human touch in grant writing has become more grounded in theory and practice with rhetorical skills.
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
This program is unique because of the interdisciplinary perspectives of faculty and students. Some students are enrolled in programs other than MATC, TCR, or other institutions, and they can contribute diverse values in teaching and learning. Participation in the program, or at least taking ENGL 5391 and 5393, which focus on grants and proposals, has contributed to awards from many funders.
Strengths of Our Program
Texas Tech’s Technical Communication and Rhetoric program offers:
- A well-established degree program and faculty in technical communication
- A classification as the representative M.A. program nationwide in Education in Scientific and Technical Communication: Academic Programs That Work, ed. Michael L. Keene (Society for Technical Communication, 1997). Chapter 3.
- National leadership in computers and writing pedagogy
- A record of student achievement and job placement
- A program “culture” that emphasizes personal attention
- An award-winning chapter of the Society for Technical Communication
Program Requirements
Students completing the program with a certificate will gain real-world writing and editing experience through 15 hours (minimum) of online/onsite courses: 2 courses in grant writing, 1 course in editing, 1 research methods course, and an elective course.
Below are lists of required and elective courses the certificate program offers:
REQUIRED COURSES, TITLES AND DESCRIPTIONS
5391. Grants and Proposals for Nonprofits
Students in grants and proposals for nonprofits will learn about the genre and process of writing grants and proposals. Topics will include understanding the process in the nonprofit community, locating funding opportunities, determining persuasive appeals, and writing and editing proposals. Students will also be introduced to scholarship and research funding databases. Coursework will involve reading, writing, and editing proposals, and writing grants and proposals in conjunction with community members will be required.
5393. Grants and Proposals for the Academy and Industry
Students in grants and proposals for the academy/industry will learn strategies and techniques for researching, writing, and editing grant proposals and business plans for the academy and industry. Every business finds itself writing business plans and proposals; academics also write grant proposals with dire consequences. From finding a funding opportunity, researching projects, writing persuasively about a project plan, and measuring success, this course covers all the skills students need to prepare academic grant and business plans and proposals.
5379. Empirical Research Methods in Technical Communication and Rhetoric
This course teaches students to design and statistically analyze surveys and experiments. The final project is a mini-research project, in which students can work on a project related to measurement in a current grant. Other research methods courses like 5363 or 5389 may be substituted for 5379 to expedite the student’s progress upon permission and approval by the Director of Graduate Studies.
5374. Technical Editing
Substantive editing and design of technical documents. The last project is the student’s choice. Students will be encouraged to edit grants for these.
Choose one elective from advanced practice courses that can be taken anytime during the program:
ELECTIVE COURSES, TITLES AND DESCRIPTIONS
5371. Foundations of Technical Communication
Theory and practice of technical communication.
5372. Technical Reports
Theory and practice of reports and proposals.
5375. Document Design
Theory and practice of creating comprehensible, usable, and persuasive texts
5376. Online Publishing
Design and testing of online documents to support instruction and information retrieval
5377. Theoretical Approaches to Technical Communication
Intensive analysis and application of one or more theories of technical communication.
5382. Theory and Research in the Written Discourses of Health and Medicine
Current theory and research in the written discourses of health and medicine, focusing on the roles of technical and professional communicators.
5384. Rhetoric of Scientific Literature
Study of the role of rhetoric in the texts of scientific inquiry.
5386. Written Discourse and Social Issues
Study of uses of written discourse in problem-solving on social issues involving science or technology.
5387. Publications Management
Strategies of managing processes and knowledge that support publication.
5390. Writing for Publication
This course teaches graduate students how to write clear and effective articles for professional journals in their field.
Building from the Certificate to the MA in Technical Communication or the PhD in Technical Communication and Rhetoric
All of the courses in the certificate also apply to the MA in Technical Communication (MATC) or the Ph.D. in Technical Communication and Rhetoric (TCR), so students wishing to develop their credentials even further can apply to continue their studies and enter either of these programs. Texas Tech is proud to offer these two programs both on-site and online. The online degrees are identical to the ones we offer on-site.
For more information about the Certificate in Grants & Proposals, you may contact the Certificate Coordinator, Dr. Beau Pihlaja.
How to Apply
- Complete the Texas Tech graduate school application process
- A nonrefundable application fee is required.
- Completed Graduate Application for Admission form
- Current resume/vitae
- Three letters of reference
- Distance Learning Agreement (if you’re applying to an online program)
- A 500-700 word essay indicating the following:
- Your interest in grants and proposal writing
- Any previous experience with grant and proposal writing
- How the certificate fits in with your career goals and objectives, specifically how it will advance your career
- If applicable — if you are currently enrolled in a graduate degree program, how does completing the course in the graduate certificate complement your degree plan
Deadlines for Application
- Submit all required application materials by October 15 to begin your program in the spring semester of the next year.
- Submit all required application materials by March 15 to begin your program in the summer or fall of that year.
Applications for admission to the certificate program are reviewed twice a year.
General Note About Application Review
All applicant packages are evaluated holistically, which is to say that every piece of the application package contributes to the applicant’s overall desirability. Specifically, we are looking for no specific test scores, GPAs, or resume experiences, but are instead looking for applications that contain synergistic arguments for the applicant’s good fit with the program and its objectives.
Distance Learning Agreement (all online applicants)
All online program applicants need to sign and return our Distance Learning Agreement, which indicates that you understand our requirements for technology, time, and honor.
Financial Aid
Students in certificate programs are not directly eligible for financial aid, and typically, students who are not taking at least two courses per semester are not eligible for aid. However, part-time students in the program may be eligible for scholarship funding through the Helen Devitt Jones Foundation. Contact the TTU Graduate School for further information about financial assistance opportunities.