Pictured | Nicole Sherwood | English / Minor in Anthropology | South Bend, Indiana (hometown)
Club Affiliations and Volunteer Activity | National Honors Society, National Society of Leadership and Success; Roof Sit volunteer

Certificate in Professional Writing

Smiljka Cubelic, M.A. | Committee Co-Chair | (574) 520-4481 | scubelic@iusb.edu

Erinn Kelley, M.A. | Committee Co-Chair | (574) 520-5502 | kelleye@iusb.edu 

About the Certificate Program

The goal of the certificate program is to produce highly skilled professional writers who are valued for their skills throughout their professional lives. The high academic standards of the program are established in recognition of the fact that good writing is difficult to produce. The program requires students to advance beyond mere competence and strives to enable them to perform well in professional settings, where the ability to plan and execute work independently is sometimes crucial.

Approval of Substitute Courses

Students may petition to have an unlisted second-level writing course from another department applied to their certificate.

Academic Standards

A candidate for the certificate must earn a grade of B or higher in any course for which he or she seeks credit within the certificate program.

Enrollment Eligibility

For Undergraduate Students | Candidates for the certificate should meet with an adviser to add the certificate to their academic plan. In addition, candidates must earn a grade of B or higher in any course for which they seek credit within the certificate program.

For Returning IU South Bend Graduates | Any returning IU South Bend graduate may count up to 6 credit hours of prior eligible coursework at IU South Bend (at a grade of B or higher) that was completed within the past two calendar years. Candidates must meet with a professional writing adviser to develop a plan for certificate studies before enrolling. Further credit hours may be granted through written appeal.

For Other Graduate Students | Students who have at least a bachelor's degree from another accredited university may enroll in the certificate program. Candidates must meet with a professional writing adviser to develop a plan for certificate studies before enrolling.

Certificate Requirements

Completion of the certificate program requires 12 credit hours of coursework. Students must select one core course and three electives from the lists below.

All courses are 3 credit hours, unless otherwise noted.

Core Course (3 cr.)

Select one from the following:

• ENG-W 231 Professional Writing Skills
• ENG-W 232 Introduction to Business Writing

Electives (9 cr.)

Select three from the following:

• ENG-W 250 Writing in Context (variable topics)
• ENG-W 260 Film Criticism
• ENG-W 270 Argumentative Writing
• ENG-W 301 Writing Fiction
• ENG-W 315 Writing for the Web
• ENG-W 350 Advanced Expository Writing
• ENG-W 367 Writing for Multiple Media
• JOUR-J 341 Newspaper Reporting
• JOUR-J 351 News Editing
• JOUR-J 410 Media as Social Institutions

Practicum/Internship Option

Students may, with permission of the chair of the Department of English, enroll in one supervised writing internship (ENG-W 398 Internship in Writing) or practicum after they have completed 9 of their 12 hours of course work in the program. Approval of an internship or practicum is based on the strength of the proposal and the value of the proposed work experience.