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Graduate Program

"WRTC has been the best decision of my college career. I chose WRTC because of the ability to mold my education into what I needed. It really is a mix and match major. The diverse skills I have learned will give me a wonderful advantage in the future, and I look forward to using each and every one of them." -Keitha Harmon

Program Admission
In addition to satisfying all admission requirements of the JMU graduate school, applicants must submit to the graduate coordinator an application dossier that includes the following documents:

• A background and goals statement that explains how the Master of Arts or Master of Science program relates to the applicant's prior experience and how it fits into his or her long-range professional goals.
• Three letters of recommendation from people who can comment on the applicant's academic preparation and professional experience.
• 20-30 pages of writing samples from academia or the professions.

Nonnative speakers of English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language and receive a score of at least 550.

Students may apply online to The Graduate School at http://www.jmu.edu/grad/prospective and apply for assistantships through JMU Joblink at http://joblink.jmu.edu.

Degree Requirements
While studies in both programs provide students with a sound foundation in writing, editing and document production, the Master of Arts degree typically attracts students with undergraduate work centered in the humanities. Although these students often supplement their WRTC degree plan with courses in the sciences, they are primarily interested in gaining extensive knowledge and practice in writing and editing skills that are not tied to a single technical or scientific field but, rather, are applicable to multiple technical or scientific areas.

Conversely, the Master of Science degree plan of study typically proves attractive to students who want to complement their undergraduate degrees in the sciences with advanced training in communication within their fields. Such complementary training in technical and scientific communication enables Master of Science graduates not only to perform more effectively as technicians or scientists but also to move laterally into writing, editing or production positions or vertically into management positions.

Course Descriptions
Course descriptions come from the 2009-2010 JMU graduate catalog.

Course Schedule
Course offerings are updated every term to reflect the upcoming semester's courses.

Internship Information
The WRTC internship is a required professional preparation for M.A. and M.S. students. It expects students to exercise the preparation that they received from their WRTC course work to design, write, edit and produce professional documents for internship providers in academia, business, industry and government. Information about internships may be obtained through the office of the department of WRTC.

Graduate and Teaching Assistantships
Admission may begin in the fall semester. To receive full consideration for admission into the programs as well as for financial aid, students should submit their application packages to The Graduate School by May 31 for fall semester. Applicants may use the letters of recommendation and writing samples to support an application for financial aid.

For more information, contact the Graduate Coordinator, Pavel Zemliansky (zemliapx@jmu.edu).