College of Liberal Arts

180 Wesbrook Hall
77 Pleasant St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-624-3445
Fax: 612-624-3617
E-mail: writ@umn.edu

M.S. in Scientific and Technical Communication (M.S. in S&TC)

The Technical Communications Field

More than ever, technical communication is a field on the rise, and the demand for trained communicators in this profession is strong and likely to increase. Personal computers and the need for clear instruction manuals began this trend in the 1980s, but the explosive growth of consumer electronics, the Internet, scientific policy and regulatory requirements, and medical and pharmaceutical specialties, to name but a few areas, has resulted in an increased demand for trained technical communicators.

Technical communicators must be able to work with highly complex material and in an environment where most information is digitized, produced using complex information management software, regulated by the FDA and other legal and policy guidelines, and produced by a team that spans the globe. No longer a job for the generalist who likes to write, technical communication is a profession where organizations require a specific type and level of training and expertise, both with technical content and with technical tools.

Demand for Technical Communicators

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook 2007-2008 edition, while employment of writers and editors generally is predicted to rise in line with the overall national employment average, opportunities should be best for technical writers and those with training in a specialized field. Demand for technical writers and writers with expertise in areas such as law, medicine, or economics is expected to increase because of the continuing expansion of scientific and technical information and the need to communicate it to others. Legal, scientific, and technological developments and discoveries generate demand for people to interpret technical information for a more general audience. Rapid growth and change in the high-technology and electronics industries result in a greater need for people to write users' guides, instruction manuals, and training materials. This work requires people who not only are technically skilled as writers, but also are familiar with the subject area.

Our Nationally Recognized Degree

For 20 years, the University of Minnesota has offered an MS in scientific and technical communication, making it one of the oldest and most recognized degrees of its kind in the country. Some of our success is tied to the fact that our department has a nationally recognized research base in the field. For many years, we housed and edited the journal Technical Communication Quarterly. Several faculty members are authors of major textbooks in the field, and all faculty are published in books and articles. We are highly visible at local and national meetings. Although with the introduction of our M.A. and Ph.D. in the early 1990s our M.S. is now strictly a professional degree, it has benefited from this national research profile and, until recently, from being the only one in the state. It has also benefited from its location at the science and technology hub of the state.