Professional Skills Certificate
Introduction
This certificate is designed for undergraduate students seeking to acquire and enhance diverse workplace skills that are highly valued by today’s employers. Students will learn to communicate effectively, write persuasively, and develop proficiency in digital and media literacy or data literacy. Providing a strong foundation in communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking, and analytical writing, this certificate will help students cultivate success in the workplace.
On completion of this certificate, students will be able to:
- Communicate their ideas in a clear and organized manner.
- Use their compositional and analytical skills in a chosen professional writing field.
- Demonstrate proficiency in digital and media literacy or data literacy.
- Devise problem-solving strategies with the skills developed through the certificate.
These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Program Delivery
- This is an on-campus program.
Declaring This Certificate
- All prospective students must contact Marjorie Levine-Clark, Associate Dean for Diversity, Outreach, and Initiatives, and the CLAS Advising Office to declare their interest and intent to complete the program.
Program Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum of 12 credit hours, from approved coursework
- Students must complete a minimum of 6 upper division (3000-level and above) credit hours, from approved coursework.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of B- (2.7) in all courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.7. All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the GPA. Students cannot complete certificate or ancillary course requirements as pass/fail.
- Students must complete all credit hours applying to the certificate with CU Denver faculty.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Students must choose elective courses from at least two different disciplines.
Communication
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take one Communication course | 3 | |
| COMM 2045 | Workplace Communication | 3 |
| COMM 2050 | Business and Professional Speaking | 3 |
| COMM 4240 | Organizational Communication | 3 |
| COMM 4255 | Negotiations and Bargaining | 3 |
| COMM 4270 | Intercultural Communication | 3 |
Writing
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take one Writing course | 3 | |
| COMM 2071 | Media Writing Skills | 3 |
| ENGL 3154 | Technical Writing | 3 |
| ENGL 3416 | Magazine Writing | 3 |
| ENGL 3170 | Business Writing | 3 |
| ENGL 4280 | Proposal and Grant Writing | 3 |
Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take two courses from one of the following groups: 1 | 6 | |
Group 1: Digital and Media Literacy | ||
| COMM 2081 | New Media Production and Management | 3 |
| COMM 3660 | Social Media for Social Change | 3 |
| ETST 3272 | Global Media | 3 |
| HIST 3260 | Introduction to Digital Studies | 3 |
| INTE 2500 | #Learning: Digital Spaces and Far Out Places | 3 |
| MKTG 3100 | Marketing Research | 3 |
Group 2: Data Literacy | ||
| ECON 3811 | Statistics with Computer Applications | 4 |
| ECON 4030 | Data Analysis with SAS (prereq ECON 3811 or Math 2830) | 3 |
| IWKS 3200 | Data Science for Innovators | 3 |
| ISMG 2050 | Introduction to Business Problem Solving | 3 |
| MATH 2830 | Introductory Statistics | 3 |
| MATH 4830 | Applied Statistics (pre-req MATH 2830)) | 3 |
| 1 | Elective courses must be from different disciplines and may carry prerequisites that must be completed before enrolling. |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.