Ohio University students looking for a boost to their resumés over rival Ohio schools may find their advantage in Ellis Hall.
Jennie Nelson, an associate professor of English at OU, created the first writing certificate in Ohio last fall and offers it to students studying anything but English.
“Research has shown writing and learning to be inextricably linked,” Nelson said.
This isn’t Nelson's first time creating writing opportunities for students; when teaching at the University of Idaho, Nelson created its first writing minor for students.
“My background in writing and research focuses on looking at writing on the students' side of the desk,” she said.
OU's writing certificate requires students to take two core English courses and a junior composition course. The certificate also calls for an additional 16 credit hours made up of writing-intensive courses that can be chosen from a list of academic areas, such as film, art history and chemistry.
Upon completion of the writing certificate, students must have achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the courses counted towards the certificate, she said.
Students can count classes they have already taken toward the certificate, Associate University Registrar Patrick Beatty said.
As of now, 11 students have registered for the certificate, but Nelson said she expects the number to increase.
“I expect it to gain momentum by making sure to offer at least one of the three required courses every quarter or semester,” she said.
Nelson said she believes the switch to semesters will benefit the certificate program by allowing more time for writing assignments.
The certificate, in the long run, will help students when applying for jobs, Nelson said.
“It makes a student stand out as more attractive than just a student in accounting, meaning they bring an extra skill with them that will improve future employers' reaction to your application,” Nelson said.
University College Dean David Descutner said he is a strong advocate of the writing certificate and promotes it to new students at orientation.
“I firmly believe that learning how to write and write well, along with learning how to speak and speak well, are two of the most essential skills a student can acquire,” Descutner said.
Students looking for more information on the certificate can visit the English department website and search “writing certificate” or go to OU's online catalog and type in “certificates.”
Although students will not receive a physical certificate with their diploma, the certificate will appear on their transcript.
“Your diploma doesn’t say what you have done — your transcript does,” Beatty said.
Descutner said he believes students should dedicate themselves to improving their writing, seeking feedback on papers, revising and reworking papers for practice and not being afraid to stop by the student writing center.
“If you can’t write well, you are going to get frozen; you're going to reach a plateau in your career,” Descutner said. “If you can write well there are no limits to what you can do.”
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