TC offers a state-of-the-art Engineering Communication Program that supports the entire College of Engineering. In addition to classes from the freshman to the graduate level, the program also offers a Writing Center that uses trained peer tutors from all the participating departments to offer guidance and feedback to students in one-on-one sessions. As part of its activities, the Writing Center also helps participating units carry out departmental writing assessments and provides workshops and other services for faculty focused on improving writing instruction across the curriculum.

The TC Engineering Communication Program also coordinates and directs the two undergraduate communication classes TC 231, Introduction to Technical Writing, and TC 333, Advanced Oral and Written Communication.

TC Engineering Communication Program wins CCCC Writing Certificate of Excellence

In the Fall of 2004 the TC Engineering Communication Program was one of eleven winners of the Conference on College Composition and Communication's (CCCC's) Writing Program Certificate of Excellence. Established in 2004, this CCCC award is presented to 20 writing programs each year. The recipients of these awards were honored for their achievement at the CCCC Conference in March, 2005.

The TC Engineering Communication Program was cited for its excellent work, successfully demonstrating that their program meets the following criteria: it imaginatively addresses the needs and opportunities of its students, instructors, and locale; offers exemplary ongoing professional development for faculty of all ranks, including adjunct/contingent faculty; treats contingent faculty respectfully, humanely, and professionally; uses current best practices in the field; uses effective, ongoing assessment and placement procedures; models diversity and/or serves diverse communities; has appropriate class size; and has an administrator (chair, director, coordinator, etc.) with academic credentials in writing. In particular, the University of Washington program was noted for its exemplary ongoing professional development for faculty; its strategic alliances with campus units and initiatives; and its modeling of diversity and service to diverse communities.

In addition to the Engineering Communication Program at the University of Washington, ten other writing programs were honored:

• Center for Academic Writing at Central European University, Budapest, Hungary;
• Advanced Writing Program at Clemson University, South Carolina;
• Department of Humanities Writing Program at Michigan Technological University, Houghton;
• Writing Lab at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana;
• Department of Composition and Rhetoric at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey;
• Writing Portfolio Program at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, Connecticut;
• Community Writing Center at Salt Lake Community College, Utah;
• Technical and Professional Writing Program at San Francisco State University, California;
• Scientific and Technical Communication Program at Michigan Technological University, Houghton; and
• Campus Writing Program at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), with 8,000 individual members worldwide, supports and promotes the teaching and study of college composition and communication. For more information, please visit http://www.ncte.org/groups/cccc.