The Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC) program at Illinois Tech exists to support students in developing the communication skills that they need to succeed in their degree programs across campus. Graduate students in particular might take advantage of these key offerings:
- Take COM 545: . This graduate-level course is offered yearly, and is intended to teach graduate students about the ins and outs of academic writing, including how to read and write research papers and literature reviews, become familiar with the scholarship in your field, give conference presentations, and create professional documents like CVs and research statements. It is especially well-suited for 1st or 2nd year PhD students who are getting acclimated to their fields.
- Participate in the Summer Research Writing Workshop. This 4-week summer workshop helps graduate students complete a piece of research writing, whether you are working on a thesis chapter or research paper submission. It is geared towards graduate students who are a bit further along in their studies, and is perfect for a student who has completed most of the “research†part of a project and is ready to start writing the paper.
- Utilize the writing center. The university’s writing center is open to graduate students, and has tutors who can help you do things like organize a draft, revise based on your advisor’s comments, or even help you clean up grammar and punctuation.
- Get English language help at English Language Services (ELS). Our ELS program offers a variety of courses and programs to help international students and scholars strengthen their academic English abilities.