The Graduate Professional Communications Program (GPCP) under the direction of Gail Palmer has established a cohesive program to improve the communication skills of graduate students in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). The GPCP is implementing emerging technology to provide students with multimedia communication material to enhance their technical skills. The newly expanded GPCP consists of three components: courses, coaching, and on-line material. Faculty support for the entire GPCP makes its integration into the technical discipline of electrical and computer engineering a reality. For additional information concerning the GPCP, please contact Gail Palmer at gail@ece.gatech.edu.

Coaching:

• Writing Coaching will concentrate on résumés, business letters, abstracts, conference and journal papers, reports, and theses. Abstracts on the Ph.D. Admission to Candidacy form must be approved by Gail Palmer, and she will provide follow-up assistance on Ph.D. proposal written problems.
• Presentation Coaching The GPCP offers graduate students an opportunity to develop their oral and graphic professional communication skills. Video-capture facilities and mechanisms for real-time coaching through time-stamped annotation and markup, make instantaneous feedback available to students. Gail Palmer will also provide follow-up assistance on Ph.D. proposal oral presentation problems.

Gail Palmer is available for individual coaching sessions at the following times (appointments are encouraged):

Courses:

• ECE 8020 Graduate Professional Communication Skills – 3 credit hours – offered Fall 2006. The scope of ECE 8020 includes discipline-specific technical writing that conforms to IEEE standards, oral presentation skills, and English as a second language (ESL) concerns. ECE 8020 also focuses on organizational skills, critical thinking, the effective use of graphics, and critiquing and proofreading skills. Media-enhanced learning tools are used to expand the learning experience of students in this course.
• CETL 8721 Academic Writing for Graduate Students – 1 credit hour. Through examination of ECE discipline-specific writing samples and practice, students learn techniques for enhancing proposal, thesis, and dissertation preparation as well as methods for evaluating writing as future instructors and thesis directors. Note: this class is intended only for fluent speakers and writers of English. A writing sample will be requested.
• CETL 8722 Academic Writing for International Graduate Students – 1 credit hour – offered Fall 2006. This course aids international graduate student in enhancing their academic writing skills in English through exposure to and practice of producing examples of academic writing.
• CETL 8793 Oral Skills for International Graduate Students – 2 credit hours. This oral skills course is designed to help graduate students become more accurate and fluent in both verbal and nonverbal skills. In addition to working on acquiring an American accent and body language when speaking English, students will work on basic presentation skills.
• CETL 8795 Advanced Oral Skills for International Graduate Students – 2 credit hours – prerequisite: CETL8793 or permission of instructor. This advanced oral skills course is designed to help graduate students improve their verbal ability in English for teaching, making presentations, and interacting in academic and professional situations.