Curriculum Ideas

Sloan Faculty Use Communication Map as part of New Curriculum Planning

The Cain Project is proud to be part of the new Professional Master’s Degree Program in the Wiess School of Natural Sciences. Degrees are offered in three areas: Nanoscale Physics, Energy Exploration, and Environmental Analysis and Decision Making. The Sloan Foundation sponsors these programs as part of a national initiative.

Graduates are expected to move easily into management careers in consulting or research and development, design, and marketing of new science-based products. The Cain Project will help ensure that graduates are prepared for the communication challenges they will face as interdisciplinary leaders.

As faculty planned the curriculum for each of these tracks in the spring semester 2002, Visiting Professor Rebecca Burnett from Iowa State University created an innovative “map” of possible communication roles and tasks that the Master’s students might perform in industry.

The faculty determined in which courses students would learn about necessary aspects of communication. The map will also function as an assessment tool, helping faculty keep track of curriculum changes and portions of the communication instruction that need to be expanded or refined. Professor Burnett returns periodically to consult with faculty.

As the program progresses, Cain Project instructors will assist with presentation coaching, workshops, and materials development. Julie Zeleznik, an instructor in the Cain Project, and Linda Driskill, Director, are especially interested in the challenges of interdisciplinary communication. Their goal is to ensure that students learn about the special opportunities and problems involved in communicating across fields and in industry.

Dr. June Ferrill, who teaches ENGI 305, New Ventures Communication, and is active in various entrepreneurship activities in the city, will be involved in coaching students for Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship’s programs.

New technologies require managers to produce communications once handled by separate professionals. Participants will write project reports and design marketing presentations and research posters suited to their industries or careers. The variety of communication instruction participants will receive should enable the Sloan Master’s graduates to lead through excellence in communication.