Advanced Communication (AdvComm) courses fulfill students’ upper-level communication requirement as part of ISU’s communication proficiency expectations for its graduates. The four AdvComm courses prepare students for communicating in a variety of professional contexts. Students learn valuable skills for responding to various business, science, and engineering communication scenarios and for communicating effectively with non-expert audiences.
Advanced Communication
Curriculum and objectives
Advanced communication courses are upper-level courses that emphasize written, oral, visual, and electronic communication. They include English 3020, 3090, 3120, and 3140.
English 3020: Business Communication
English 3020 covers various strategies for communicating effectively in business contexts. Students will learn to respond to hypothetical communication problems, deliver effective messages, and develop common professional workplace documents.
English 3090: Proposal and Report Writing
English 3090 teaches strategies for writing compelling and competitive proposals as well as clear and informative reports. Special emphasis is placed on audience adaptation, persuasive strategies, and best practices for developing effective proposal arguments in both business and grant contexts.
English 3120: Communicating Science and Public Engagement
English 3120 covers strategies for communicating scientific information, developing and designing documentation, presenting scientific data visually, and communicating science through a variety of media. English 3120 is also one of the core courses for the Science Communication Certificate.
English 3140: Technical Communication
English 3140 emphasizes the types of communication that occur in technical and professional workplaces. Students will learn to compose within several technical communication genres, emphasizing information management, organization, writing style, and document design/visuals.
English 3020 and 3140 test-outs
University policy states that students may attempt a test-out for a course only once. Departmental eligibility requirements state that students must be at least juniors and must have completed (not just be finishing) English 1500 and 2500. They may not be enrolled in the course at the time.
Test-out exams for English 3020 and 3140 are offered early in the semester, during spring and fall terms. The ISU Testing Center administers the test-outs.
The test itself lasts up to two and a half hours, and students will take the exam in an ISU Testing Center computer lab. Administrators and instructors from the Advanced Communication program evaluate the tests. All parts of the test must receive a satisfactory rating for students to earn T (test-out) credit. Within six weeks after the exam, students and their advisors will receive an email message notifying them of the results.
Transfer credit policy
If you have previously taken a 3000-level communications course similar to English 3020, 3090, or 3140 at another institution, you will need to get approval to use that course in place of a required 3020, 3090, or 3140 course at Iowa State University. Please note the following:
- a 1000-level or 2000-level course that you have taken will not suffice under any circumstances.
- a transfer request will be reviewed only after you have started attending Iowa State University and after you have completed the class with a grade of “C” or better.
Standards in many advanced communication courses do not meet those expected for Iowa State University’s English 3020, 3090, and 3140. Thus, requests for approval of transfer credit are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Please review the descriptions of 3020, 3090, and 3140 in Iowa State University’s Course Catalog and select the one course (3020, 3090, or 3140) for which you are requesting transfer credit.
For a review, you must provide Administrative Support (isucommsupport@istate.edu) with the following:
- a Request for Department Review of Transfer Course or Military Credit form filled out with your advisor’s assistance and signature. This form can be found on the Office of the Registrar website.
- a catalog course description of the course you took
- a syllabus and course schedule from that class
- all major assignments composed in class
The information you provide will be used to determine whether your course can be used in place of a required English 3020, 3090, or 3140 course at Iowa State University.