Determining your Program's Values

I found on the Professional Writing and Editing homepage for WVU the following attributes highlighted within WVU's PWE program:

• Understanding the varied roles of writing in a professional context
• Understanding and applying the conventions of different professional genres
• Understanding why and how writing is usable or accessible for different audiences
• Explaining and describing complex and specialized information for both technical and lay audiences
• Developing visual design skills, including the use of graphics and page design

I also found the following list of materials expected of graduate student application submissions:
As a general guideline, we suggest you submit three different types of writing. For instance, some applicants might want to include an 10-12 page literary analysis, a 1-2 page resume, and a brief book review; other applicants might submit a several brief press releases, some professional correspondence (formal letters and memos), and an 8-10 page researched business report. The goal is to use 15-20 pages to demonstrate your ability to write for different audiences and purposes while also showing us that you possess some basic research and argument skills.

For me the largest value spoken through these points is diversity. And I feel that the undergraduate course in the PWE program have certainly highlighted diversity as well. Two years ago I couldn't have begun to tell anyone the difference between Business writing, Professional Writing, Multimedia Writing, and Technical Writing nor could I have stressed how much of an impact editing has on the message delivered within those genres of writing. Now however I have been diversified by the courses to understand how to write within particular confines and to different audiences. Within the course we have also been taught how to diversify a message, such as when, in a proposal or letter to deliver bad news. In all the courses diversity and versatility as a writing have been of paramount importance and I, as the program seems to, esteem it quite highly in looking onward to graduate coursework as well.