Professional Writing Program Brings Real-World Clients into the Classroom

Business writing students create 19 articles through social media screening firm partnership.

By Chelsea McLin M.A. '19

A grade isn’t the final stop for student writing in Adam Lloyd’s “Business Writing” course. Students produce work for real companies and leave with content they can show future employers.

When students in the University of Maryland’s Professional Writing Program enroll in ENGL 394: “Business Writing,” Lecturer Adam Lloyd partners each section of the class with a different company, giving students the opportunity to produce real-world deliverables. 

In Fall 2025, Lloyd’s class collaborated with Ferretly, a social media screening firm that uses AI and a rigorous process to review candidates across industries. Students wrote blog posts exploring AI ethics, responsible screening and industry-specific concerns to drive traffic and guide audiences toward deeper engagement with Ferretly. By the end of the semester, 19 pieces were published on the company’s website under the students’ own bylines.

“When students know their work will circulate beyond the classroom, they bring a new level of focus and professionalism to their writing,” said Lloyd. “They learn that they can become effective communicators in a new workplace community in a relatively short amount of time.”

Students were mentored by Ferretly’s Head of Marketing Nicole Young, who met with them to introduce the company, provide feedback and review final presentations. Young later shared on LinkedIn that she was impressed by the students’ ability to wrestle with complex questions about AI capability and human judgment. Ferretly publicly released the content and credited each student author––a rare move in corporate content production.

The project required students to analyze Ferretly’s communication style, audience and values before drafting their own work. They also experimented with artificial intelligence—not as a substitute for writing, but as a feedback tool.

Students were asked to draft their work independently and then use AI platforms to reverse engineer their writing. For example, they prompted AI to summarize their articles or identify key takeaways for a target audience. If the summaries did not align with their intended message, they revised accordingly.

Elanor Kim ’27, a double major in finance and philosophy, politics and economics, said the Ferretly project helped her think critically about how to use AI responsibly, a question she encounters as she interviews for internships. 

“Employers are asking how we’ve leveraged AI,” she said. “Learning to use AI as a companion rather than a replacement was really helpful.”

She added that the course delivered immediate professional benefits. “I’ve already seen more callbacks from applications,” she said. 

Amanda Satori ’26, a communication major with a minor in general business, said that Lloyd’s course stood out because it produced a tangible outcome.

“It felt like we were creating something that people would actually read,” Satori said. 

Satori wrote about AI screening in the advertising, media and entertainment sector, tailoring her work to a specific industry audience. She said learning to write memos, workplace analyses and client-facing content gave her confidence as she prepares for a career in public relations.

Since redesigning the course in 2017, Lloyd has matched students with startups, nonprofits and national organizations. He selects companies students might not have heard of in hopes that they see the breadth of opportunities available when they join the workforce. He works with staff to identify materials students can create like white papers, diversity statements and other projects the company may not have had the capacity to complete themselves. 

Lloyd said companies frequently implement student projects like onboarding manuals and  website redesigns internally, but last semester’s public recognition was an unexpected highlight. 

“People in the world are gonna see it,” he said. “Writing for real audiences is such an important thing and students will benefit from the experience of writing for a real business.”