Master of Science in Professional Studies: Future Foresight and Planning draft draft

Program Overview

This program explores future foresight and planning concepts, equipping professionals with skills in strategic thinking, scenario planning, and decision-making. It focuses on developing expertise in foresight methodologies, applying them to organizational planning, and conducting research in the field. The program aims to enhance leadership and change management capabilities for effective future-oriented decision-making.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

Program Overview:

• Goal: Explore and institutionalize future foresight and planning concepts within organizations.
• Target Audience: Public sector and business leaders, other professionals.
• Benefits: Improve strategic thinking, planning, and future-related decision-making, manage and lead foresight projects.
• Focus:
• Conceptual issues
• Methods and problem-solving
• Domain-specific applications
• Responding to the future
• Quantitative and qualitative approaches to long/short-term foresight
• Synthesis, integration, and application of methods (scenario planning)

Mission Statement:

• Develop understanding of modern future foresight concepts and methodologies.
• Apply future foresight knowledge and skills to strategic planning and organizational decision support.
• Develop expertise for effective organizational decision-making.
• Analyze real-life issues as future thinkers and develop solutions.

Program Goals:

• Develop future foresight skills (systems thinking, scenario planning, strategic planning).
• Combine future foresight skills with literature review for viable research.

Program Learning Outcomes:

• Formulate organizational strategic future foresight framework.
• Evaluate scenario planning's role within organizations and its relation to strategic planning, forecasting, other processes.
• Analyze and apply leadership and change requirements for successful foresight decisions.
• Examine and compare future foresight methods for evaluating decision support systems.
• Develop innovative strategic foresight plans for sustainable institutional change.
• Conduct research related to future foresight and planning.

Outline:

Program Structure:

• 33 semester credit hours.
• See table for course codes, titles, and credits.
• Graduation requires completing all curriculum requirements.

Curriculum Highlights:

• Context and Trends
• Introduction to Future Foresight
• Systems Thinking
• Scenario Development and Analysis
• Scenarios for Futures Planning
• Analytics and Artificial Intelligence
• Strategic Planning
• Breakthrough Thinking, Creativity and Innovation
• Special Topics: Future Foresight and Planning
• Thesis Proposal Seminar: Future Foresight and Planning
• Thesis Project: Future Foresight and Planning
• Click here for course descriptions and graduation policy.