Program Overview

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Organizational Leadership - Master of Science (MS)

The Master of Science in Organizational Leadership is an interdisciplinary, fully online professional master's degree that prepares early- to mid-career professionals to succeed as tomorrow's dynamic leaders. Through coursework that blends business, communications, and social sciences, the program develops the knowledge and skills students need to think critically about organizational challenges and how to address them using best practices. Students learn to align others around a shared vision, build and manage effective teams, and apply the leadership skills necessary to excel in an increasingly fast-paced and complex working world.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 30 credit hours of graduate coursework. The program is composed of 10 courses: six core courses and four specialized track courses.

Core Courses

Core courses ensure that students have the necessary understanding of the complexities of organizational leadership and the varied dimensions of change within the context of public, private, and nonprofit organizations. The curriculum prepares graduates to be successful in understanding organizational cultures, anticipating and managing change, and enhancing performance and human capital management. Core courses include:

• ORGL 5005: Leadership and Organizations (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5010: Leading Change and Innovation (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5015: Analytics and Data-Driven Decision Making (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5020: Strategic Communication (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5025: Performance Management (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 6830: Master's Capstone (MSOL) (3 credit hours)

The purpose of the capstone, the final course of the program, is for students to apply knowledge and skills acquired during their program to addressing actual challenges facing an organization. Students do this—under the guidance of the instructor and other subject matter experts—by collecting, processing, and analyzing data and information about the organization and applying appropriate analytic methods to develop, propose, and substantiate their recommended solution to the organization's problem.

Specialized Track Courses

Students may choose to specialize in one of the following tracks.

Human Resources Track

This track is ideal for students who wish to enter or advance a career in Human Resources or who want to focus on enhancing employee satisfaction and organizational performance as they assume increasing management and leadership responsibilities. Courses include:

• ORGL 5105: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5110: Human Resources Law (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5115: Total Rewards Strategies (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5120: Training and Development (3 credit hours)

Strategic Leadership Track

This track is geared for students who want to hone their ability to think, plan, and operate strategically, lead personnel in the allocation of organizational resources, and accomplish organizational objectives in a deliberate and systematic manner. Courses include:

• ORGL 5205: Strategic Planning in Organizations (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5210: Competitive Analysis and Positioning (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5220: Operations and Designs of Organizations (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5305: Leadership and Intrapreneurship (3 credit hours) or ORGL 5315: Strategy and Innovation

Leading Innovation Track

The leading innovation track explores leadership at the intersection of business and innovation and helps students learn to drive strategic organizational transformation. It addresses the gap that exists between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute. It focuses on the question: why and how should leadership, innovations, and technologies be leveraged to shape and support strategic and entrepreneurial initiatives in the global competitive landscape. Courses include:

• ORGL 5305: Leadership and Intrapreneurship (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5310: Design Thinking (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5315: Strategy and Innovation (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5320: Building and Leading Innovative Work Teams (3 credit hours)

Organizational Communication Track

Communication is the key social process that creates and sustains all features of organizational life—including assumptions about power, knowledge, diversity, culture, and teamwork that shape the practice of leadership. The organizational communication track offers a perspective that puts communication at the center of our understanding and explanation of all organizational and leadership phenomena. Courses include:

• ORGL 5405: Diversity and Organizational Communication (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5410: Dynamics of Group Communication (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5415: Organizational Culture (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5420: Knowledge Management (3 credit hours)

Corporate Communication and Public Relations Track

Relationship building with key stakeholders is critical for organizational function. The corporate communication and public relations track offers students the opportunity to become skilled in the strategic development of organization/stakeholder interactions and relationships. Courses include:

• Select four courses from the following options:
  • CCOM 5101: Strategic Corporate Communication Management
  • CCOM 5102: Strategic Global Corporate Communication
  • CCOM 5103: Corporate Communication and Ethics
  • CCOM 5104: Research Methods for Corporate Communication
  • CCOM 5105: Measurement for Corporate Communication
  • CCOM 5106: Internal Communication
  • CCOM 5107: Risk and Crisis Communication
  • CCOM 5108: Corporate Communication Techniques and Media Relations
  • CCOM 5109: Issues Management and Public Affairs
  • CCOM 5110: Corporate Communication and Digital and Social Media

Executive Leadership Track

This track is geared for students who want to enhance their executive leadership skills and broaden their perspectives regarding multiple aspects of organizational structure, strategy, and people management. Students completing this track will learn to navigate strategic thinking that drives organizations forward while building organizational cultures that are productive, cohesive, and inclusive. Courses include:

• ORGL 5205: Strategic Planning in Organizations (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5415: Organizational Culture (3 credit hours)
• Select two courses from the following options:
  • ORGL 5110: Human Resources Law
  • ORGL 5115: Total Rewards Strategies
  • ORGL 5120: Training and Development
  • ORGL 5210: Competitive Analysis and Positioning
  • ORGL 5220: Operations and Designs of Organizations
  • ORGL 5305: Leadership and Intrapreneurship
  • ORGL 5310: Design Thinking
  • ORGL 5420: Knowledge Management

Leading High-Achieving Teams Track

Students pursuing the leading high-achieving teams track will learn strategies for creating and maintaining productive and cohesive teams within organizations. From building teams, resolving conflict, and enhancing communication, courses within this track emphasize the importance of leadership in creating teams that enhance organizations. Courses include:

• Select four courses from the following options:
  • ORGL 5105: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
  • ORGL 5320: Building and Leading Innovative Work Teams
  • ORGL 5410: Dynamics of Group Communication
  • ORGL 5420: Knowledge Management
  • ORGL 5505: Sports and Coaching Leadership

Organizational Training and Development Track

The organizational training and development track is well-suited for students seeking to improve the effectiveness of organizations through building and improving training and development programs. The courses in this track allow students to explore different areas of organizational structure that are critical for understanding how to improve and develop the organization and its people. Courses include:

• ORGL 5120: Training and Development (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5220: Operations and Designs of Organizations (3 credit hours)
• ORGL 5415: Organizational Culture (3 credit hours)
• Select one course from the following options:
  • ORGL 5115: Total Rewards Strategies
  • ORGL 5410: Dynamics of Group Communication

Organizational Leadership (Broad Perspective) Track

This is a great track option for those who want to customize their degree to obtain broad exposure to the field of organizational leadership. Students select any four track courses from the offerings available under the other tracks listed above. With pre-approval, students also have the option of transferring in up to three relevant graduate courses from other programs and colleges.

Learning Outcomes

By the completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Acquire professional competency through acquisition of knowledge about leadership theories, contemporary leadership challenges, best practices, and industry standards related to leadership.
• Develop and apply strong critical thinking, decision-making, presentation, and writing skills based upon a synthesis of knowledge.
• Articulate an ethical personal leadership philosophy for a diverse and multicultural 21st-century workforce.
• Develop the ability to provide vision and mission articulation, problem identification and definition, strategic planning, and ongoing/iterative evaluation.
• Integrate skills in multiple types of analysis allowing the application of data analysis to organizational situations and challenges.
• By participating in application-oriented assignments delivered via a collaborative cohort model, develop high-demand career skills that contribute to employability and professional advancement.