Program Overview

Employment and Labor Relations (B.A.)

The Employment and Labor Relations major provides students with the critical skills necessary to analyze employment, labor, and workplace issues. An interdisciplinary program that draws from fields as varied as anthropology, economics, history, law, literature, management, political science, psychology, and sociology, the ELR program trains professionals in labor relations and human resources.

Overview

As an interdepartmental unit, the ELR program provides students with a knowledge of employment and labor law, human resource management, compensation and benefits, conflict resolution and negotiation in the workplace, and other focused skills in the context of a broad liberal arts education. Through their course of study, students will gain the competencies necessary for work in management, government, non-profit organizations, and labor unions. Graduates with a BA-ELR find careers as labor organizers and union researchers, labor and community educators and advocates, human resource and personnel managers, and dispute resolution arbitrators, among other positions, in business, labor, public sector, and non-profit organizations. The BA-ELR program is good preparation for pursuing a professional degree in business or law, particularly in the area of labor and employment law.

Admission Requirements

Admission requirements for this program are satisfied by the general requirements for undergraduate admission to the University.

Program Requirements

Candidates must complete 120 credits in course work including satisfaction of the University General Education Requirements and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Group Requirements, as well as the departmental major requirements cited below. All course work must be completed in accordance with the regulations of the University and the College governing undergraduate scholarship and degrees.

Course List

• Required Core Courses:
  • ELR 1110: Work and Democracy: An Introduction (3 credits)
  • ELR 2500: Introduction to Labor Studies (4 credits)
  • PSY 2100: Psychology and the Workplace (3 credits)
  • HIS 5290: American Labor History (4 credits)
  • ECO 5480: Economics of Work (3 credits)
  • ELR 4700: Senior Seminar (3 credits)
• Applied and Specialized Curriculum:
  • Select four of the following:
    • ANT 2050: Anthropology of Business
    • ELR 4500: Applied Labor Studies (twelve credits may be elected as: Labor Relations: 3 cr.; Collective Bargaining: 3 cr.; Labor Law: 3 cr.; and Labor, Politics and Public Policy: 3 cr.)
    • ELR 2400: Survey of the Music Business and Labor
    • ELR 3220: Labor in Media and Popular Culture
    • ELR 3650: The Philosophy of Work
    • HIS 3360: Black Workers in American History
    • ECO 5400: Labor Economics
    • MGT 5700: Human Resource Management
    • PSY 5710: Dispute Resolution
    • MGT 5740: Employee Relations
    • PSY 6550: Training and Employee Development
    • PS 3020: Political Parties and Elections
    • PS 3030: Political Interest Groups
    • PS 3040: The Legislative Process
    • SOC 2203: Social Psychology
    • SOC 2300: Social Inequality
    • SOC 5700: Seminar in Social Inequality
  • Total Credits: 32

Accelerated Graduate Enrollment (AGRADE)

The MAELR degree offers the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Accelerated Graduate Enrollment (AGRADE) program to qualified undergraduates. AGRADE provides the opportunity for top students to enroll simultaneously in an undergraduate and graduate degree program, and to apply a maximum of 16 credits toward both their undergraduate and master's degrees in the student's major or closely aligned field. Students electing AGRADE programs may expect to complete both their bachelor's and master's degrees in only five years of full-time study.

AGRADE Requirements

• Completion of the WSU ELR AGRADE application
• A copy of the student's unofficial transcript(s)
• A one-page single-spaced letter of interest that conveys clearly and concisely the student's tentative career goals, how the program will help them achieve these goals, and what the student seeks to achieve in the MAELR program
• A letter of recommendation from a faculty member

Additional Information

Students are referred to the program director for information concerning courses, directed study, internships, career information, and graduate study.