Organizational Development & Leadership
The Organizational Development and Leadership Program is designed for those students pursuing leadership positions in various career fields. Its objective is to apply the critical view of organizations from social scientific perspectives and enhance students’ understanding of how organizations operate and change over time. The performance and role of leadership in formal and informal settings is an integral part of the program. In addition, students will have the opportunity to develop skills and increase their knowledge in selected discipline areas.
The Master of Science Degree in Organizational Development and Leadership is an interdisciplinary program that will provide students with several opportunities:
- to learn basic principles and theories of organizational development and the role of leadership.
- to enhance skills and knowledge in specified content areas.
- to combine theory with practical experience through an internship in the student's concentration.
This 30-credit program is designed for both full and part-time students. Core Courses will be offered on campus and at the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg. Not all concentrations are available in Harrisburg. Course sequences are flexible and core courses have no prerequisites.
The program requires:
- 12 credits in core courses,
- 12 credits in a concentration,
- business
- communication
- environmental management
- higher education structure and policy
- historical administration
- individual and organizational development
- management information systems
- public organizations
- social structures and organization
- 6 credits in a capstone experience that includes an internship. The capstone course, SOC570, is not guaranteed in Harrisburg.
The next entrance point for this program is Spring of 2012. Please contact the Office of Graduate Admissions for additional details. Applicants must meet the standards for admission established by the S.U. Graduate School. Applicants must:
- Have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.
- Have a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.75. If GPA is below 2.75, an interview is required.
- Submit the graduate application form along with:
- a current résumé
- a personal goals statement, usually one page single-spaced explaining your personal and/or professional goals for pursuing the program
- an undergraduate transcript
- requisite application fee.
Degree Requirements
Core Courses (12 credits)
- SOC550 Leadership Theory and Practice
- SOC560 Leadership, Change and Innovation
- PLS501 Organizational Theory and Behavior
- PLS601 Research Methods
Capstone Experience (6 credits)
Recommend taking after completing 18-21 credits.
- SOC570 Applied Leadership and Organizational Analysis (3 credits)
- SOC609 Internship (within concentration area, 3 credits)
Concentration Areas and Recommended Electives (12 credits)
Other courses in concentrations may be approved by Program Director; courses listed below are not necessarily appropriate and are listed as suggestions only.
- Business
- BSN510 Economic & Information Systems Management
- BSN511 Business Operations & Analysis
- BSN512 Essentials of Accounting & Finance
- BSN513 Organizational Behavior and Marketing
- BSN514 Strategic Management and Leadership
- MBA547 Management Information Systems and Applications
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
* Concentration is designed for students without a business or business-related undergraduate degree
- Communication
- COM410 Women and the Media
- COM460 Case Studies in Public Relations
- COM482 Internet Communication
- COM484 Electronic Media Programming and Management
- COM490 Selected Topics in Communication/Journalism
- COM500 Communication Theory
- COM516 Photographic Communication
- COM526 Emerging Mass Media Technologies
- COM530 Law & the Media
- COM536 World Broadcasting Systems
- COM544 Advanced Communication Problems
- COM561 Press and Public Affairs
- COM570 Fund Raising and Association Public Relations
- COM600 Introduction Mass Communication Research (ODL students in this concentration are advised COM600 may be taken in place of PLS601 in core; an additional concentration course will be necessary if that substitution is made)
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
- Environmental Management
- GEO415 Regional Geographic Studies
- GEO440 Field Techniques
- GEO444 Environmental Land-Use Planning
- GEO446 Water Resources Management
- GEO490 Selected Topics
- GEO522 Geoenvironmental Hydrology
- GEO524 The Geologic Environment
- GEO528 Geography of Economic and Environmental Systems
- GEO532 Disease and the Environment
- GEO536 Problems of the Atmospheric Environment
- GEO542 Land-Use Regulations
- GEO594 Selected Topics
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
- Higher Education Structure and Policy
- CNS562 Student Personnel Work in Higher Education
- ESC400 Methods of Coaching (restricted, ask ODL coordinator for more information)
- PLS504 Ethics for Public Service Managers
- PLS603 Public Policy Analysis
- PSY516 Motivation
- SOC435 Gender and Leadership
- SOC445 Sexuality and Sexual Orientation: A Social Approach
- SOC530 Sociology of Higher Education
- SOC490 and 594 courses may be approved from time to time
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
- Historical Administration
- HIS433 Oral History
- HIS501 Introduction to Applied History
- HIS502 Introduction to Archives
- HIS505 Advanced Topics in Public History
- HIS513 Seminar in U.S. Women's History
- HIS515 Seminar in 20th Century U.S. Social History
- HIS512-562 Seminars in Various Areas
- HIS 594 Selected Topics
- HIS 599 Readings in History
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
It is recommended Historical Administration concentration students in ODL take HIS 600 instead of PLS 601 for their research core course; HIS 600 may not be used in the concentration.
- Individual and Organizational Development
- PSY512 Theories of Learning
- PSY515 Theories of Personality
- PSY519 Life Span Psychology
- PSY529 Psychology of Successful Aging
- PSY533 Advanced Social Psychology
- PSY565 Human Factors
- PSY590 Introduction to Group Dynamics
- PSY595-597 Selected Topics
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
- Management Information Systems
- ISS515 Information Systems Project Management
- ISS550 Database Design
- ISS570 Information Analysis
- MBA547 Management Information Systems and Applications
- Public Organizations
- PLS502 Human Resources Management
- PLS504 Ethics for Public Service Managers
- PLS511 State Government
- PLS512 Intergovernmental Relations and Programs
- PLS561 Administrative Law
- PLS603 Public Policy Analysis
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
- Social Structures & Organization
- SOC410 Family & Society
- SOC435 Gender & Leadership
- SOC445 Sexuality and Sexual Orientation: A Social Approach
- SOC490 Selected Topics
- SOC530 Sociology of Higher Education
- SOC594 Selected Topics
- Other courses as directed in consultation with the ODL advisor
Applied Experiences
All students must fulfill the capstone experience that requires completion of a 3 credit internship in some administrative capacity within their concentration area. The internship will be simultaneous with the Applied Leadership and Organizational Analysis course (3 credits) where students will conduct an organizational analysis project.
Financial Aid
Shippensburg University offers a variety of financial aid options for graduate students that include graduate assistantships, residence hall director positions, and student loans. Contact the financial aid office at (717) 477-1131 or finaid@ship.edu for additional information.
The interdisciplinary master of science in organizational development and leadership degree is an interdisciplinary program that is delivered by a diverse faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences, the John L. Grove College of Business, and the College of Education and Human Services. Faculty from the following areas will sponsor courses in the program: Business, Communication, Counseling, Geography/Earth Science, History, Information Systems, Political Science, and Psychology. Core courses will be taught by:
James H. Mike, Ph.D., Dean, College of Arts and Sciences.
Dina Banerjee, Ph.D., Sociology and Anthropology Department, Purdue University.
C. Nielsen Brasher, Ph.D., Chair, Political Science Department, American University.
Barbara J. Denison, Ph.D., Organizational Development and Leadership Program Director, Sociology and Anthropology Department, Northwestern University.
Michael Greenberg, Political Science Department, University of Texas at Austin.
Amanda Olejarski, Ph.D., Political Science Department, Virginia Polytechnic University