Organizational Development & Leadership
The Organizational Development and Leadership Program is designed for those students pursuing careers in management and administrative positions. Its objective is to enhance students' understanding of how organizations operate and change over time and the role of leadership in formal and informal settings. In addition, students will have the opportunity to develop skills and increase their knowledge in selected discipline areas.
The Program
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 Center 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
- educational administration
- public organizations
- higher education
- individual and organizational development
- environmental management
- historical administration
- social structures and organization
- 6 credits in a capstone experience that includes an internship.
Admission Requirements
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 resumé
- a personal goals statement, usually one page single-spaced explaining your personal and/or professional goals for the program
- an undergraduate transcript
- requisite application fee.
Degree Requirements
Core Courses (12 credits)
- SOC 550 Leadership Theory and Practice
- SOC 560 Leadership, Change and Innovation
- PLS 501 Organizational Theory and Behavior
- PLS 601 Research Methods
Capstone Experience (6 credits)
Recommend taking after completing 18-21 credits.
- SOC 570 Applied Leadership and Organizational Analysis (3 credits)
- SOC 609 Internship (within concentration area, 3 credits)
Concentration Areas and Recommended Electives (12 credits)
Other courses in concentrations may be approved by Program Director.
- Business
- MBA 501 Economic & Information Systems Management
- MBA 503 Business Operations & Analysis
- MBA 504 Essentials of Accounting & Finance
- MBA 505 Organizational Behavior and Marketing
- MBA 508 Strategic Management and Leadership
- Communication
- COM 500 Communication Theory
- COM 561 Press & Public Affairs
- COM 526 Emerging Mass Media Technologies
- COM 530 Law & the Media
- COM 600 Introduction Mass Communication Research
- Education
- EDA 500 General School Administration
- EDA 505 Computers & the School Administrator
- EDA 591 School Law
- EDA 592 General School Supervision
- EDA 574 Finance & the School Principal
- EDA 569 Diversity in Education
- Environmental Management
- GEO 402 Medical Geography
- GEO 403 Natural Hazards & Hostile Environments
- GEO 404 Hydrogeology
- GEO 440 Field Techniques
- GEO 444 Environmental Land Use Planning
- GEO 446 Water Resources Management
- GEO 490 Selected Topics
- GEO 522 Geoenvironmental Hydrology
- GEO 524 The Geologic Environment
- GEO 526 The Atmospheric Environment
- GEO 530 Mapping Sciences
- GEO 531 Geomorphology
- GEO 532 Geography of Environmental Health
- GEO 536 Problems of the Atmospheric Environment
- GEO 542 Land-Use Regulations
- GEO 594 Selected Topic
- Higher Education
- CNS 562 Student Personnel Work in Higher Education
- PLS 504 Ethics for Public Service Managers
- PLS 603 Public Policy Analysis
- PSY 516 Motivation
- SOC 530 Sociology of Higher Education
- Historical Administration
- HIS402 Revolutionary America (3 crs.)
- HIS407 Women in Comparative Perspective (3 crs.)
- HIS410 The Islamic World (3 crs.)
- HIS413 Pennsylvania History (3 crs.)
- HIS418 Introduction to Applied History (3 crs.)
- HIS419 Advanced Topics in Public History (3 crs.)
- HIS421 Studies in 19th-Century European History (3 crs.)
- HIS423 Issues in 20th-Century Europe (3 crs.)
- HIS428 Issues in the Gilded Age & Progressive Era (3 crs.)
- HIS454 China & the Outside World (3 crs.)
- HIS494 Introduction to Archives (3 crs.)
- HIS512 Seminar in Comparative Labor History (3 crs.)
- HIS513 Seminar in U.S. Women's History (3 crs.)
- HIS515 Seminar in 20th Century U.S. Social History (3 crs.)
- HIS516 Seminar in African American History (3 crs.)
- HIS519 Seminar in International Relations (3 crs.)
- HIS525 Seminar in U.S. Regional History (3 crs.)
- HIS526 Seminar in the Civil War Era (3 crs.)
- HIS534 Seminar in Modern German History (3 crs.)
- HIS535 Seminar in Medieval Studies (3 crs.)
- HIS540 Comparative Latin American History (3 crs.)
- HIS550 Seminar in South Asian History (3 crs.)
- HIS555 Seminar in Russian Soviet & Post-Soviet History (3 crs.)
- HIS558 Seminar in East Asia & the Modern World (3 crs.)
- HIS562 Seminar in African History (3 crs.)
- HIS601 Research in Local & Regional History (3 crs.)
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
- PSY 420 Health Psychology
- PSY 475 Industrial & Organizational Psychology
- PSY 515 Theories of Personality
- PSY 529 Psychology of Successful Aging
- PSY 590 Introduction to Group Dynamics
- Public Organizations
- PLS 502 Human Resources Management
- PLS 504 Ethics for Public Service Managers
- PLS 603 Public Policy Analysis
- PLS 605 Management Techniques in Public Administration
- Social Structures & Organization
- SOC410 Family & Society
- SOC435 Gender & Leadership
- SOC450 Classical Social Theory
- SOC490 Selected Topics
- SOC530 Sociology of Higher Education
- SOC591 Selected Topics
Additional courses are available with the approval of the 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.
Resources
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.
Faculty
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, Political Science, Gerontology, Psychology, Geography/Earth Science, Educational Administration, and Communication. Core courses will be taught by:
James H. Mike, Ph.D., Dean, College of Arts and Sciences.
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.
Donald Frazier, Ph.D., Political Science Department, Southern Illinois University.
Kim Fox, Ph.D., Political Science Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
Sara A. Grove, Ph.D., Chair, Political Science Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; J.D., Dickinson School of Law
Michael Greenberg, Political Science Department, University of Texas at Austin.
Joel Schoening, Ph.D., Sociology and Anthropology Department, University of Oregon