Leadership and Human Resource Development, M.S.

(SLHRD)

Change is the new normal for all types of organizations. For-profit Fortune 500 companies, state and national government organizations, non-profit community organizations, and civil society organizations are all increasingly challenged to respond to changes in social values and adapt to dynamic social, ecological, economic, technological factors. As a result, there is a large and growing demand for professionals who can facilitate and lead positive change.

Our program leading to an M.S. degree in Leadership and Human Resource Development is an applied program designed to develop in students the leadership, planning, analytical, problem solving, and change management capabilities that today’s globalized organizations need to be successful. The knowledge and skills graduates acquire enable them to:

• Develop and leverage an organization’s human capital resources
• Collaborate with leaders, managers, and employees to identify and analyze performance issues
• Develop and implement strategies to address high priority performance issues
• Create enabling environments to maximize the potential for change
• Monitor and evaluate the outcomes of strategies and interventions
• Use cutting-edge evidence-based practice to foster change
• Help organizations realize their strategic goals and objectives

These capabilities are highly transferable and applicable in a wide range of positions and settings. For example, our M.S. graduates are employed as Organization Development specialists, Chief Learning Officers, Human Resource Directors, International consultants, Training Directors, Human Resource Development consultants, and others. They work in a wide range of organizations and apply their leadership, change and development skills in the health sector, education, manufacturing and business, IT, community development and non-profit organizations, and hospitality and tourism.

Our M.S. degree is designed for:

• Human resource, organization development, training and development, and performance improvement professionals who increasingly deal with internal change initiatives
• Organizational leaders, including government and non-profit professionals, who want to be more effective at supporting change in their organizations
• HR professionals transitioning to new roles, who want to advance, or who want to move into the exciting field of organization change and development
• Consultants looking to expand their skills and credentials
• Individuals interested in building the knowledge and skills to enable them to move into consulting

Our courses are designed and taught by a diverse, multidisciplinary, and award-winning faculty who are active members of a world-class university. They bring a breadth of research interests and a wealth of applied experience to the classroom. Their goal is to make the learning experience both challenging and provocative and to prepare our students to be the leaders of positive change.

The On-Campus MS program in Leadership & Human Resource Development integrates the teaching and learning advantages of one-to-one, direct student-professor interaction with the efficiencies and flexibility of web-based learning. Many of the courses in the on-campus MS program integrate web-based learning activities with face-to-face coursework in ways that pedagogically compliment, reinforce, and elaborate on one another while maintaining a high level of in-person and individual interaction between student and professor. This program follows the more traditional university format of 15-week semesters with courses typically meeting one night per week. 

The 100% Online MS program in Leadership & Human Resource Development provides the same curriculum as the on-campus program but, with courses that are 100% online, is designed for individuals who want a high-quality degree from a major tier-1 U.S. university but need the flexibility offered by online course delivery. The online courses are offered year-round in 7-week modules, which makes it possible for students to complete the MS program in one year with courses taken Spring, Summer, and Fall.  As with the on-campus MS program, the courses in the online MS program are taught by the same awarding winning faculty.

Both the online and on-campus programs are open to students with undergraduate degrees in any field. We have rolling admissions so students can enter their program of choice at any time of the year.