Master of Science in Human Resource Management

Organizations and businesses need leadership from every individual who works or volunteers to advance its mission and goals. Regardless of style or approach, leadership starts with basic competencies that together create a portfolio for leadership effectiveness. The roster of competencies is fluid and can vary depending on the individual, the workplace and the goals, but the outcome is constant: they contribute significantly to an individual’s ability to lead people. In this course, we will examine what can arguably be considered among the most relevant and substantive competencies for effective leadership currently. Competencies may include emotional intelligence, authenticity, being present, character, creativity, courage and empathy. Incorporating a variety tools and techniques, such as presentations, research, essays and outreach to industry professionals, the course gives students the opportunity to understand, assess, and develop their own capacities and effectiveness in these areas of leadership competencies. Throughout the course, reflective practice, that aligns course theoretical knowledge with student workplace experiences and builds a supportive learning community, will be emphasized. 3 graduate credits. Prerequisites: None.

Leaders and managers achieve goals working with and through others. They must be skilled in developing individuals to work in teams, in facilitating teams, and in managing conflict. Leaders and managers must understand organizational and national cultures and how they affect the achievement of goals. They must not only hold strong ethical values, but also model them. This course examines the role of managers as leaders in organizations and develops knowledge and skills needed by managers in today’s business environment to successfully achieve organizational goals. This course focuses on who leaders are and what leaders do. It is important to know what accounts for effective leadership and how one can become an effective leader. Subsequently, course material will focus upon fundamental principles of leadership and how these principles relate to becoming an effective leader. Emphasis will be placed on self-reflection and analysis in regard to developing one’s own leadership skills. 3 graduate credits. Prerequisites: None.

This course explores the vital relationship between business and the legal, political and social environments, and the impact of self-regulation, market regulation, and government regulations on corporate behavior. Specific topics will include ethics and corporate social responsibility, occupational and industrial codes of conduct, antitrust problems, corporate governance, securities markets, the employee-employer relationship, employment discrimination, consumer protection, product liability, environment policy and social and legal issues of multinational business. 3 graduate credits. Prerequisites: None.

HR professionals must be able to gather data appropriately, analyze it, and communicate findings to managers and executives convincingly to be strategic partners in the organization. This course examines methods for collecting and analyzing data for a variety of HR needs including satisfaction surveys, market analysis and benchmarking, workforce profiling, and compensation and benefits analysis. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies will be examined along with concepts of evidence based management. Prerequisites: None.

This course examines the strategic role of human resource information systems (HRIS) in the effective management of organizations, operationally and strategically. Students and faculty will examine how to determine organizational readiness and need for an HRIS and the factors that assist in the selection and evaluation of an appropriate HRIS. HRIS concepts will be linked to HR activities such as performance management, compensation and benefits, equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, labor relations, and human resource planning, as well as enterprise computing needs. Students will gain knowledge of the process of implementing, managing, securing, and using data and information stored in electronic HRIS databases. Prerequisites: None.

Various methods for acquiring the critical skills needed to produce products and services are examined in this course. In addition to the traditional staffing topics of recruiting, selecting and retaining employees, outsourcing and importing human resources to meet organizations’ strategic skill and knowledge needs will be examined. Other topics may include equal employment opportunity, human resource planning, determination of staffing needs, internal and external recruitment strategies, selection interviews, tests and assessment procedures, placement, promotion, transfer policies and retention strategies. Prerequisites: MGMT 561 Measurement Strategies & Methods in HR Management or MGMT 555 Business Research Methods.

This course examines the goals of the organization in its employment of human resources including the use of reward systems, monetary and non-monetary, intrinsic and extrinsic, in the motivation of goal-oriented behavior as a major factor in influencing people’s actions in the workplace. The effects of reward systems on recruiting, performance, satisfaction and tenure are examined. The course also explores pay system components such as entry position rates, job evaluation systems, merit pay plans, and employee income security systems. Legal aspects of reward systems, such as federal wage and hour laws and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, are examined. The value of healthcare benefits to organizations and employees is also discussed. Prerequisites: None.

Integrative Experience–Organizations are facing many environmental challenges including new technologies, new methods of organizing, diverse consumer demands, new competitors, and diverse employee skills and backgrounds. The common denominator is change. This course examines innovation and organizational change from a strategic and operational perspectives. Students’ knowledge and skills related to innovation and change management are developed with an emphasis on strategy and organizational goals. Applied projects with small businesses and not-for-profit organizations allow students to apply their knowledge of innovation and change management in the real world situations. 3 graduate credits. Prerequisites: Final semester status, or permission of instructor.

This course includes an overview of business strategy and emphasizes the role of human resource management for effective strategy implementation. Models of organizational diagnosis and change, reengineering, divesting, merging, acquiring, downsizing, and outsourcing are examined from a strategic and operational human resource perspective. Students will complete a service learning assignment with a not-for-profit organization or small business to apply the knowledge and skills learned in this course. This course is normally taken by students as the last course in their program of study. Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

This course focuses on the integration of both the theoretical and practical aspects of financial and investment decisions in the corporate environment. Students will learn to fully utilize accounting and financial information to make sound, ethical decisions. Topics include financial statement analysis, risk and return, capital budgeting, cost of capital, capital structure, financial decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, corporate valuation, working capital management, multinational finance, and current issues such as derivatives, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and corporate governance. The legal and ethical aspects of financial management are examined within the context of the existing legal and regulatory environment. 3 graduate credits. Prerequisites: None.

This course examines the high priority legal issues in today’s current HR environment. Working from a basis of laws and regulations governing the employment relationship, students and faculty examine how federal and state legislation, court and administrative decisions, and regulatory processes are changing interviewing, hiring, promotion, performance assessment, termination, diversity, privacy, safety and health, and union-management relations practices in the workplace. Emphasis is placed on analyzing the impact of changes in law and regulations and determining both operational and strategic impacts of those changes on organizational practices. Prerequisites: None.

This course is an introduction to behavioral concepts and organization best practices related to training and developing human resources. Emphasis is placed on the investigation and development of proactive strategies to align the knowledge and skills of the organization’s employees with those needed to realize the organization’s strategic goals. Learning technologies for delivering training content are explored within the context of aligning training and development strategy with organizational needs. Prerequisites: None.

Managers and human resource professionals must have a good understanding of performance management principles in order to coach managers in managing employee performance. This course focuses on the underlying principles of performance management and ways to intervene early to manage behavioral problems. Topics to be covered include an overview of performance management, methods for motivating staff, coaching employees, including executives, for success, establishing performance plans, and conducting performance evaluations. 3 graduate credits. Prerequisites: None.