Quarter 1

LDR 4100 Learning Leadership (6 q.h.)

Exercising leadership is challenging. Exercising leadership to effect real change is even more challenging. Exercising leadership while learning to adapt to changing circumstances is more challenging still. This participatory, experiential class will challenge your ideas about leadership and challenge how you view the exercise of leadership, including your own. Additionally, the distinctions between leadership and authority; power and influence; and technical and adaptive challenges that call forth different qualities of leadership or management will be explored. Students will develop a personal developmental plan to help understand, advance, and expand skills; explore and enhance strengths; and learn to diagnose and address weaknesses.

ENG 4107 Critical Thinking for College Writing (6 q.h.)

This course will explore students’ hopes and anxieties, demonstrating how to exploit these emotions so they promote rather than inhibit achievement. The course guides students to acquire three basic perceptual roles: observer, reader, and thinker. Students will be guided through the basic processes of inventing, planning, drafting, revising, and editing. The basic premise of the course, writing with confidence, means writing from a position of strength. This strength comes from self knowledge, perceptual sensitivity, technical skill, and the practical experience of writing in different modes and voices for different purposes and audiences.

Quarter 2

LDR 4215 Assessing and Building Leadership Capacity (6 q.h.)

Organizations are only as effective as the individuals who work in them. This course focuses on enhancing students’ individual awareness, reflection, and effectiveness as leaders. Through a self-assessment, students will learn to appreciate the differences between themselves and others and deepen their understanding of what motivates people in the work environment. The nature of leadership is explored through various perspectives to deepen and enrich the appreciation of its complexity. The activity-rich experience of this course will provide students with ongoing feedback from peers and opportunities for growth and development.

CMN 4253 Professional Speaking and Presentations (6 q.h.)

Leaders frequently make presentations to influence those around them. Through this course students will hone their skills in developing and making compelling and persuasive presentations. Additionally, students will have the chance to explore the uses and misuses of audio-visual support and learn techniques to complement presentations.

LDR 4102 Overcoming Barriers to Leadership (2 q.h.)

Change is difficult, even for those who see themselves as leaders and change agents. Our good intentions notwithstanding, we find it difficult to change old patterns of thought and action. New Year’s resolutions rarely make it past January 5th. This interactive workshop begins with a powerful exercise to explore the roots of our resistance to change. Through specific assignments and mutual coaching, students have the chance to discover the possibility of, reward for, and steps to effecting change.

Quarter 3

HRM 4305 Organizational Behavior and Leadership (6 q.h.)

What is needed to become an effective organization? What is the role of leadership in that process? This course examines individual learning and motivation as well as interpersonal communications and team dynamics. The course will allow students to explore how leaders analyze and assess their organizations and circumstances, apply knowledge, and develop personal insights to enhance organizational performance.

HST 4654 Leadership Themes in World and American History (6 q.h.)

Through time and across the globe, leaders have both emerged from and helped shape their eras and social contexts. This course examines the relationship between leaders and their settings, exploring the diversity and complexity of leadership.

LDR 4101 Your Leadership Challenge (2 q.h.)

During this course students will identify an important personal challenge that compromises their ability to effectively exercise leadership. This course will cover the adaptations (changes in approach, style, thinking, feeling, or acting) that are required to overcome that challenge. Working both individually and in teams, students will have the opportunity to design and carry out experiments to help overcome barriers and enhance their leadership capacity.

Quarter 4

MGT 4106 Managing Cross Cultural Communication (6 q.h.)

Organizations in the twenty-first century undergo rapid and unpredictable change. A significant part of this change involves managing in increasingly diverse global and domestic environments. In this course, students will examine historic changes in workforce composition and the impact of such issues as globalization, gender disparity, and technological change. The course focuses on increasing personal awareness, understanding and skills to function effectively as leaders with members of different ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds.

FI 4111 Basic Financial Analysis for Managers (6 q.h.)

You cannot lead or manage effectively without understanding the numbers. The purpose of this course is to provide nonfinancial managers with the rudiments of financial problem solving. Students will be introduced to and develop basic analytical tools and concepts. Topics covered include financial statement analysis, budgeting forecasting and planning, project planning and management, and risk management.

LDR 4103 Your Leadership Team (2 q.h.)

How do you develop a change culture on a team or in an organization, particularly in a group or organization, where multiple loyalties and powerful traditions make real change difficult? This interactive course uses the cohort team to explore barriers to team cooperation, coordination, and change. The team will identify challenges and, through a shared process and mutual coaching, develop a strategy and methodology for overcoming them.

Quarter 5

CMN 4254 Organizational Communication and Leadership Issues (6 q.h.)

Why is communication important for organizations and how do individuals within organizations become effective communicators? This course provides the foundation in the study of organizational communication and introduces students to other relevant topics, such as meeting dynamics, crisis communication, and measurement and assessment of the quality of organizational communications.

LDR 4285 Ethical Issues in Science, Technology, and Society (6 q.h.)

This course encourages students to consider the relationship between scientific inquiry, technological advances, and changes in society. Through readings, class discussion, and independent research, students will gain a broad perspective on the role of science and technology in history, with a particular focus on leadership themes in the interactions of science, technology, and society.

LDR 4104 Leadership Case Analysis (1 q.h.)

In anticipation of the Leadership Practicum to be completed in the last semester of the program, students will begin to define what’s next in the pursuit of greater leadership capacity and new leadership challenges. What will it take, as an individual and as a member of a team, to get to the next level? This course will help students, working individually and in teams, identify a goal, the anticipated challenges, and the resources and allies needed to overcome those challenges.

Quarter 6

CMN 4157 Negotiation Skills and Conflict Management (4 q.h.)

This course introduces students to the techniques of dispute resolution. The curriculum focuses on the process of mediation, facilitation, and negotiation. Through readings, class activities, and individual projects, students will have the opportunity to explore applying these skills in professional settings.

POL 4385 International Relations and Organizations (6 q.h.)

Nations interact and are interdependent as never before. Today, no study of leadership is complete without an exploration of international relations and organizations. How can and should leaders behave in this complex, integrated world? This course explores the development of international organizations as well as topics in world politics, war and peaceful coexistence, the global economy, and other issues for today’s leaders.

LDR 4240 Leadership Practicum (3 q.h.)

This capstone practicum is an opportunity for students to integrate theory and practice in a real world setting. Through experience, students will demonstrate competence in the areas of leadership knowledge and skills. With the guidance of faculty, students will define an appropriate project and undertake their own action research.