Feb 02, 2025  
2024-2026 Graduate Catalog 
    
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2024-2026 Graduate Catalog

Organizational Development and Leadership, Individualized Concentration, M.S.

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The Organizational Development and Leadership (ODL) Program is an interdisciplinary program designed to prepare students for leadership positions in various career fields. The interdisciplinary approach provides a broad understanding of leadership strategies and the operational characteristics and concerns of organizations, while also providing the opportunity to select a concentration area of immediate relevance for one’s career trajectories. The ODL program has three key components: (a) 12 credits of core coursework in Organizational Theory, Leadership Theory, Research, and Diversity Equity and Inclusion, (b) 12 credits in a concentration which may be either a specific area of expertise (e.g., Business, Higher Education and Student Affairs, or Management Information Systems) or an individualized concentration that offers students a flexible array of graduate classes to achieve their self-identified skills across disciplines, and (c) an internship and capstone experience. 

The Master of Science in organizational development and leadership is an interdisciplinary program that will provide students with several opportunities:

  1. To learn basic principles and theories of organizational development and the role of leadership.
  2. To enhance skills and knowledge in specified content areas.
  3. To combine theory with practical experience through an internship and capstone experience in the student’s concentration.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university and have a minimum cumulative undergraduate quality point average of 2.75. If GPA was below 2.75, an interview may be requested.

Submit the graduate application along with a current resume, a one-page personal goals statement, and undergraduate transcript, and the non-refundable application fee.

Degree Requirements

Core Courses (12 crs.)

Capstone Experience (6 crs.)

Completing a degree in ODL requires completion of a 6 credit capstone experience, including SOCI 609 - Sociology Graduate Internship   and SOCI 570 - Applied Organizational and Leadership Analysis . 

Students who are not employed or are employed in a position that is not full-time must complete an internship at an organization other than their current place of work and other than at Shippensburg University.   

Students who are current full-time employees who do not have a position of leadership or who have not been in their current full-time leadership position for at least one year must complete an internship but may do so at their workplace if they prefer to do so. They will be required to identify leadership and special project opportunities that expand their skill set and experience.

Students who are current full-time employees in positions of leadership, who have been in a leadership position at their current workplace for at least one year, have several choices with regard to the internship. They may:

  • complete an internship at their worksite or another site, OR
  • request to have the internship requirement waived and substitute it with another elective course. This option requires a resume, job description, and a letter from one’s supervisor documenting your FT employment status for one year or more and that your position constitutes a position of leadership as defined below. The ODL program director will make this determination on a case-by-case basis,   OR
  • fulfill the internship requirement through Professional Experiences Credit by documenting one’s leadership, project management, and organizational decision-making. See the guidelines for this process at: https://www.ship.edu/academics/colleges/graduate/successcenter/forms/

For the purposes of this policy, a “position of leadership” is one with supervisory authority and with significant input into organization policy, direction, and decision-making. 

All students must complete SOCI 570 - Applied Organizational and Leadership Analysis .

Individualized (12 crs.)

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