Concentration in Organizational Leadership

          "I wish I could find a program that I could complete during my free time."                    "I want a graduate education that I can readily apply to my workplace."                    "I want to enjoy my next degree and not feel pressured to compete with other students."                    "I don't have time to come to campus every week for classes, so my classes have to be designed for the distance learner."     

Program Description

The Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) in Organizational Leadership is a 31 credit hour liberal arts graduate degree which provides students with an innovative curriculum that focuses on the study of leadership in the context of modern organizations. Students completing their MLS program in this concentration will have the following notation on their transcript: "Liberal Studies (Organizational Leadership)"

This liberal arts program consists of a 10-hour core requirement, an 18-hour customized plan of study designed to meet your individual goals, and a 3-hour culminating experience. This program is designed to provide maximum flexibility. As a result, this allows you to play a greater role in determining the content of your degree program. You will benefit from the adaptability and flexibility of developing your own curriculum which can match your own personal interests and career goals.

The MLS in Organizational Leadership is intended to provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective in a variety of settings. First, you will develop a deep understanding of how organizations function and what role leaders at all levels must play to improve the performance of organizations. Second, you will gain important practical skills essential for success in your chosen profession. Skills in interpersonal relations, problem solving, team building, motivation, and communication are all necessary to be successful in today’s society. Third, you will become acquainted with the political, social, and economical implications of our emerging knowledge society. With the complex problems and challenges of our changing world, the need for leadership is greater than ever before. Effective leadership can make a positive contribution for a better quality of life at all sectors of our society. As a graduate of the Master of Liberal Studies in Organizational Leadership, you will find yourself well prepared for the challenges of the future.

Graduates of this program will be both valuable and marketable in a wide array of occupational fields. By enhancing your leadership and supervisory skills, this program will assist you in pursuing careers in a variety of human resource fields. Organizational Leadership students strive toward their career goals, while enhancing the organizations and communities they serve. Application of this degree program is varied and limitless, opening career opportunities and mobility within organizations. MLS in Organizational Leadership students will find themselves well prepared to be productive members of the 21st century workforce.

According to Peter Drucker, we are living in an age of social transformation where our "economic order is based on knowledge, not labor or raw material or capital, as the key resource." With this in mind, the MLS in Organizational Leadership degree is designed to incorporate exploration and understanding in ways which various "knowledges" are generated, applied, and managed in our information-based world.

Program Curriculum

Each student, in consultation with their major advisor, will tailor an 18 credit hour plan of study designed to meet his or her own specific needs, interests, and career goals. Our students are typically working adults with backgrounds in diverse settings. As a result, they often enter the program with a desire to complement their specific job-related functional skills with the interpersonal, team building, and leadership skills demanded by today's competitive labor administration. They may select course electives in those specific areas which encompass a strong organizational or leadership behavior theme. They have the flexibility to do so because of the 18-hour customized plan of study within the program. (Courses from other colleges or universities may also be acceptable.)

M.L.S. in Organizational Leadership
Curriculum Summary

MLS Core 10 hours
IDS 801: Introduction to Graduate Liberal Studies (1 hr)
IDS 802: Ways of Knowing in Comparative Perspective (3 hrs)
IDS 803: The Emerging Knowledge Society: Origins and Implications (3 hrs)
IDS 804: Information Literacy (3 hrs)

Organizational Leadership Core (required) 9 hours
LDRS 800: Organizational Leadership (3 hrs)
LDRS 806: Teambuilding, Teamwork, Team Leading (3 hrs)
LDRS 810: Assessment and Intervention in Leadership (3 hrs)

Organizational Leadership Electives (choose three of the following) 9 hours
LDRS 812: Advanced Leadership Theories (3 hrs)
IDS 880: Seminar: Ethics in Leadership (3 hrs)
IDS 880: Seminar: Supervisory Leadership (3 hrs)
LDRS 640: Principles of Civic Leadership (3 hrs)
LDRS 670: Leadership and Personal Development (3 hrs)
MGT 604: Management of Small Business (3 hrs)
MGT 611: Human Resource Management (3 hrs)
COMM 606: Conflict Management Through Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 607: Listening (3 hrs)
COMM 611: Organizational Culture and Climate (3 hrs)
SOC 670: Grant Proposal Development (3 hrs)
SOC 679: Community Theory and Development (3 hrs)
IDS 810: Readings in Liberal Studies: Organizational Leadership (3 hrs)

Culminating Experience (choose one of the following) 3 hours
LDRS 820: Projects in Organizational Leadership (3 hrs)
LDRS 890: Internship in Organizational Leadership (3 hrs)

Total Curriculum 31 hours

Program Contact

For more information on the Organizational Leadership concentration e-mail Dr. Brent Goertzen, Chair of the Department of Leadership Studies located in McCartney Hall 224 or phone (785) 628-4303. Once you have been admitted to this concentration, please follow the MLS Checklist and carefully read The MLS Student Handbook.

 

For more information, contact: Art Morin, Director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Davis Hall 206 Fort Hays State University Hays, KS 67601 (785) 628-5950

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