Curriculum Design
The M. S. degree in Executive Leadership and Change curriculum is a highly integrated, carefully coordinated series of courses. This contemporary course of study is a sixteen or twenty four month (depending on delivery model chosen) program and requires 36 credits for graduation.
There are multiple components in the program: foundational component comprises seven, 3-credit courses; analysis/networking component includes a 3-credit community project course, research/application component is 6 credits for completion of thesis/research projects and 3 credits for completion of a specialization or elective course, and finally a 3 credit capstone course.
The program is cohort based and meets either on the weekend (Friday evening and half day Saturday) for five weeks or on Tuesday evenings for eight weeks. The cohort format allows for an individualized case study approach to applying the material studied.
The thesis/research project allows students in the program to specialize in Executive Leadership and Change in one of three areas - business, health professions, or not-for-profit organizations. The specialization course allows students to meet their particular learning objectives. Students work closely with faculty and are encouraged to work in teams. To maximize learning, the program stresses an interactive format and may include distinguished guest facilitators, the use of information and multi-media technology, including CD-ROM/DVD, and facilitator-assisted analysis of the group's dynamics.
Sample Schedule/Suggested Program Sequence
- LEAF 500: Organizational Leadership and Self-Development
- LEAF 501: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: Methods of Organizational Research
- LEAF 502: Leadership and Organizational Ethics, Values, and Social Environment Semester
- LEAF 513: Developing Leadership Skills: One-on-One Leadership, Conflict Management, and Team Building
- LEAF 514: Leadership and Community: Empowerment, Collaboration, and Dialogue
- LEAF 515: The Business of Leadership
- LEAF 540: Research Project/Thesis
- LEAF 526, 527, 528, 547,or 558: Special Topics/Elective/Independent Study
- LEAF 529: Transformational Leadership and Organizational Change
- LEAF 541: Research Project/Thesis II
- LEAF 530: Customers, Stakeholders, and Markets
- LEAF 560: Capstone Course in Leadership
Program Modules and Course Listings
Module 1: Core Foundation (21 Credits)
This set of courses aims to provide the student with the foundational knowledge necessary to fully develop their unique leadership style and effect creative change in organizational and community settings. Course material
will unite psychological, sociological, business/economic, and historical components of effective leadership. Although the main theories and issues discussed in this module arise primarily from the social science and business arenas, other disciplines in the liberal arts will be used to broaden and extend students' perspectives on core ideas and issues raised by the theories. In addition, case studies and applications will be an integral part of the module, and will be used to assist students in finding ways to make important leadership decisions in their own organizations, communities, and on a larger plane, in a changing, global world. Finally, in keeping with the program's mission to promote transformational and change-oriented leadership, courses in the core foundation strive to translate more abstract theories of human behavior, organizational systems, and the inquiry process into socially conscious and ethically responsible leadership styles.
- LEAF 500: Organizational Leadership and Self-Development
- LEAF 501: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: Methods of Organizational Research
- LEAF 502: Leadership and Organizational Ethics, Values, and Social Environment
- LEAF 513: Developing Leadership Skills: One-on-One Leadership, Conflict Management, and Team Building <
- LEAF 515: The Business of Leadership
- LEAF 529: Transformational Leadership and Organizational Change
- LEAF 530: Customers, Stakeholders, and Markets
Module 2: Community Action Project (3-6 credits)
This module focuses on the application of the material covered in the first module while continuing with the theme of transformational change-oriented leadership. Module 2 combines academic concepts with community action.
Communication (in the form of talking across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, personal reflection, team building, and effective activation of resources) is also highlighted in this module. Faculty will work closely with individual students and with groups of students in facilitating the application of foundational material into the practice setting and in reinforcing the theme of transformational change-oriented leadership.
While only three credits are required, the program places special emphasis on this module and students may integrate efforts begun here into their projects in module 3.
- LEAF 514: Leadership and Community: Empowerment, Collaboration, and Dialogue
Module 3: Thesis-Research Project/Special Topics/Elective (9 credits)
This module is specifically designed by the student and involves either a research-based thesis or a project, supported by an additional elective or special topics course. The student is encouraged to develop a thesis
or project as a result of work completed in earlier courses and consistent with their learning objectives. The project option provides the student with an opportunity to solve a real organizational problem or introduce
a specific change within the context of his or her own organization. The student may also chose to research a question relevant to the practice of leadership and to attempt to answer this question through the research process. The thesis is geared towards the development and implementation of a leadership research proposal. For the thesis option, the student is expected to identify a research question, choose a theoretical framework or a conceptual model, select an appropriate methodology, collect, analyze, and discuss data. The project option involves demonstration of expertise in the area of leadership. The project is designed to promote creative and unique approaches to the field of leadership. The project method and implementation will vary based on the subject matter chosen.
- LEAF 540: Research Project/Thesis -I
- LEAF 541: Research Project/Thesis - II
- LEAF 526: Leadership in Business (or LEAF 527: Leadership in Non-Profits or LEAF 528: Leadership in Health Care Organizations)
Module 4: Capstone (3 credits)
This is the integrating course of the leadership program. There are two basic components of this capstone experience: first, peer evaluation and discussion of the thesis or research projects under the direction of the
seminar leader; second, review of the leadership portfolio for completion.
- LEAF 560: Capstone Course in Leadership
