Course Descriptions
The Organizational and Professional DevelopmentProgram has two main concentrations of study: Supervisory and Leadership and Training and Development. Course Descriptions are listed below. For more information on concentrations of study click here.
OPD 3000 Learning Analysis Through Portfolio Development
This course is designed to enable Organizational & Professional Development majors to understand how to assess and document workplace experiential learning for college-level learning. This highly experiential course emphasizes the identification and development of skills as well as the conceptual frameworks needed to write the portfolio. This course is restricted to Organizational & Professional Development students.
OPD 4700 Leadership in Organizations
This course covers leadership concepts and theories at the individual and organizational levels. Students will apply these concepts and theories to examine their own leadership practices in organizations through completion of self-assessments, experiential exercises, and participation in team projects.
OPD 4800 Strategies and Processes of Teaching and Training
Application of strategies of teaching and training, presentation skills, lesson planning, and instructional technologies such as experiential learning, problem solving, simulation, computerized instruction, and lecturettes for vocational teachers and human resource development trainers. (3 sh)
OPD 4810 Principles of Career Development
The nature, purpose, and philosophy of career education as it relates to the career development of individuals. Includes an overview of various levels of career development and the contributions various career development theories make to a total program of career development. Contemporary problems and issues in career development. (3 sh)
OPD 4815 Conflict in Organizations
Conflict resolution skills are necessary to improve work relationships and accomplish organizational goals within organizations. This course studies conflict as an organizational phenomenon, including conflict dynamics in the workplace and models for conflict resolution systems within organizations. (3 sh)
OPD 4820 Change Strategies in Organizations
A study, from the worker's perspective, of how technology affects social processes in occupational environments; human resource development; sociotechnical and open system theories; diagnosing occupational systems; change strategies; and the worker's adaptation of occupational settings to changing environmental demands. (3 sh)
OPD 4825 Ethical Behavior in Organizations
This course will encompass the major issues surrounding and affecting ethics within an organization, including recognizing ethical issues, making ethical judgments in organizations, and understanding the importance of organizational ethics programs. (3 sh)
OPD 4830 Organizational Perspectives: Past, Present, & Future
This course involves the study of the nature of organizations from varying perspectives including historical, philosophical, technological, psychological and sociological. The course also includes prospects and directions for the future. (3 sh)
OPD 4835 Supervision in Organizations
The study of the theories, principles, and practices of supervision in organizations, emphasizing how supervisors organize an effective work unit, initiate change, stimulate individual or group performance, and cope with workplace dynamics. (3 sh)
OPD 4840 Training Program Development
In-depth study of the establishment and operation of training programs of human resource development in the public or private sectors with emphasis on needs assessment, program design, proposal preparation, staffing, fiscal budgeting and monitoring, fiscal justification, program evaluation, impact assessment, and applied legalities. (3 sh)
OPD 4845 Improvement in Organizations
This course is designed to acquaint students on methods to understand and improve organizational performance. Included in this course are techniques for identifying problems, philosophies and techniques addressing problems, and planning for measurable improvement. This course will be an introduction to the advanced material covered in TEC 5213 enhancing curricular integration between the Career & Organizational Studies Program with the Master in Technology graduate program. (3 sh)
OPD 4855 Developing Effective Web-Based Instruction
This goal of this course is to teach training and development and information technology professionals how to design, develop, and manage web-based training (WBT) programs that will deliver measurable results for organizations. This course will provide the fundamental principles behind quality instruction, interface design, project management and program evaluation. (3 sh)
OPD 4860 Facilitating Learning and Project Groups
People at all organizational levels accomplish their work alongside and through others. A fundamental workplace competency is the capacity to facilitate learning and project groups. Participants will practice facilitation principles and strategies, including how to deal with common facilitation problems. (3 sh)
OPD 4865 - Diversity in Organizations
The study of the differences between employees’ cultural values and how these differences affect the work environment. This course will help in developing potential skills to analyze and improve an organization’s performance in managing diversity. (3 sh)
OPD 4870 Coaching and Mentoring for Critical Thinking in the Workplace
People in the workplace are increasingly expected to think critically about their work rather than simply follow a supervisor's instructions. Participants will explore and apply principles of coaching and mentoring for critical thinking to the workplace, classroom, and training room. (3 sh)
OPD 4880 Productive Work Teams
The multiple roles and responsibilities needed to function effectively in productive work teams are stressed by being a member of class teams and studying teams. This highly experiential, research-based, and applications-oriented course emphasizes assessment of self, team effectiveness, and organizational readiness for teams. (3 sh)
OPD 4890 Accelerated Training & Learning
Training and development specialists are addressing the needs of the learning organization. The focus of training is shifting from how people are trained to how people learn. A set of training technologies that accelerate learning has emerged. Participants will study: learning theories and paradigms; brain-related instructional design; style-flexing to accommodate cultural and learning-style diversity; and experiential and accelerated technologies. (3 sh)
OPD 4275 Career & Organizational Studies Internship
Experience includes job skills and knowledge, management-worker relations, supervised instruction conferences and evaluations. One semester hour per semester, up to a maximum of 15 semester hours, will be awarded for directed work experience internships.
OPD 4300 Special Studies in Career & Organizational Studies
Provides opportunity for in-depth study of selected problems in occupational education for which there is not an established course. May be taken for credit only once. Prior approval by the Director is needed.
