Leadership and Organization Studies
Office: University College Student Support Center
Mail Code: 2211 S. Josephine St. Denver, CO 80208
Phone: 303-871-2291, 800-347-2042
Email: ucolsupport@du.edu
Web Site: http://www.universitycollege.du.edu
With more than 20 percent of all undergraduate degrees in the United States being business-related, individuals must differentiate themselves to compete in the global job market. A bachelor’s degree in Leadership and Organization Studies draws on several diverse subjects such as management, economics, sociology, and psychology to help students learn how to function creatively and effectively in all types of organizations including business, government, and non-profit.
The critical learning outcomes of a leadership degree are similar to a traditional undergraduate business major; however, it offers much more, including civic engagement opportunities, training and development techniques, organizational behavior knowledge, and key communication skills. A leadership degree prepares graduates to analyze and change organizational structures, as well as gain perspective on the roles of effective leaders and followers within business. Degree-seekers can take their education to the next level by combining essential business skills with leadership, project management, and communication techniques—a diverse portfolio of knowledge that will help students succeed as leaders in the business world.
Students in the Bachelor of Arts Completion Program have the opportunity to learn through applied classes that are career-relevant and focus on the experience students bring to the classroom. Students can take classes in this bachelor’s degree completion program as hybrid and/or online and learn how to function on high-performance teams, leverage diversity, and resolve conflict. Bachelor’s completion students complete a leadership integrative project that expands their perspectives of leadership.
This degree prepares students to:
- Demonstrate effective and persuasive oral, written, and non-verbal communication techniques using tone and principles appropriate to the audience.
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Apply leadership and organization studies theory and principles to formulate well-organized arguments in writing and speaking that contain a clear purpose, relevant content, and a conclusion that directly reflects the purpose and strength of the content.
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Explain and compare roles, ethics, and theoretical perspectives of effective leaders and followers.
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Recognize and apply key functions of leadership through support, consideration, and management of cultural diversity.
- Investigate, explain, and apply the skills of financial oversight to an organization using readily available information.
Undergraduate Certificate in Leading Teams
The Leading Teams certificate allows students to demonstrate greater expertise in leading professional teams. The certificate allows for the further development of leadership skills and competencies for application in students’ professional lives including awareness of the self as a leader, key leadership perspectives, cultural diversity considerations, and impactfully managing groups and teams. The certificate applies a keen awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts throughout the coursework.
Transfer courses are not accepted for the certificate courses. All 16 or 17 credits must be completed within University College.
This certificate prepares students to:
• Explain the roles, ethics, and theoretical perspectives of effective leaders and followers.
• Articulate a vision for themselves as leaders within organizations and to their teams.
• Apply key functions of leadership through support, consideration, and management of cultural diversity.
• Evaluate effective leadership behaviors, skills, and characteristics that positively and negatively impact groups and teams.
Leadership and Organization Studies
Bachelor of Arts Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Major Courses (40 credits) | ||
| LOS 3050 | Financial Management | 4 |
| LOS 3100 | Leading with an Entrepreneurial Mindset | 4 |
| LOS 3150 | Leading Groups and Teams | 4 |
| LOS 3200 | Cross-Cultural Leadership | 4 |
| LOS 3250 | Learning in Organizations | 4 |
| LOS 3300 | Project Management | 4 |
| BACP 3350 | Directed Research | 4 |
| BACP 3400 | Civic Engagement | 4 |
| BACP 3450 | Integrative Project Design | 4 |
| BACP 3500 | Integrative Project | 4 |
| Total Credits | 40 | |
Undergraduate Certificate in leading teams
Required courses:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| LOS 1000 | Front-line Manager Essentials | 5 |
| or LOS 2100 | Leadership | |
| LOS 2050 | Organizational Behavior | 4 |
| LOS 3150 | Leading Groups and Teams | 4 |
| LOS 3200 | Cross-Cultural Leadership | 4 |
| Total Credits | 17 | |
Minimum number of credits required for certificate: 16 credits
LOS 1000 Frontline Manager Leadership Essentials (5 Credits)
The course delivers foundational leadership and management skills necessary to succeed in a first management position and incorporates extensive one-on-one learner coaching. The core concepts for this course include the following: Understanding oneself as a leader, including styles of leadership; strengthening relationships by understanding others, including diversity, equity, and inclusion; professional communication skills (oral, written, listening); delivering and receiving feedback and coaching employees; transitioning from a peer to a leader/manager role, developing a robust and inclusive team culture; building and motivating a high-performance team; and hiring, onboarding, and individual performance management. Practical experience and application of content form the student experience. Students leave with a professional leadership development plan for implementation in their front-line manager roles.
LOS 2025 Leadership Development in Action (4 Credits)
Developing effective and successful leadership competencies is a lifelong endeavor that begins with the self and evolves throughout our career journey. In this course, inclusive leaders will be examined, including core leadership competencies and practices that may vary due to the organizational culture and structure. Students will identify core behaviors and practices along with effective communication skills and problem-solving tools to effectively move an organization forward. Students will assess their own leadership competencies and areas for growth to construct a personal leadership development plan.
LOS 2050 Organizational Behavior (4 Credits)
Organizations serve as the fundamental building blocks of society. Most people spend hours of time weekly working in organizations. This course focuses on organizational structure and design by uncovering the dynamics of individual, work group/team and corporate behavior. Through reading, case studies and interaction, students learn about decision-making, problem-solving, patterns of interaction and facilitation of change.
LOS 2100 Leadership (4 Credits)
What is leadership and how do leaders lead? Can leadership be learned? What skills do 21st-century leaders need? This course provides an opportunity to examine leadership theories, to develop a personal understanding of leadership, and to explore the relations of leaders and followers. The essential skills of effective leaders are explored, such as elaborating a vision, facilitating communication, working with diversity in organizations, shaping an ethical climate, and facilitating change. Students will be encouraged to examine systematically their own leadership potential as they reflect on historical and contemporary examples of effective business and political leaders as well as leaders of causes and social movements.
LOS 3050 Financial Management (4 Credits)
All organizations, businesses, governments, and not-for-profits must deal with financial matters. This course provides opportunities to learn how to read and use financial data in order to develop systems for budget creation and control, profit forecasting, and long-range development. Basic principles of accounting, cost analysis and control, revenue and expense forecasting, return on investment, and capital reinvestment are studied and applied to examples. The leader's roles in financial management are examined, including technical, conceptual, and value considerations.
LOS 3100 Leading with an Entrepreneurial Mindset (4 Credits)
Many people dream of being their own boss or starting their own business. This course explores the challenges of entrepreneurship, both starting a new business and bringing the entrepreneurial mindset to a large organization. Students examine the basic processes underlying entrepreneurship, including idea generation, prospect assessment, cost analysis, creating buy-in, and launching the product or service. Examples of successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs will be examined to identify common patterns. Students will study and discuss entrepreneurship as a set of skills, values, and attitudes, and are invited to consider how they can apply entrepreneurship as a life skill.
LOS 3150 Leading Groups and Teams (4 Credits)
All teams are groups, but not all groups truly function as teams. Successful organizational leaders recognize the differences and are adept at strategically creating diverse groups and teams to accomplish organizational goals. This course offers applied leadership strategies addressing the various types of teams, principles of team behavior, strategies for avoiding team dysfunction, effective team leadership, and leveraging interpersonal strategies and organizational resources to ensure collaboration, synergy, and effectiveness.
LOS 3200 Cross-Cultural Leadership (4 Credits)
This course examines the leadership dynamics of culture, including but not limited to gender, socioeconomic status, race, religion, and social values at a global level. The purpose is to allow for the students to understand cultural competencies and give them the ability to manage in a diverse workforce in our twenty-first-century global society. Because most successful companies recognize the value of workplace diversity and its impact on organizational effectiveness, many invest considerable time and resources into the development of cross-cultural leadership. This course explores the dynamic subject of cross-cultural leadership from multiple perspectives, using both domestic and international lenses for inquiry. It examines the related concepts of organizational communication, culture and cultural awareness, conflict resolution, and inclusive business systems. Students will learn about leadership prospects and examine how cooperation among different cultural backgrounds lead to the achievement of common goals. Students will explore best practice models that address cultural differences in the professional and personal space. Additionally, they will learn how to adapt, communicate, and think critically in professional and personal settings.
LOS 3250 Learning in Organizations (4 Credits)
Accelerating change in society and in organizations challenges individuals and the organization as a whole to engage in a process of continuous learning. In this course, basic concepts of individual and organizational learning are explored both in terms of their intrinsic value to individuals and as the source of competitive advantage to the organization. How is learning conceived of and structured throughout organizations? How is the return on investment in learning evaluated? This course provides an overview of what organizations do for the training and development of employees, how they structure knowledge sharing, and how they institutionalize within the organization the knowledge of its members through effective knowledge management practices.
LOS 3300 Project Management (4 Credits)
Work in organizations, or in the collaboration among organizations is often structured as projects. Almost any individual in an organization can be called upon to participate in or lead a project. Projects have deliverables that must be met within an agreed-upon time frame and budget. In this course, students learn the basic concepts and processes of project management including how to establish standards of performance, allot time, calculate costs, develop work-break-down structures, and delineate critical pathways. Students also learn about software tools available to plan and track successful projects to completion. Work in organizations, or in the collaboration among organizations, is often structured as projects. Almost any individual in an organization can be called upon to participate in or lead a project. Projects have “deliverables” that must be met within an agreed-upon time frame and budget. In this course, students learn the basic concepts and processes of project management: how to establish standards of performance, allot time, calculate costs, develop work breakdown structures, delineate critical pathways, enlist people and resources, and motivate accomplishment.
LOS 3325 Applied Project Management II (3 Credits)
This applied project management course is a continuation of concepts learned in LOS 3300 Project Management and focuses on project management strategies and tactics, including understanding data, tracking, and software used to manage projects. A project will be managed from conceptualization to evaluation. Students must register for a corresponding lab section. Prerequisite: LOS 3300.
LOS 3326 Applied Project Management II Lab (1 Credit)
Taken in conjunction with LOS 3325 Applied Project Management, this course provides students with hands-on use of project management tools to execute projects related to their major. Students focus on real-world examples, best practices, and have the opportunity to develop, deploy, and evaluate project management tools and technologies. Prerequisite: LOS 3300.