HRA 4130 Finance for HR Professionals (4 Credits)

It is essential for Human Resource professionals to have business acumen as a competency in order to be perceived as valuable business partners.  This course addressees financial oversight and budget skills and aims to increase students’ knowledge of financial statements, cash flow, operating budget, cost-benefit analysis, and capital budgeting.  The course will address financial reports, financial ratios, analysis and measurement tools, and ethical situations as a means to increase the student’s business acumen. In addition, the course focuses on understanding how those financial reports influence human capital decisions.

HRA 4140 HR as a Strategic Partner (4 Credits)

This course offers an introduction to HR as a professional field of study, discusses how HR fits into the workplace, as well as possible career trajectories. Additionally, students will explore some of the differences in the HR function across the public, private and non-profit sectors. The course presents theories and issues in the HR field, and it defines the HR practitioner as a strategic partner and change agent. The course places HR functional management in the context of organizational strategy and policy while defining the core competencies of HR professionals including recruitment, retention, talent development, benefits design, and employee relations. All coursework is done through an equity and inclusion lens.

HRA 4150 Human Resources Across Organizations (4 Credits)

This course prepares HR professionals to work in a number of organizational settings and sectors during their careers. Students will explore how organizations may differ in legal structures, HR models, governmental oversight, records access, type and size, compensation processes, and benefits. Students will also assess how HR practices integrate with organizational strategy and mission to ensure a clear linkage to stated goals and objectives.

HRA 4160 Human Resources in a Global Economy (4 Credits)

In this course, students will explore the various challenges, strategies, and frameworks that apply to operating HR at the global level, focusing in on how talent, total reward, employee relations, culture, organizational design, culture and diversity, equity, and inclusion are approached within international organizations. Ultimately, students will understand, identify, analyze, and create strategies related to various HR challenges in the global context.

HRA 4170 The Inclusive Organization (4 Credits)

Employees are coming into organizations with differences in race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, ability, and other aspects of diversity. How can employees, regardless of level or function, contribute to a more inclusive environment that creates space and psychological safety for everyone? In this class, students will come to a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of what inclusion is, what inclusive practices look like, and what it takes to implement them at the personal, group, and organizational levels.

HRA 4180 Organizational Politics and the HR Professional (4 Credits)

Description: Organizational politics may impact programs developed by HR professionals when decisions are made to further individual interest over the interests of others. Despite the inclusion of best practices in recommendations from HR, political reasons, agendas, or actions may drive decision-making, rather than the benefit of employees. This course examines why and how politics may enter HR decision-making, assesses the merits of strategies to navigate organizational politics, and identifies links between motivation and leadership.

HRA 4230 Consulting and Human Resource Applications (4 Credits)

HR professionals often serve in a consulting role, both as internal and external consultants. This course includes models, tools, and concepts to build effective relationships with key stakeholders; identify, analyze, and diagnose organizational issues; develop and implement value-added solutions; effectively manage the change process; and measure/monitor outcomes. Students utilize a consulting model approach to turn strategy into action.

HRA 4240 Human Resources Technology Solutions (4 Credits)

Technological advances have had a major impact on the use of information for managing human resource functions within both large and small organizations. Understanding how information is utilized in the functional areas of human resources is a critical piece of supporting organizations' decision-making and strategic planning. In this course, students will explore the specifications, development, implementation and maintenance of human resources technology and how the collection, storage, and analysis of human resources data is an important element of all human resources systems. Students will also explore the fundamentals of a human resources information system (HRIS) and best practices for implementing HRIS. Ultimately, students will apply needs analysis to recommend an HRIS to an organization. Other topics covered in this course include international usage and security and privacy issues, including big data, gamification, and artificial intelligence within the realm of HRIS.

HRA 4250 Integrated Talent Management (4 Credits)

Organizational value depends on developing, utilizing, and retaining human resources. This course examines the importance of demonstrating that value along with what is needed to acquire, hire, and retain talented human resources. This includes workforce planning and forecasting, competency modeling, talent acquisition, onboarding and career development, succession planning, and developing models. Students will examine how political, economic, and social systems can lead to new policies and practices that affect talent management strategies, along with ethical considerations and inclusivity.

HRA 4260 HR Analytics and Research (4 Credits)

This course provides historical context for employee benefits and explores its motivational implications. It reviews the wide range of potential benefits and discusses "total rewards" options, which include the overall compensation and benefits an employee receives. Students will gain a solid grasp of the legal and budget implications of employee benefits offerings and will become familiar with the details of specific types of benefits, such as pension plans, health insurance, and flex spending. At the end of this course, students will be able to comprehensively understand, analyze, and strategically design total reward frameworks for organizations. The course aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities necessary to navigate the complex landscape of employee compensation and benefits, ensuring they can contribute effectively to organizational success and employee satisfaction.

HRA 4270 Value and Impact of HR Interventions (4 Credits)

In this course, students will determine the long-term and short-term impact of interventions, especially looking at a cost-benefit analysis. The object is to have a practical strategy to provide decision makers the data for human capital investments support.

HRA 4500 Organizational Leadership, Team Effectiveness, and Communications (4 Credits)

In the 21st Century, HR professionals are organizational leaders who are often tasked with building teams, leading change and ensuring strong internal communications. This survey course explores a variety of topics including how to champion organizational change, manage organizational crisis, build effective teams, and develop strategic communications. A critical tool also introduced in this course, supporting the role of HR as a strategic partner, is the balanced scorecard. This enables HR leaders to align deliverables in finance, internal processes, customer and learning and growth measures. This broad overview prepares HR professionals to actively engage in the business dialogue.

HRA 4510 Organizational Lifecycles and HR Implications (4 Credits)

This course examines the role of HR at various phases of an organization’s lifecycle taking into account mission, vision, and values. Moving from start-up to mature organizations, the course addresses HR responses to compensation, benefits, and HR structure, and addresses how HR can support and facilitate transitions from one lifecycle phase to the next. Students will explore short and long-term strategies that match HR structures and programs to needs of organizations in transition, including change management, crisis management, talent management, total rewards, and organizational communication strategies.

HRA 4520 HR Change Management (4 Credits)

Human Resources play an essential role in planning, implementing, and sustaining organizational change. This course examines the role of HR professionals in leading and advising on organizational change, including how to apply HR management practices to change management plans, and aligning total compensation and performance management practices to support the goals of change initiatives.

HRA 4600 Human Relations in Organizations (4 Credits)

The goal of this course is to examine how human relations are integral to creating systems and communication channels that support healthy employee relations and create positive workplace cultures. This course will equip human resources professionals to integrate positive human relations as a foundational element of human resources management responsibilities such as recruitment and staffing, legal and ethical considerations, onboarding, training, professional development, compensation and benefits, employee well-being, and employee relations. This course also examines the integration of and differences between human resources management, organizational development, and human relations.

HRA 4610 Employee Compensation (4 Credits)

This course explores how to develop and manage employee compensation systems with emphasis on motivational theory, individual and group performance, key elements of compensation-system design, external competitiveness, internal equity, compliance, and innovative reward strategies. Students will explore the practical and strategic purpose of compensation systems from a historical perspective as well as in the context of the social and business issues of today’s world economy.

HRA 4620 Employment Total Benefits (4 Credits)

This course develops historical context for employee benefits and the motivational implications. It reviews the wide range of potential benefits and discusses "total rewards" options. The course examines pension plans, social security, ERISA, major benefits legislation, health insurance, flex spending, and budget implications.

HRA 4630 Employment Law (4 Credits)

This course explores employment law issues that affect the HR function in organizations. It provides an in-depth examination of the complex and dynamic intersection between legal principles and HR functions within organizations. Topics include equal employment opportunity laws, sexual harassment, risk management, discrimination, wage and hour laws, unionization, workplace safety, at-will employment, and other relevant legal concepts. The course will also address issues related to international employment laws. The primary focus is to prepare students with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the landscape of employment law and effectively manage HR practices in compliance with legal requirements.

HRA 4701 Topics in Human Resources (4 Credits)

The content of this course varies each time it is offered. The topics may include time-sensitive issues in the field of strategic human resource management, elective courses that are not scheduled regularly during the course of the year, or advanced inquiry into core-course subjects. Each time the course is offered, the specific content is announced in the quarterly course schedule. Depending on the subject matter, students may be required to have completed prerequisite courses.

HRA 4901 Capstone Project (4 Credits)

The Capstone Project provides students the opportunity to research a topic, problem, or issue within their field of study, and work individually with a Capstone advisor. Similar in weight to a thesis, but more flexible, this final project will synthesize and apply core concepts acquired from the program. The student will select an appropriate Capstone advisor who is knowledgeable in the field of study to work closely with and whom can guide the research project. Evaluation will be focused on the quality and professionalism of applied research and writing; critical and creative thinking; problem-solving skills; knowledge of research design, method, and implementation; and contribution to the field and topic of study. Please see the Capstone Guidelines for additional details. Prerequisites: A Capstone Proposal that has been approved by both the Capstone Advisor and the Academic Director, acceptance as a degree candidate, completion of at least 40 quarter-hours (including all core courses) with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.

HRA 4902 Capstone Seminar (4 Credits)

The Capstone Seminar is a graduate seminar in which students utilize the knowledge and skills gained through the degree program to create a culminating work that critically addresses a problem in their degree field of study. The students produce a Capstone of 7000-8000 words that presents a position on a relevant problem, supports the position with professional and academic literature, analyzes and tests the proposed solution, and discusses the findings as related to the field of study. The seminar is dependent upon quality, collegial discussion, and feedback of students’ research and work products, under the facilitation of a faculty member. The course structure guides the students through the process of independent, secondary research and writing of a Capstone. No primary research is allowed. Students generate the course content through ongoing discussion and peer feedback on the Capstone process and individual topic areas under investigation. Students professionally and academically communicate through written work and oral presentation. Students must have: Acceptance as a degree candidate, completion of at least 40 quarter-hours (including all core courses) with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. Students must complete the Capstone Seminar in one quarter; no incomplete grades are assigned.

HRA 4904 Interdisciplinary Capstone Seminar (4 Credits)

The Interdisciplinary Capstone Seminar is a graduate seminar in which students utilize the knowledge and skills gained through the degree program to create a culminating work that critically addresses a problem or issue in the degree field of study. Members of the class will include students from various UCOL programs, representing multiple topics of study. On campus offerings of this course include required online components. The student produces a paper of 7000-8000 words that presents a position on a relevant problem or issue, supports the position with professional and academic work in the field, analyzes and tests the paper position, and discusses the role of the findings within the field of study. Students professionally and academically communicate their findings through written work and oral presentations. The seminar is dependent upon active and collegial discussion and critique of student research and work under the facilitation of a faculty member, and it is governed by the quality of participation and contributions of the students. Students must have: Acceptance as a degree candidate, completion of at least 40 quarter-hours (including all core courses) with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better. Students must complete the Capstone Seminar in one quarter; no incomplete grades are assigned.

HRA 4910 Research Practices and Applications (4 Credits)

This course develops competencies including principles and practices of: academic inquiry, writing, and ethics. Students will complete Institutional Review Board (IRB) training, data collection, analysis, and evaluation; and synthesize application of peer-reviewed literature. Competencies will be applied and integrated throughout the course of study and demonstrated in the culminating work of the master’s degree. Competencies are additionally developed for use in professional employment settings.

HRA 4980 Internship (0-4 Credits)

The Strategic Human Resource Management Internship is designed to offer students a purposeful experience in a practical, industry related setting. The internship is an individualized learning experience. A training plan is created for each student in conjunction with the internship site supervisor to provide experiences related to the skills and knowledge covered in the certificate and master's programs as well as professional goals. Students are responsible for finding their own internship site and proposing their internship ideas. University College will send notification to all SHRM students if they hear of internship possibilities. Students may also work through the DU career center to explore opportunities for internship experiences.

HRA 4985 Industry Innovation Project (1-4 Credits)

Students in this course will participate as a part of a team of cross-discipline students working on an innovation project that is scoped to meet the specific needs of its industry client. Students will have a choice between a variety of project types so that each student can select the industry and team role that best supports their specific area(s) of study. Teams will consist of 4-8 students pursuing a mix of technical, business, and liberal arts degrees. Every project will be led by an experienced industry advisor who will be responsible for managing the project workplan, client engagement, and end product quality. Students will gain direct industry experience in their area of study with an emphasis on innovative thinking, team collaboration, and independent project management skills. Prerequisite: Academic director and academic advisor approval is required. Selection criteria will include academic status and project availability.

HRA 4991 Independent Study (1-8 Credits)

This is an advanced course for students wishing to pursue an independent course of study. The student must be accepted in a degree program, have earned a grade point average of 3.0 or better, obtained the approval of the department director, and have completed the Independent Study form and filed the form with all appropriate offices before registering for the independent study. Independent Study is offered only on a credit basis and only may be used by degree candidates. Prerequisite: Admitted degree candidate.