ORL 4000 High Impact Leadership (4 Credits)

Leveraging learners’ professional experience, this course delivers applied concepts and skills for professionals to effectively lead and manage individuals and teams. Course content is structured around three sequential themes. Early in this course, learners will focus on understanding and growing oneself as a leader including establishing an inclusive leadership mindset and forming effective communication and self-organization techniques. Next, learners will explore and apply effective techniques to develop individuals and high-performing teams, including approaches for feedback, accountability, coaching and motivation, and leading and managing change. Finally, learners will examine how to navigate organizational dynamics, including managing up and across the organization, and will cultivate their personal leadership and career growth using career design principles. Students use a leadership assessment tool to reflect on their leadership practice and inform the development of a personal leadership action plan. To further support learners in their leadership development, personalized, one-on-one leadership coaching is integrated throughout the course.

ORL 4110 Organization Development Models and Applications (4 Credits)

This course explores the history of organizational development (OD), definitions, models, approaches, and how OD is and can be used in organizations today. An organizational development professional requires a multitude of skills to be effective. Students will assess their own skills and develop a plan to develop or increase required skills.

ORL 4112 Organization Development Interventions (4 Credits)

This course will equip students with a solid foundation in Organization Development interventions, enabling them to contribute effectively to organizational change efforts and improve organizational effectiveness for individuals, teams, and whole systems. Through critical analysis, practical application, and discussion of ethical considerations, students will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the complex landscape of contemporary organizations and drive positive change through OD interventions. In this course, students will explore how to set up interventions for success and examine a variety of intervention types in each of these categories that serve to support activities that change individuals, teams, and systems. Pre-requisites: ORL 4110 strongly recommended, or significant Organization Development experience.

ORL 4115 Organizational Culture and Leadership (4 Credits)

Organizational culture is the shared values, beliefs, norms, and practices that shape the behavior and interactions of individuals within an organization. This course explores various elements of organizational culture and the relationship between culture and leadership. It also delves into how organizational culture influences and is influenced by organizational development, emphasizing the role of culture in fostering a resilient, adaptive, and successful organization. Students will examine methods for assessing and evolving organizational culture and apply the knowledge gained to real-world contexts.

ORL 4120 Team Effectiveness and Interventions (4 Credits)

To be successful, organizations of all types depend on teams of people who work together to complete tasks, achieve goals, and to help accomplish organizational change and strategy. As a result, focusing on the effectiveness of teams is a key value in organizational development. In this course, students learn how teams work and what makes them effective. Students investigate the tools and methods needed to conduct team assessments, diagnose the symptoms, and prescribe and evaluate targeted interventions that help teams achieve goals that impact organizational outcomes.

ORL 4125 Evaluate and Sustain Change (4 Credits)

This course explores organization impacts and change processes that are inherent in organizational development. Students will analyze various change models and assess how they explain the impact of change on organizations and their stakeholders. Students will also evaluate leadership and managerial practices that play a role in sustaining organizational change.

ORL 4135 Large Scale Interventions (4 Credits)

This course explores the theory and practice of a large-scale or organization-wide organizational development process--including entering the organization, assessing a strategy for a unique organizational culture, and presenting results--while understanding the human side of change. There are many organizational development strategies that can be used based on unique organizational considerations. This course examines the roles of organizational structure, type of organization, and the depth and breadth of the organizational change affecting organizational development strategy and large-scale interventions.

ORL 4160 Integrating Personal and Organizational Success (4 Credits)

This course explores the dynamic and ever-evolving relationship between individual and organizational success. Students will examine the profound impact of their mindset and the "interior condition" from which they lead on organizational performance and goals. They will also investigate how the application of awareness-based methodologies in systems thinking, innovation, and change management build organizational capacity and elevate performance. Additionally, students will build their own Personal Operating System and explore how it aligns with and contributes to organizational success, thereby strengthening their ability to achieve holistic success in their personal and professional lives.

ORL 4170 Developing Human Capital in Organizations (4 Credits)

Human capital represents the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to implement the strategy of any organization – public, private or nonprofit. Unlike other forms of capital such as financial and equipment, human capital resides within the individual. This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the strategic role and typical responsibilities that organization leadership, along with human resources, play in unleashing the potential of employees. Developing Human Capital examines current challenges and trends in developing talent as new core competencies and ways to work emerge, technology enables collaboration, and demographics shift employee expectations. The Developing Human Capital in Organizations course provides a talent management and human capital development framework that demonstrates and supports integrated processes and systems that position and enhance employee and leadership development. Students explore the role of leaders and HR in unleashing talent, an organization's most important source of competitive advantage. Students will assess, analyze and apply concrete strategies that ensure talent development is strategic, relevant, culturally sustainable, and competency-driven.

ORL 4190 Values-Driven Decision Making (4 Credits)

This course explores both objective and subjective decision making models. Emphasis is placed on decision making for organizational effectiveness. The rational approach will be taught via maximization of expected outcomes and decision tree analysis. The course will also explore managers’ preferred decision making styles. The irrational side of decision-making will be covered through demonstrations and discussion of decision bias and judgment heuristics. Decision making is a complex and challenging process. The need for an effective and efficient methodology that is simple, systematic, and logical is more important today than ever. This course is an answer to that problem by using examples from our text and up-to-date articles on decision making from experts in the field.

ORL 4400 Leading Strategic Planning in Organizations (4 Credits)

How does an organization translate its mission into specific activities? In this course, students will explore a variety of established frameworks and tools related to organizational strategy that drive long-term success. This course will provide students with the general skills necessary to understand and perform a strategic analysis of an organization. Students will learn techniques related to organizational development, project management, and strategy and will conclude this course by using those tools and techniques to conduct a strategic evaluation of an organization.

ORL 4420 Leading Change for Transformation (4 Credits)

In the 21st Century, change is a constant in organizations that want to remain competitive. At the heart of organizational change are the people of the organization who must continuously adapt their ways of thinking/doing to help the organization adapt and transform. This course prepares students to become leaders of change in their organizations through an exploration of change theory as well as the tools, models, and techniques for facilitating organizational change. Students will also learn how to enable and inspire other individuals in organizations to create change.

ORL 4501 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.

ORL 4510 Building the 21st-Century Organization (4 Credits)

This course examines organizations in various sectors and assesses the impact of internal and external factors on their designs and structures. Students will analyze group and individual behavior and organizational culture to understand their impact on organizational design, while also taking into account contemporary issues such as diversity and inclusion, artificial intelligence, unanticipated environmental events, and the role of stakeholders. Students will evaluate the appropriateness of current organizational designs and provide recommendations for innovation and improvement.

ORL 4530 Leading a Culture of Organizational Innovation (4 Credits)

This course examines a proven process of innovation and how it applies to private, public, and non-profit organizations. Students will explore how leadership and organizational culture can impact innovation. They will develop skills to determine the most appropriate strategies and structures to encourage effective innovation within organizations. In particular, students will describe how to implement management systems to assess ongoing innovation, use metrics throughout the process, and determine how to incentivize innovation in work teams. Students will also assess an organization’s current degree of innovation and propose an action plan for integrating innovation moving forward.

ORL 4550 Strategic Organizational Partnerships (4 Credits)

Partnerships extend organizational capability between and within organizations and across sectors by leveraging shared resources and complementing core competencies. This course examines partnerships at a micro and macro level, including internal and external partnerships, strategic alliances, and joint ventures as alternatives to vertical integration. Students will apply leading frameworks and assessment strategies to analyze and design partnerships across sectors. The course emphasizes ethical and sustainable management of organizational relationships, with a focus on developing the competencies required for effective partnership leadership.

ORL 4701 Topics in Organizational Leadership (4 Credits)

The content of this course varies each time it is offered. The topics may include time-sensitive issues, 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.

ORL 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.

ORL 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.

ORL 4903 Applied Capstone Experience (4 Credits)

The Applied Capstone Experience provides students the opportunity to work collaboratively on a real-world project in a workplace context. Students will draw on their knowledge, skills, and experiences from their own programs of study and apply them to the project. Teams may consist of students in the same discipline or may be a mix of students across different programs. Throughout the project, and with instructor guidance, students are expected to collaborate with team members, communicate with various stakeholders, lead and manage their own portion of the project, and implement feedback to create project deliverables. Students will also reflect on their experiences in order to track their personal growth, decision-making processes, and their integration of program knowledge. Students will gain industry experience with an emphasis on critical thinking, team collaboration, and independent project management skills. Prerequisite: 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 Applied Capstone Experience in one quarter; no incomplete grades are assigned.

ORL 4980 Internship (0-4 Credits)

The ORL internship is designed to offer students a practical educational experience in an industry related setting. The internship is an individualized learning experience that is directly related to the knowledge and skills covered in the ORL master’s degree program. Students are responsible for finding their own internship site and proposing their internship ideas. University College sends notification to all ORL students if they hear of internship possibilities. Students may also work through the DU career center to explore opportunities for internship experiences. The objectives, activities, responsibilities, and deliverables for the internship are defined in a training plan that is developed by the student jointly with the internship supervisor at the sponsoring organization. The training plan is approved by the academic director. Prerequisites: The student must be unconditionally accepted in the ORL degree program, have completed a minimum of 28 hours of graduate coursework, including at least two core courses, and have earned a GPA of 3.0 or better. Enrollment must be approved by the academic director.

ORL 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.

ORL 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 into 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 for-credit basis.