Master of Science in Organizational Development and Leadership

The Master of Science in Organizational Development and Leadership (MSODL) is an accelerated graduate organizational development program of instruction designed to enhance each student's understanding of the fundamental practices of organizational development while enabling the acquisition of the analytical skills necessary to lead others.

The MSODL program provides convenient delivery design and formats for working professionals who seek the opportunity to complete an entire graduate organizational development and leadership graduate degree plan by taking two courses per 8-week session for 5 sessions. The MSODL degree requires students to successfully complete ten courses (30 credit hours) representing key functional areas of organizational development and leadership including a capstone course that requires the student to develop a new, comprehensive case study under the supervision of a practicing Organizational Development Leader/Mentor.

Watch the video below about the MSODL program.

Society for Human Resource Management

The Master of Science in Organizational Development and Leadership has been acknowledged by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for its full alignment with SHRM's HR Curriculum Guidebook and Templates. The HR Curriculum Guidebook and Templates were developed by SHRM to define the minimum human resources content areas that should be studied by HR students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Students who are enrolled in their final year of an undergraduate or graduate degree program at a college or university that has been approved by SHRM’s Academic Initiatives staff as being aligned to SHRM's curriculum guidelines are eligible to sit for the SHRM-CP exam. Students must also have accumulated at least 500 hours of an internship or practical HR experience and must be in good standing with their school. See a current listing of approved schools on the Academic Institution Program Directory site. shrm.org/academics/programdirectory. The SPS Office of Professional and Continuing Education is also certified to offer the SHRM Essentials course and the SHRM Exam Prep course.

Degree Requirements and Program Sequence

To fulfill the requirements for the MSODL degree program, each student must complete 30 hours of graduate coursework as well as a significant research project as follows. A minimum of 24 credit hours of courses for the Master’s Degree must be taken at the University of the Incarnate Word.

Major Curriculum (30 hours)

ORGL 6301 Principles of Ethical Leadership
ORGD 6320 Organizational Behavior and Learning
ORGD 6330 Foundations of Organizational Research and Assessment
ORGD 6340 Organizational Consulting
PMBA 6309 Applied Human Resource Management
ORGL 6343 Strategic Leadership
ORGD 6351 Foundations in Organizational Development
ORGD 6352 Interventions in Organizational Development
ORGD 6360 Leading Change
ORGL 63CS MSODL Capstone

Although MSODL students may choose to pursue their degree at a less than accelerated pace, the program does enable highly driven and motivated students to complete their degree in five 8-week sessions by following the recommended schedule.

First eight-week term

  • ORGL 6301 Principles of Ethical Leadership
  • ORGD 6320 Organizational Behavior and Learning

Second eight-week term

  • ORGD 6330 Foundations of Organizational Research and Assessment
  • ORGD 6340 Organizational Consulting

Third eight-week term

  • ORGD 6360 Leading Change
  • ORGD 6351 Foundations of Organizational Development

Fourth eight-week term

  • ORGL 6343 Strategic Leadership
  • ORGD 6352 Interventions in Organizational Development

Fifth eight-week term

  • PMBA 6309 Applied Human Resource Management
  • ORGL 63CS MSODL Capstone