Leadership (MS) Curriculum
As you consider your degree options for building and honing your leadership skills, bear in mind that University of Arkansas Grantham’s 100% online coursework is designed to help you prepare for a success in personal and professional leadership roles.
Program Snapshot:
Program Core Credits:
36
Total Credit Hours:
36
Accreditation(s):
DEAC
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Program Core
Graduate Student Success
GU500
1 Credits›
This course is designed to help students learn and improve skills and strategies that are essential to academic success at a graduate level. Through activities, application and reflection, the material covered in this course should support and assist students in achieving their graduate level degree. Students should develop confidence in their ability to succeed as a graduate student.
Leadership Styles and Development
LD501
3 Credits›
This course is designed to provide a basic introduction to leadership by focusing on what it means to be a good leader. Emphasis in the course is on the practice of leadership. The course will examine topics such as: the nature of leadership, recognizing leadership traits, developing leadership skills, creating a vision, setting the tone, listening to out-group members, handling conflict, overcoming obstacles, and addressing ethics in leadership. Attention will be given to helping students to understand and improve their own leadership performance.
Grit, Performance, and Staying Power
LD510
3 Credits›
This course offers powerful yet practical advice for students to harness personal excellence. Grounded in research, this course is based on a simple yet revolutionary principle of learning to lead one's self first in order to more effectively lead others. This inclusive approach to self-motivation and self-influence equips students with the strategies and tips they need to build a strong foundation in the study of management and leadership, as well as enhancing their personal effectiveness.
Critical Communication and Leadership
LD520
3 Credits›
Effective leadership requires effective communication skills. In this course, we will explore the transformation power of words, and practice delivering messages with credibility and conviction. Additionally, we will examine the dynamics of conversation and how people jockey for power or manipulate others through rhetorical devices. We will learn how to interpret nonverbal communication as well as monitor our own nonverbal, so that we can align our message with our behaviors.
Leadership Theories and Strategies
LD530
4 Credits›
This course provides an in-depth review of the major theories and models of leadership as they function within an organization. A historical review of leadership theory will be combined with contemporary issues in leadership practice. Students will analyze individual models of leadership with an emphasis on the application of these models to organizational situations, including in their own workplace. Students will evaluate their leadership style through various self-assessments providing the framework for self awareness and evaluation. Students culminate their assessment of each model by designing a leadership action plan for a contemporary social issue.
Effective Coaching
LD540
3 Credits›
Effective leaders seek to enhance their teams through formal and informal coaching activities. This course teaches you practices you can use immediately to foster employee commitment and help employees gain the skills necessary to sustain and grow any type of organization. Topics covered in this course include: the attributes of a good coach, powerful listening, asking good questions, mentoring, and creative solutions through coaching.
Cross Cultural Communication and Leadership
LD550
3 Credits›
This course presents students with challenging cross-cultural situations that develop for different reasons and from different backgrounds. This course provides a look for practical work solutions and ways to integrate culture into social change and civic engagement. This course helps students master the skills necessary to connect globally and grasp the role of cultural nuances, behaviors, attitudes and emotions in a harmonious and equitable global environment. Topics include civic and political engagement, social action, relationships, consumption and production of media, global workplace, cross-cultural adjustment and competence, and other practical issues.
Ethics in Leadership
LD560
3 Credits›
This course examines the unique ethical challenges faced by leaders with an emphasis on building ethical competency. Topics include virtue ethics, evil, forgiveness, moral theories, moral reasoning, ethical decision-making, ethical influence, transformational leadership, servant leadership, ethical group problem solving, ethical organizational climate, ethical diversity and ethical crisis leadership.
Organizational Behavior
MGT517
3 Credits›
This advanced course examines how human behavior in organizations plays a crucial role in achieving organizational effectiveness, while simultaneously promoting positive human outcomes. This course is designed to introduce students to key theories and concepts, as well as practical applications related to the field of Organizational Behavior. While the course will focus on such pertinent issues as the behavioral science theories, and associated concepts, the course will emphasize such areas of concentration as, but will not limited to: personality, values, diversity, communication, leadership, attitudes, conflict management, motivation, group/team dynamics, and organizational culture. This course affords students both a firm theoretical background and foundation upon which to build, but likewise instructs and builds the practical skills necessary to understand and manage organizational behavior within a variety of milieus.
Leading and High Performance
LD570
3 Credits›
Human and organizational learning are intertwined. Improving their performance means learning new ways to work. For many people, learning theory and practice has been embedded in the training function of most organizations; however, organizational learning may best be described through change and innovation. This course considers the issues of human and organizational learning that changes performance.
Leadership Strategies for Change
LD580
3 Credits›
This course is designed to expose students to a broad spectrum of leadership issues relative to the strategic importance of leading organizational change, including the dynamics of leadership, successfully implementing change and the impacts of change affecting today's and tomorrow's organizational leadership. This course provides a practical, real-world understanding of several dimensions of leadership in relation to change. Topics include the importance of leadership, how successful leadership can result in a more effective organization and how leaders can identify and overcome resistance to change.
Leadership Capstone
LD599
4 Credits›
The Leadership Capstone course is intended to be concluding and integrative experience of the leadership coursework. It is an opportunity for students to integrate concepts learned throughout the program into a leadership portfolio that showcases their leadership abilities, personal reflections, accomplishments, skills, activities and effects on individuals and environments. Topics include an application of leadership theories and incorporates leadership development with people, structures, culture and tasks. (including those relating to the internet), as well as descriptions of the different protections offered by patents, copyrights and trademarks and how they can affect individuals.