Colleges and Schools

Leadership and Management Elective Options

To earn your master of science in nursing degree with a concentration in leadership and management, you’ll choose a total of eight semester hours from the following list of nursing or business courses taught by the School of Business and Nonprofit Management. Each course is two semester hours of credit. Many of these classes can be taken either online or on campus.

Applicability of other graduate courses will be considered on a case by case basis.

Click on a course title to read a description of that class.

This course examines current theory and practice as it applies to the management of human resources within organizations. Specific focus is given on the effects of organizational mission and culture on human resource management. The processes of recruitment and selection, training and development, performance evaluation, compensation and motivation, and legal influences are examined. The course takes the viewpoint of human resource management as a key responsibility of every manager within the organization.

The modern organization is diverse visibly with respect to diversity gender, race, age, and cultural background and invisibly with respect to multiple aspects of diversity including personality, values, communication styles and management styles. This course addresses the significance of both visible and invisible diversity and the need to understand and manage it. This course also provides a broad survey of approaches to analyzing and managing conflict. A variety of topics will be covered, including identifying the origins of organizational conflict, how to diagnose and positively utilize conflict, understanding the dynamics of conflict, and the appropriate role of effective leadership styles in resolving conflict.

This course provides a conceptual framework in which to explore competitive and cooperative aspects of business situations and emphasizes the crucial role played by negotiations in accomplishing organizational objectives while enhancing relationships with key stakeholders. The development and use of power to influence others is covered as well as specific negotiating tactics. Students are afforded opportunities for actual negotiating experiences that will help them become better negotiators, attain improved resolutions for disputes, and reach more mutually beneficial agreements.

This course presents valuable tools and methods that assist with recruitment and retention of the most qualified people that are also a good fit with the organization. Exercises provide experience in selecting the right employees and in coaching and counseling for current and future performance improvement that emphasizes the capacity to provide feedback in a way that it will actually be heard. Finally the ethics of termination will be discussed together with looking when and under what circumstances termination should occur. Additionally, this course will assist with the construction of individualized career plans for each student.

This course is based on the premise that today's world increasingly depends upon collaboration for success. Teams are currently touted as the primary organizational unit in which the collaborative effort takes place. Students will investigate the arguments for and against teams and teamwork. Through exposure to theoretical knowledge and experiential learning technologies, the students will identify when teams are, and are not appropriate, as well as examine what is required to create a truly effective, high performing team.

This course provides both basic and advanced financial planning and management skills necessary in today's nonprofit organization. Successful financial planning and business development strategies will be combined to create a financial plan which achieves the goals of the organization. Included are basic principles of managerial accounting. Fund accounting, budgeting, cash flow analysis, expenditure control, long-range financial planning, audits, and grants and contracts are studied, as applied to nonprofit organizations.

Quality and productivity management and improvement is a critical part of long term business performance. This course addresses the history of quality, explores the differences between quality and productivity from both managerial and ethical perspectives. Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and Business Process Reengineering used in conjunction with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation are the best practices introduced, reviewed, and discussed. Particular attention is paid to the role of these and other quality and productivity methods in today's business environment.

This course explores critical trends and crises in the current and emerging American healthcare industry. The formation of healthcare policy in view of current trends and social concerns is explored from the perspective of the consumer, the provider and society at large. Extensive consideration is given to ethical concerns arising out of these issues.

This course emphasizes the importance of communication for all management functions. Based on a foundation of the traditional model of communications, a variety of modes will be explored: written, oral, non-verbal, as well as other visual modes. The process of organizing, imparting, and receiving information will be explored. Students will apply the concepts studied by preparing a variety of written and spoken communications during the course of the class and having each critiqued by colleagues and the instructor.

This course addresses the application of leadership skills to transform organizations. The external and internal drivers of organizational change are explored and systems archetypes are utilized to analyze the root causes of organizational issues that must be dealt with in order for change initiatives to be successful.