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Human Resources

Online Associate Degree Program

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20
Total Courses
$335
Cost per Credit
1 year, 8 months
Time to Completion With 2 Courses per Term
12-15 hours/week
Time Commitment
Upcoming Start Dates

Empower Organizations Through Effective Human Resource Skills

Effective human resource management is crucial for organizational success in today's dynamic workplace. Champlain College Online's Associate Degree in Human Resources provides a comprehensive foundation in HR principles, preparing you to excel in recruitment, payroll, and employment law. This SHRM-aligned online program ensures that you receive the most up-to-date and industry-relevant education, giving you a competitive edge in the HR field.

Build a Rewarding Career in the Growing HR Field 

  • SHRM-Aligned Curriculum: Gain experience in HR topics aligned with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) HR Curriculum Guidebook and Templates, ensuring you’re learning the most critical HR concepts
  • Recruitment and Talent Acquisition: Develop strategies to attract and select top talent, ensuring a strong organizational workforce
  • Employment Law and Labor Regulations: Gain a thorough understanding of labor laws to maintain compliance and promote fair workplace practices
  • Payroll and Benefits Administration: Learn to manage payroll systems and administer employee benefits effectively
  • Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS): Explore the use of technology in managing HR functions to enhance efficiency
  • Employee Relations and Development: Foster positive employee relations and support career development initiatives within organizations 

Champlain College Online is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®.

Note: All programs, undergraduate and graduate, must be submitted individually to the Department of Veterans Affairs for review and approval before students can utilize their G.I. Benefits to pay for them. This program is currently awaiting approval. To learn more about the process, visit the VA School Program Approval page on the VA website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your enrollment coach or email us at onlineadmissions@champlain.edu

Program Curriculum

Champlain's online human resources courses encompass the top skills needed by today's business professionals. Graduates of the program are required to complete the following courses.

Professional Courses (24 credits)

General Education Courses (21 credits)

General Electives (15 Credits)

Human Resource professionals have to be keenly aware of the employee lifecycle (ELC) - a method used to visualize how an employee engages with a company. The first stage of the ELC is attraction. Regardless of how strong your company is, without attracting great talent, your company will fail.?The second stage, recruitment, is the period where you seek out and recruit the best talent to join your organization.

Occurring after human resource professionals have recruited top talent, the onboarding period is critical to getting new hires well-adjusted to the organizational environment and performance aspects of their new job. During the development period, HR professionals begin to consistently encourage professional development among?their teams, which acts?as a catalyst in their skill development?and also helps provide them with a future career path within the company.

Students identify and analyze the myriad legal issues surrounding the workplace, employment relationships, human resources, and federal and state regulation of employment. Topics include employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, health and retirement benefits, occupational health and safety, competition and trade secret agreements, sexual harassment, and privacy rights.

PLACEHOLDER

Compensation and Benefits will provide students a detailed understanding of how to develop a Total Rewards Program (TRP), and the strategic choices employers make when selecting TRP financial terms. The course covers the implementation of compensation strategies, benefits packages, work-life balance programs, performance and service recognition strategies, and career development strategies.

Employee retention is focused on keeping top employees, and ensuring they're happy and sufficiently challenged in their respective roles within the organization. The influence of company culture goes a long way in this lifecycle stage. If the culture in the organization is poor, it inevitably leads to high employee turnover rates. In the event an employee leaves the organization, approaching the separation process strategically is critical. When a team member leaves, it has an effect on other members.

Students will learn about the application of positive individual and group strengths and capacities that can be recognized, evaluated, and expanded to advance organizational well-being. This course encourages students to apply positive organizational behavior processes to everyday challenges organizations face to drive positive workplace behaviors and outcomes. This course also helps students to practice and gain skills, knowledge, and competencies to become positive and impactful leaders and change-makers from whatever position they hold.

Students learn about the complex safety and wellness programs that must be delivered by every employer in order to ensure an environment that is conducive to productive work. They will learn about the wide range of employer safety programs including substance abuse, ergonomics, OSHA, work-life balance, leave of absences and many others that HR supports the business in developing and delivering. Students will also consider the opportunity for employee wellness programs and how to design and implement a wellness plan.

Prerequisites

Take BLAW-170

Written Communication
Complete both of the following

This course introduces students to the foundational concepts needed to communicate effectively in writing for academic study and professional development. Students will also learn to read critically to evaluate an author's message. Students will be introduced to rhetorical modes and their role in the development of written communication. Students will also learn how to use revision strategies to create written communication that meets its intended purpose for its intended audience

This course builds on students' proficiency in the writing process and rhetorical modes to introduce the use of sources in written communication. Students will practice information literacy as they learn to determine information needs from sources, develop effective search strategies, and incorporate sources in written communication, legally and ethically.

Prerequisites

Complete ENGL-100

Oral Communication
Complete the following

Starting with a frame of human communication as a dynamic system of interactions in which people make choices that impact their relationships, other people, and themselves, students will define theory-informed communication concepts and processes, and critically examine how they apply to everyday life across a variety of contexts. Students will reflect on how the theory, concepts and processes apply to their own lives in becoming competent communicators who are knowledgeable, skilled, and versatile.

Inquiry &. Analysis
Complete the following

Students will learn and apply critical inquiry skills to analyze persuasive communication created by others and to develop persuasive communication/arguments of their own to solve problems in professional, civic, social, and personal contexts. Specifically, students will learn to recognize fallacies in logic; apply inductive and deductive reasoning strategies to the interpretation and development of persuasive communication; evaluate the validity of sources; and develop logically sound persuasive communication. Students will explore the roles of self-awareness, empathy, and ethics in the context of critical inquiry and the development of arguments.

Prerequisites

Complete ENGL-110.

Quantitative Literacy
Complete one of the following

Mathematical reasoning, when applied to everyday and professional lives, has two dimensions: logic for deterministic situations and probabilities for non-deterministic situations. This course aims to help students develop these mathematical reasoning skills.

This course introduces students to basic statistics for data literacy. With a focus on exploring real-world data, students will interpret numerical information and utilize the tools necessary to complete the entire statistical process: designing a study; gathering, organizing, and analyzing sample data; and making inferences about a population. Students will demonstrate data-driven decision-making and effective communication of numerical data.

This course covers the fundamental concepts of linear algebra and analytical geometry, including matrices, vectors, linear transformations, and systems of linear equations. Students will also explore the analytical geometry of Euclidean spaces, including lines, planes, circles, spheres, and conic sections. In this course, students will develop their mathematical reasoning skills and learn how to apply these principles to solve real-world problems.

Scientific Literacy
Complete one of the following

Introduces students to the biochemistry and physiology of nutrition and exercise. Emphasis will be placed on human body systems such as musculoskeletal, digestive, respiratory and circulatory, and their relationship to nutrition and fitness. Students will also study the biochemistry of energy conversion as it relates to exercise physiology. Laboratory sessions are designed to reinforce, by a hands-on approach, the principles discussed in lecture. Course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students learn the biology, genetics, chemistry, and physics involved in the forensic investigation of crimes. A wide range of topics are studied including DNA, entomology, fingerprinting, trace evidence, serology (blood, saliva, and semen), blood spatter, and chemical analysis of drugs, alcohol, and other compounds. Students apply their new knowledge of forensic science through the use of case studies and laboratories. This course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students will develop the ability to apply scientific methods to understand the natural world, to identify scientific aspects of daily life, and to evaluate the quality of scientific information based on its source and the methods used for its generation.

In this course, students will gain an introduction to classical mechanics and learn about motion, force, energy, and momentum. The course covers vectors, scalars, and coordinate systems, as well as kinematics in one and two dimensions, Newton's Laws of Motion, circular motion, and kinetic energy and work. Students also learn about potential energy and energy conservation, collision theory, rotational motion, moment of inertia, torque, rotational dynamics, and angular momentum.

Arts, Humanities, and Social Science
Complete one of the following

With pressure and release, a window opens and closes, recording light on a sensor. The simple action captures the instinct, judgement, and skill of the person behind the lens. This class will begin a study of the art and craft of photography. Students will develop their vision and their understanding of how to achieve it. Solid skills will be learned and many doors will be opened.

A survey of the continuing change experienced in art since the 15th century. Students will examine how an image is achieved as well as the significance of the subject represented. Individual inquiry concerning the nature of art is encouraged.

Students learn to appreciate films through the critical analysis of various elements of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. The course introduces the conventions of classical Hollywood cinema, considers the work of one major director (auteur), and surveys selected international and independent films. Students view and discuss films each week.

Students in the course will explore the cultural history of the music genre broadly referred to as rock. Students will explore the social, economic and political contexts that are influenced by and that influenced each style in the United States. By listening, watching, reflecting upon, discussing and writing, students will explore how music takes on meaning, personally, and culturally. Topics and themes include the relationships between and among gospel, country, funk, folk, disco, rap and hip hop; the role of business and technology in those relationships, and political or transgressive elements of rock music.

Students will apply communication theory and research to address the particular challenges to communicating effectively in organizations. Students will learn how to identify organizational communication problems, analyze those problems, and generate effective solutions. Students will examine the relationship between organizational structure and specific communicative practices, and how communication practices by organizational members establish, maintain, or change organizational culture. They will also learn how to anticipate communication deficiencies in organizations, and use communication as a means to facilitate organizational development and innovation.

Prerequisites

Complete COMM-130

Provides a comprehensive analysis of the fundamentals of substantive criminal law. Students will learn the essential elements of crimes and the rationale underlying criminal law. The nature of jurisdiction, the criminal act, the criminal state of mind and matters affecting responsibility for criminal conduct are included.

This course focuses on the rules and procedures governing how the American criminal justice system must process individuals suspected, accused, and convicted of law violations.

This course provides students with a broad overview of the history, theory, and fundamentals of criminal investigation. Students are introduced to the basic responsibilities of investigators and protocols for report writing, evidence collection, and preparation of cases for trial. They also learn specific investigative techniques for different types of crimes, such as crimes involving violence and property, terrorism, and hate crimes, and, where appropriate, compare investigative protocols from other legal cultures.

Prerequisites

Take CRIM-120, CRIM-121.

Principles of Economics introduces the fundamental concepts of economics - the study of how people manage resources, and how they react to scarcity. This course focuses on both microeconomics (the behavior of consumers and companies) and macroeconomics (large-scale economic factors such as employment and interest rates), so that you'll gain a broad understanding of how a modern market economy functions, how decisions in business settings are informed by economics, and how economics applies to your everyday life.

Students will study important themes in the social history of the United States since the Civil War. This course allows students to expand their critical thinking skills through an examination of primary and secondary sources. Themes might include: the evolving status of women; the immigrant experience; the concept of the American dream; the paradox of freedom vs. slavery; the minority experience; the tensions between social classes. Students will be evaluated primarily on writing assignments.

Students will learn how to create conditions for successful conflict engagement, a necessary skill for any professional. The course focuses on the foundational capacities to remain calm and connected with oneself and others. In this state students can access helpful ideas and responses and be their best selves regardless of environment. Improving facility for conflict creates stronger relationships and reduces fear. By the end of the course, students will understand that disagreement and difference can become a source of personal and interpersonal growth.

Ethics refers to accepted standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do in various contexts, typically in relation to rights, obligations/duties, benefits to society, fairness, consequences, and virtues. In this course, students will explore both theoretical and practical dimensions of ethics in order to 1) define ethics and identify ethical positions and principles, 2) critically reflect on how ethics impacts individual and collective responsibility, decision-making, and action, and 3) apply ethics to the personal, civic, and professional contexts.

Prerequisites

ENGL-110

In this course, students will explore broad, foundational knowledge in psychology, including its history, major theorists and a survey of psychology subfields such as developmental, cognitive and social psychology. Students will also describe and assess the role of ethics and social responsibility in the study and application of psychological theory and practices.

In this class, students will explore how social relationships, groups, societies and culture develop and change over time. From a sociological theory foundation and employing the sociological imagination, students will examine the impact of social structures, institutions, and systems on individual lives. Students will apply sociological research methods to investigate sociological phenomena in their own lives.

This course explores the complex and evolving relationship between human beings and technology. Through a multi-disciplinary approach that draws on fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and history, students will examine the ways in which technology has shaped human culture, identity, and values, as well as how humans have influenced and continue to influence the development, adoption and use of technology.

Additional Program Details

Graduates of the human resources associate online degree program will demonstrate the following industry-specific skills, knowledge, and competencies.

  • Use business acumen. Interpret the business principles that support HR operations
  • Demonstrate HR technical competency. Recognize the technical principles and practices of HR and explain best practices.
  • Demonstrate HR behavioral competency. Explain the principles of professional behavior and leadership in the support and training of employees to fulfill organizational goals.
  • Utilize HR data. Interpret HR data to improve HR-related functions and organizational performance indicators.

Champlain College Online's business faculty, led by Department Chair Dr. Albert Orbinati, are expert practitioners in the field. Their industry expertise ensures that our business management curriculum is aligned with the needs of employers, and reflects the skills today’s business professionals need for success. Classes led by our seasoned experts will give you real-world insight into the business world, and create a rich community of career-focused learning.

Tuition & Costs

Online Undergraduate Tuition Fall '23 - Summer '25

$335 per credit
$290 per credit for Champlain alumni, associate degree graduates, veterans**, and family members of veterans and servicemembers
$250 per credit for military servicemembers
$150 One-time graduation fee

*Based on a 3-credit course; cost will vary if course is a different number of credits

** Veteran rate effective Spring 2025, not retroactive

See the undergraduate cost of attendance and fees here

Affordability and Paying For Your Education

We provide a number of options to make your online education affordable, including preferred tuition for alumni, associate degree graduates, community college graduates, and military.

What Can You Do With an Associate Degree in Human Resources?

Organizations across industries rely on skilled human resource professionals to recruit, manage, and develop their workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for human resources specialists is projected to grow 6% from 2022 to 2032*, with an increasing demand for professionals who can navigate employment law, payroll systems, and talent acquisition strategies.

*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024, Business and Financial 

A Human Resources Associate Degree provides the skills and foundational knowledge needed to enter this growing field and prepares you for Champlain College Online’s Bachelor’s in Human Resource Management.

Entry-Level Positions for AS in Human Resources Graduates:

  • Human Resources Specialist
  • Recruitment Coordinator
  • Payroll and Benefits Administrator
  • Employee Relations Assistant
  • Training and Development Coordinator
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Why Champlain

Champlain Community

"I was living in Mexico during my program, and there was a major earthquake. My advisor heard about it and called me the next day to find out how I was. It's that kind of personal touch that really makes Champlain special."

Rosi Smith Bachelor's Degree in Integrated Studies
Executive Assistant & Project Coordinator, U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, Finland
Rosie Smith, Bachelor's Degree in Integrated Studies

Academic Excellence and Recognition

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Regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education

Military Friendly Designation, Silver Badge 2024-2025

Designated as a Military Friendly School for our commitment to the military community

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Ranked among the best by Tech Guide for game design and computer science

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Named the among the best schools with accelerated bachelor's degrees by Intelligent.com

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Learn what you can expect from our associate in human resources program.

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