Complete MGMT-537
Explore Organization Development & Human Relations (M.S.)
Champlain College Online’s master’s degree in organization development & human relations is designed to prepare students to nimbly address organizational challenges and influence change at individual and group levels in today’s global organizations. Combining the expertise and value of a master’s degree in human resources with a foundation in organizational strategy, this master's in organizational development program empowers professionals to identify and leverage an organization’s unique strengths to form resilient and adaptable organizational cultures that withstand the constant disruption today’s workforces face.
Interdisciplinary by nature, this enriching curriculum will teach you how to successfully lead, inspire, and cultivate diverse talent with the opportunity to differentiate your online master's in organizational development and human relations degree with a graduate certificate in an in-demand concentration of your choice in human resources management, leadership, or positive organization development. With an emphasis on applied learning, and the ability to specialize your master's in organization development and human relations degree through an embedded certificate of your choice, this program will help you bring theory to life in authentic and relevant ways that will give you a competitive advantage in the business world.
Differentiate Your Master's Degree
Set yourself apart with a graduate certificate that can be earned along the way in a business concentration of your choice:
Build Your Career Future
Designed for both mid-career professionals and those seeking to join the field, this master’s in organizational development and human relations degree program will help facilitate career growth and opportunities for real-world application of knowledge. You'll gain expertise in managing organizational change, become a self-aware and engaged leader, and develop practical creative problem-solving skills, transforming into a modern leader in organization development and human relations.
Take the next step
Academic Excellence and Recognition
Regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education
Designated as a Military Friendly School for our commitment to the military community
Ranked among the best by Tech Guide for game design and computer science
Named the among the best schools with accelerated bachelor's degrees by Intelligent.com
Prepare For What's Next
Take the next step in your work life by creating new perspectives and methodologies for identifying and leveraging opportunities masked as challenges, and the cultural context within which they occur. Through gaining the expertise of both a master's in organization development and a human relations degree, as well as the critical soft-skills needed in advanced roles, graduates of Champlain's online master’s in organization development & human relations degree will be prepared to pursue leadership roles in the vast and varied field of business.
Master's degrees are in high demand and employment in master’s-level occupations is projected to grow by 15% from 2019 to 2029. A master's degree also pays off: the median salary for professionals with a master's degree is $78,210.*
*Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2020; job titles: Payscale, 2020
Top Jobs for Master's in Organization Development & Human Relations Graduates
- Change Management Specialist
- Compensation and Benefits Manager
- Director of Human Resources
- HR Analytics Specialist
- Training and Development Manager
Program Details
Learn more about Champlain's 100% online Master's in organization development & human relations degree program.
Champlain's online organization development and human relations courses encompass the top skills needed by today's human resources professionals.
In addition to the 21 credits of required courses, choose one of the following certificates: Business Analytics, Human Resources, Leadership or Positive Organization Development.
Required Courses
Also choose one, 3-credit elective. Talk with your advisor about what course would be most appropriate.
Be introduced to the foundational ideas of organization development (OD) theory, informed by historical roots and current strategies. Attend to the nature of organizational complexity in today's world and recognize the need for an evolved approach to organizational change. The emerging dialogic mindset is contrasted to the diagnostic mindset that historically pervaded OD practice. Learning is both theoretical and applied; students will form the basis for a change in their own context to integrate theory into practice.
The most powerful tool an OD practitioner has when influencing change is themselves. In this course, students explore how to be an effective change agent and develop a self-awareness of how our thoughts, beliefs and experiences affect what we see and how we behave.? Students will also have opportunities to enhance this self-knowledge as leaders of change.
Prerequisites
A significant part of organizational life is experienced through groups and teams. This course will explore theories of team processes and group dynamics with an emphasis on how to influence team development and effectiveness in decision making and collaboration. Students will have an opportunity to integrate class learning through applied team projects both within the class and beyond.
Prerequisites
Complete MGMT-537
This course explores the concepts and theories related to strategic and large system change. Special attention is given to the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders in change efforts and creating momentum for change at the system level to prevent typical resistance to change. Students will explore a variety of cases as well as their own organizational system as a context for putting course concepts into practice.
Prerequisites
Complete MGMT-537
In a world of continuous change, organizations strive to create cultures that blend and leverage the unique strengths of the organization and its people to meet challenges presented by such an environment.? This course explores the theory and practices that allow organizations to develop resilient cultures and mindsets to successfully meet dynamic environments.? Students will explore a variety of cases as well as their own organizational system as a context for putting course concepts into practice.
Prerequisites
Complete MGMT-537
In this capstone course, students complete an applied project to support the translation and application of core concepts and program competencies, including those in the embedded certificate. Students will learn about and use action research principles, as appropriate for their individual research topic, and reflect on research practices and results.
Prerequisites
Complete certificate requirements prior to begining capstone.
Complete the core courses of the MS in Organization Development & Human Relations and then choose one of the following areas of specialization to differentiate your degree and earn a graduate certificate along the way in a concentration of your choice:
- Business Analytics: Combining the expertise and value of a master’s degree in human resources and the ability to strategically analyze data, deriving meaning to make informed business decisions.
- Human Resource Management: Gain a deeper understanding of the role of human resources in organizational leadership and learn how to use HR functions to advance the mission and strategic goals of an organization.
- Leadership: Establish yourself as an effective leader to successfully promote change in organizations, collaborate with diverse groups of people, and consider new perspectives to work toward a common goal.
- Positive Organization Development: Become a more effective champion of positive change within your organization and gain a foundation in the philosophies, theories, applications, and practices of positive organization development.
- Culture Builder. Advocates for the health and vitality of an organization to embody its mission, vision, and values.
- Innovative Change Leader. Using a strengths-based approach, fosters a learning environment which capitalizes on successes and failures.
- Inclusive Process Advisor. Orients groups and group work toward the achievement of shared goals by facilitating inclusive group processes that ensure all voices are heard.
- Self-Aware Change Leader. Makes well grounded, intentional choices about the use of self as an instrument to effect change.
- Strategic Systems Change Leader. Comfortably works within a whole system and advises on inclusive strategies for organizational change, transformation and alignment.
Champlain College Online's organizational development and human relations faculty, led by department chair Albert Orbinati, are expert practitioners in the field. Their industry expertise ensures that our curriculum is aligned with the needs of employers, and reflects the skills today’s human resources professionals need for success. Classes led by our seasoned experts will give you real-world insight into the field and create a rich community of career-focused learning.
Alumni of the Champlain College Online human relations and organization development program work in corporations, small businesses, government organizations, and non-profits nationwide. These include:
- Bayada Home Healthcare
- Burlington Police Department
- BPSI
- Comcast Communications
- Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- IBM Corporation
- Keurig Dr. Pepper
- Massachusetts State Police
- PWC
- U.S. Department of State
- U.S. Postal Service
- VELCO
Titles our alumni hold include:
- Analyst
- Assistant Director
- Contracting Officer
- Client Services Manager
- HR Advisor
- HR Specialist
- Legal Assistant
- IT Consultant
- Operations Program Specialist
- Outreach Specialist
- Program Integrity Clinical Manager
- Regional Operations Manager
- Revenue Agent
- Safety Systems Analyst
- Sr. HR Specialist
- Social Insurance Specialist
- Technical Expert
Increasing your career mobility is at the center of everything we do. As an online master's degree student, you get free access to the Fast Start Formula Career Bundle for getting noticed and getting hired, taught by Jen Morris, a leading executive career coach that partners with us to support our students in their job search journeys.
Tuition & Costs
Graduate Tuition Fall '23 - Summer '25
$595
per credit
$1,785*
per course
$450**
PER CREDIT FOR ALUMNI WHO EARNED A DEGREE FROM CHAMPLAIN, ON-CAMPUS or online
$450
per credit military service members (family members see truED tuition)
$150
One-time graduation fee
*Based on a 3-credit course; cost will vary if course is a different number of credits
** Starting Summer 2024, not retroactive
See the graduate cost of attendance and fees here
Save Up To $200 Per Course
Save up to $200 per course when you take two courses per term in spring and summer 2025.
Talk to your advisor about this opportunity to accelerate your program where you could save money on tuition.
If you enroll in two courses during any term within the Spring or Summer semesters, you will receive a special tuition rate on your second course. This discount is for graduate students in good standing, enrolled in a degree program.
- For the standard tuition rate receive $200 off your second course of the term
- For the truEd/partnership rates receive $150 off your second course of the term
Important Note: This special tuition rate is based on course availability. If a second course isn’t available in your degree program for a given term, the rate cannot be applied.
This offer applies to each of the four terms during the 2025 Spring and Summer semesters—Spring 1, Spring 2, Summer 1, and Summer 2, up to four times during these semesters. This special tuition rate does not extend to any additional courses, such as a third course in a term.
The special tuition rate will be applied to the next semester as a credit after the entire semester is complete. If you do not plan to return for the next term, graduate from your program, or have other extenuating circumstances, the credit may be issued as a refund. This special tuition rate is available if you complete two courses in a term and have paid your tuition. For example, if you register for two courses but drop one, the rate will not be applied.
Upcoming Information Sessions
Meet the Department Chair
Albert Orbinati, PhD
Department Chair and Assistant Professor, CCO Business Programs
Oversees
- Business (A.S., B.S., M.S., Certificates)
- Human Resource Management (B.S., Certificates)
- Leadership (M.S.)
- Management Information Systems (B.S.)
- Organization Development & Human Relations (M.S.)
About
Albert Orbinati, PhD, is Assistant Professor and Department Chair for the undergraduate and graduate business programs at Champlain College Online.
Prior to Champlain, Dr. Orbinati's roles have included Assistant Vice President of Online Learning and Continuing Education at Medaille University in Buffalo, NY; Dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Education at Russell Sage College in Albany, NY; and Director of Online and Non-Traditional Programs at Utica University in Utica, NY. In addition to his career in higher education, Albert is a member of the U.S. military, and currently holds the rank of Major in the Vermont Air National Guard.
Dr. Orbinati holds a B.A. in Urban Planning from Binghamton University, an M.A. in Adult Education from Central Michigan University, an M.B.A from Champlain College, and a Ph.D. in Adult Education from Capella University.
Why Champlain
Champlain Community
"I hadn't attended college in 40 years, and I was afraid I couldn't use a computer well enough to do an online degree. But somebody at Champlain was always there to help - I'd just call and say, 'I don't know how to do this,' and they'd teach me."
Leslie Alexander Nakashima
Bachelor's Degree in Integrated Studies and Master's Degree in Human Relations and Organization Development
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