Complete at least 24 credits in the MS in Leadership, or MS in Digital Transformation Leadership program
Lead with Strategic Vision and HR Expertise
Position yourself as a leader who can drive both people and organizational success by combining the strategic insights of a Master’s in Organizational Leadership with the specialized knowledge of a Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management. This program equips you with the leadership skills and HR expertise necessary to advance the mission and strategic goals of your organization. You’ll learn to integrate HR strategies with organizational leadership, ensuring your ability to foster a culture of inclusion, professional development, and employee engagement.
Manage the Next Step in Your Career
- Strategic Leadership: Develop essential skills in strategic transformation and strengths-based leadership to guide organizations through complex challenges.
- HR Expertise: Gain a deep understanding of HR management, including employee recruitment, professional development, and inclusion initiatives, to enhance organizational effectiveness.
- Ethical Leadership: Lead with integrity while navigating the complexities of HR-related decisions and fostering an inclusive workplace culture.
- Talent Management: Learn to design and implement talent management strategies that align with organizational goals and enhance employee engagement.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilize HR analytics to inform strategic decisions and improve organizational performance.
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 admission counselor or email us at onlineadmissions@champlain.edu
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
How Can an MS in Organizational Leadership Help Your Career?
The combination of leadership and HR management skills positions you for roles where you can have a significant impact on both people and organizational strategy. This dual focus prepares you for leadership positions that require both strategic oversight and HR expertise, such as human resources director, talent management lead, or organizational development consultant.
Employment of human resources managers is projected to grow 5 percent from 2022 to 2032, with the median income being $136,350 in May 2023*.Graduates of this program are well-equipped to lead HR initiatives that drive organizational success and foster a positive work environment.
*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024
Top Jobs for MS in Organizational Leadership Graduates with Human Resource Management Expertise
- Human Resource Director
- Talent Management Lead
- Diversity and Inclusion Manager
- Organizational Development Manager
- Learning and Development Manager
- Employee Relations Manager
Program Details
Learn more about Champlain's 100% online Master's in organizational leadership degree program.
Champlain's online organizational leadership courses encompass the top skills needed by today's leaders.
Explore concepts and frameworks for how to lead effectively in today's ever-changing world. Using an integrative reflective practice approach, students examine their own approach to leadership and create an initial plan for their own leadership development, as well as the leadership development opportunities for their organization.
Examine how to cultivate meaningful relationships across an organizational system, from co-workers, to team members, to broader stakeholders. Attention will be given to how to leverage both formal and informal relationships to create positive impact. Topics include perceptions, motivation, emotional intelligence, building teams, and conflict management.
Explore how to accelerate organizational change by focusing on and leveraging the core strengths of individuals and the collective system. Learn how to challenge the traditional deficit mindset that pervades organizations, and how to use evidence-based appreciative practices to cultivate shared leadership across a system.
Explore organizational dynamics from a holistic viewpoint and how leading ethically and socially responsibly results in enhanced performance at the individual, group and organizational levels. Special focus will be given to exploring one's own ethical orientation, issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as how leading with a higher purpose can result in both accelerated organizational and broader social impact.
Students use a framework to explore the dynamics of human interaction within and between organizations. Throughout the course, they will use a perspective that a key function of management is to negotiate for resources and use that perspective to develop collaborative relationships with employees, vendors, suppliers, and interested communities.
Explore how to strategically lead continual organizational evolution and apply new business models needed for success in today's ever-changing world. Attention will be given to leading sustainable growth with an intraprenurial mindset, managing disruption, the implications of the digital transformation on organizations, and the power of leading with a purpose.
Explore how to uncover creative insights and innovative solutions for today's organizational challenges. Learn about the systematic process of design thinking from a human-centred approach, including how to cultivate creativity in others and create a culture of innovation.
This course culminates in an applied leadership capstone project to support the translation, application and synthesis of core concepts from previous courses to a final capstone project, through action research and reflection. The project will reflect a real-life situation and will include a description of the situation, stakeholder mapping, identification of key leadership opportunities and challenges, and conceptual basis for recommendations derived from data collection as well as prior learnings and content from the Leadership Program.
Prerequisites
To gain a foundation for the Human Resource certificate, students take a macro-view of the field and examine the role of an HR department as a critical strategic business partner within the organization. Students integrate concepts and current workplace issues, including using new technologies in the field; the need for a broader understanding of business and culture; and how to build and support agile teams that work effectively.
Companies are exploring human capital analytics for workforce reporting and to help make informed decisions about human resources. The continuum of value that analytics bring to an organization includes practices from basic data reporting to predictive analytics. Explore workforce reporting and both traditional and advanced decision-making analytic tools, especially predictive modeling, which make it possible for organizations to inform decision making for the future. Learn to make the business case for using advanced HR analytics.
Prerequisites
Complete MGMT-536
Coaching in the workplace draws on many related fields including behavioral science, systems thinking and the study of change. After a review of those areas, students will use that foundation to develop a range of coaching tools. Learn to ask the right questions, provide applicable feedback, use a customized approach and help employees learn to independently grapple with problems and find solutions. Finally students will use coaching to deepen an individual's self-awareness to promote action and accountability.
Prerequisites
Complete MGMT-536
Graduates of the MS in Organizational Leadership will develop the following competencies:
- Adaptive Leadership in a Complex Work Environment. Leverage advanced leadership theory, practice, and innovation to lead an organization’s strategic transformation.
- Ethical and Purpose-Driven Leadership. Lead with ethics first and a commitment to social responsibility.
- Communication, Relationship Building, and Team Cultivation. Communicate effectively, negotiate fairly, and build meaningful relationships to cultivate high-performing teams and foster inclusive organizational cultures.
- Innovation, Design Thinking, and Action-Oriented Leadership. Apply design thinking and innovation principles to lead the construction and implementation of strategic transformational organization change.
Graduates of the human resource management online graduate certificate program will demonstrate the following industry-specific skills, knowledge, and competencies:
- Integrate the expertise and value of a human resource lens into an organization's strategy to strengthen its ability to meet strategic goals.
- Envision a workplace culture that will lead to engaged workers, developing leaders, and a creative and inspiring workplace.
- Create a job description for a reflective, self-aware and engaged leader using a human resources lens and develop a personal plan to help you meet the expectations of that position.
- Reflect on and write about a leadership/coaching approach that will develop agile employees, creative teams and effective problem solvers.
- Integrate ethical frameworks into an organization's culture and problem-solving techniques.
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
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 Program Director
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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