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MBA with Positive Organization Development Specialization Online Master's Degree Program

can be completed in as little as

6 terms*

*2 terms per semester; each term is 8 weeks

Tuition

$595/credit

$1,785 3-credit course

Active Duty Military

truED Preferred Tuition

Credit Hours Required

33

Summer 1 Application Deadline

April 25

Upcoming Start Dates

Summer 1: May 6

Summer 2: July 1

Explore MBA with Positive Organization Development Specialization

As the pace and complexity of modern business environments grow, employers recognize the need for a new type of business professional: one who is more agile, reflective, can leverage one's own strengths and those of the team, and uses systems thinking to inform organizational decisions. Take the next step in your career and learn how to strategically affect change and drive organizational results with Champlain's online MBA in positive organization development.

 

This organizational development master’s degree program will train you to become a more effective champion of positive change management within your organization and gain a foundation in the philosophies, theories, applications, and practices of appreciative inquiry. This online MBA in organizational development program was developed in partnership with Champlain College's internationally renowned David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry.

Build Your Career Future

As the business world becomes increasingly complex, today's business professionals must have a diverse skill set. These new business professionals must be agile and approach challenges with a systems-thinking mindset and, increasingly, must have a focused area of specialization.

A concentration in positive change management is a great way to highlight these in-demand skills and showcase subject matter expertise, as well as gain knowledge that can be applied to your workplace from day one. To earn the MBA with a certificate in positive organization development, complete the MBA core courses as well as the following: Foundations of Positive Organizational Development, Creating Cultures of Wellbeing, Advanced Applications of Appreciative Inquiry

Learn More About Champlain College Online

Attend our upcoming online information session on February 28 and learn more about the admission process, programs, and transfer credit opportunities including our Prior Learning Assessment of non-academic experience. 

REGISTER NOW

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Academic Excellence and Recognition

New England Commission of Higher Education Accreditation Logo

Regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.

Best MBA Colleges in VT 2021

Ranked among the Best MBA Programs in Vermont by University Headquarters

Military Friendly Badge

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

US News & World Report Best Online Bachelor's Degree Programs

Named the Best Online Bachelor's Programs by U.S. News & World Report

What Can You Do With an MBA?

Master's degrees from accredited online MBA programs are in high demand in the business world, 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.*

Additionally, the median salary for training and development professionals is $115,640 with roles of this nature expected to grow 7% from 2019 to 2029.*

*Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2020; job titles: Monster, 2020

Top Organizational Development Occupations

  • Change Management Specialist
  • Training and Development Manager
  • Training and Development Specialist
Online positive organization certificate student talking a colleague in an office setting

Program Details

Learn more about Champlain's 100% online MBA program with a specialization in healthcare administration, designed for working professionals.

MBA Course Descriptions

Champlain's online MBA courses encompass the top skills needed by today's business professionals.

MBA Required Courses (24 Credits)

Positive Organization Development Specialization Courses (9 Credits)

 

MBA Required Courses

The world is increasingly characterized by diversity and an integrated economy. Balancing the business opportunities and risks associated with dynamic and uncertain global changes is critical to effective leadership in this global economy. Leaders must learn how to integrate their understanding of culture, ethics, economic and policial issues into their decision making and strategy development.

Throughout history, technology provided opportunities for innovation, resulting in changes in business and society at a global scale. These technologies often disrupted business policies and processes, impacting jobs and organizational structures. Students examine how technological innovation is experienced in society and viewed over time and into the future by business people, philosophers, and sociologists. Students explore the question, How do we imagine that business, society and our place within will be affected as technology continues to advance?

Students learn organization analysis from a holistic perspective. Financial reports and financial ratios are the basis for traditional organizational analysis and builds from that foundation into the analysis of customer, supplier and employee metrics. Focus is on the Balanced Scorecard and other holistic approaches.

Prerequisites

MBA 507 or equivalent knowledge and HCMT-527

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.

Students explore the development and execution of an innovative and imaginative business strategy for the future. They consider answers to questions, such as How do you identify an opportunity for a new business that meets an otherwise unmet need? What happens when an organization fails to change when faced with a challenge to their traditional model? What are the processes that organizations use to keep themselves focused on changing stakeholder requirements and needs?

Communities look to business to have a positive impact on the world through their actions, so organizations are changing the way they do business. Mission-driven for-profit organizations are examining their HR policies, supply chains, organizational structures, marketing and even finance as they adapt to purpose-driven business models. Students explore what it means to be a purpose-driven organization by examining new business models, and the fundamental changes and challenges an organization experiences when they view business through a multidimensional lens.

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.

This course is built around a project that is designed to apply, in a comprehensive manner, the core areas of knowledge around which the MBA has been built. The project may be performed for a current employer, a sponsoring workplace or as an internship as either a service-learning project for a qualifying nonprofit organization or another organization of the student's choosing.

Prerequisites

The MBA 590 Capstone course must be taken only after all other courses in the program have been completed.

Positive Organization Development Specialization Courses

Positive Organization Development (POD) is the intentional approach to change that emphasizes what elevates and inspires individuals and organizations. Whereas traditional approaches to change have focused on identifying and improving breakdowns and deficits within organizations, POD seeks to uncover positive deviance and assets and accelerate successes within a system. While not ignoring problems, students will explore how to create optimal organizational states by drawing upon the theory and science of Appreciative Inquiry, positive organizational scholarship, positive psychology, and sustainable enterprises.

Students will explore the theory and practice of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a specific philosophy and specific action-research framework for creating positive organizational change. Case studies will examine how AI has been applied in different sectors to create positive whole-system change. Students will be introduced to the practical tools and resources for engaging groups and organizations in AI, as well as applying the principles of AI to their own life.

Prerequisites

Take POD-500 or permission by program director

Employee wellbeing in organizations has been shown to impact not only individuals' mental health, but also their collaboration, engagement, productivity. Creating and sustaining a culture that supports the wellbeing of employees in today's continually disrupted and distributed workplace takes intentional design and commitment. This course is designed to provide students with not only the science behind wellbeing, but also practical tools and approaches for empowering organizations to cultivate an enduring culture of wellbeing.

Prerequisites

Take POD-500 or permission of Program Director.

In addition to developing advanced communication and analytical skills, and a strategic mindset, graduates of the MBA online program will demonstrate a mastery of the following industry-specific competencies:

  • Analyze leader actions for self-awareness; emotional, social and cultural intelligences; and/or strength- based approaches leading to change in organizations.

  • Formulate an opinion or conclusion using an approach that includes questioning one's own assumptions, reasoning through logic, and considering diverse points of view, utilizing both primary and secondary research.

  • Communicate with diverse groups and individuals, including internal and external parties in a way that shares knowledge and meaning.

  • Ethically influence and lead others to maximize their efforts toward the achievement of a goal through collaboration and teamwork.

  • Develop potential business-related strategies and positions through original and divergent thinking as well as synthesis of existing ideas reflecting a willingness to embrace change.

  • Generate solutions to business-related problems using the appropriate technology and then clearly communicate the findings.

  • Influence decisions through the organization, analysis, and communication of numeric and statistical data.

Positive Organization Development Specialization Learning Outcomes

  • Apply theories and methodologies of strength-based organization change including Appreciative Inquiry, positive psychology and positive organizational behavior to generate value within organizational systems.
  • Develop strategic initiatives designed to create and sustain cultures of wellbeing within organizations
  • Design and implement Appreciative Inquiry-based interventions to create generative change from interpersonal to whole-system level within organizations.

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.

 

Alumni of the Champlain College Online MBA program work in corporations, small businesses, government organizations, and non-profits nationwide, including:

  • Alliance Bank
  • Ben & Jerry's
  • Burton Snowboards
  • Cabot Creamery
  • City of Burlington
  • Collins Aerospace
  • Dealer.com/Cox Automotive
  • Deloitte
  • Fidelity Investments
  • GE Healthcare
  • Internal Revenue Service 
  • JP Morgan Chase
  • Keurig Dr. Pepper
  • MetLife
  • Mylan Technologies 
  • National Life Group
  • Northrop Grumman
  • People's United Bank
  • Social Security Administration (SSA)
  • University of Vermont Health Network
  • UTC Aerospace Systems 

 

Titles our alumni hold include:

  • Accountant
  • Auditor
  • Business Administrator
  • Business Analyst
  • Chief Engineer
  • Chief of Staff
  • Chief Operating Officer 
  • Claims Specialist
  • Consultant 
  • Contract Specialist 
  • Financial Analyst 
  • Financial Manager
  • Global Inventory Planner 
  • HR Specialist
  • IT Auditor 
  • Management Analyst 
  • Program Analyst
  • Program Officer 
  • Quality Assurance Analyst 
  • Sr. Software Engineering Manager
  • Underwriting Analyst 

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 '24

$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

 


 

Upcoming Information Session

What To Expect at Champlain Online

Expect Convenience

Go to school wherever and whenever is best for you, on the device of your choice.

Expect A Career Focus

Relevant and immediately applicable coursework gets you ready for your next career move

Expect Support

Your dedicated academic advisor provides the support you need to meet your academic goals

Expect Superior Faculty

Learn from practitioner faculty working in the field, with real-world experience and knowledge.

Why Champlain

Madhava Potluri, MBA from Champlain College Online

Online Experience

"I did not expect my online classes to be so collaborative or to have such constant engagement. One might think the traditional classroom approach would have more of those things, but I found them be even more present in Champlain's online format."

Madhava Potluri Master of Business Administration (MBA)
IS Consultant, MetLife

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Learn what you can expect from our online MBA program with a specialization in positive organization development.

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