C A L I F O R N I A   S T A T E   U N I V E R S I T Y   B A K E R S F I E L D 2001-2003 Catalog

Modular Building, Room 325
Phone:  (661) 664-2441
Fax:  (661) 664-2447
email:  msaonline@csub.edu
URL:  http://www.csub.edu/msaonline/

Program Administration:
     Extended University Division

The Master of Science in (Organizational) Administration is an outcomes-based, inter-school program offered online to a national and international audience through the Extended University Division. It seeks to address access problems faced of working professionals by combining online delivery with curricular flexibility. The degree program is structured to combine attainment of general competencies highly valued in all professions with elective course work pertinent to specific careers.

Core requirements build general competencies relating to written and interpersonal communication, statistical analysis, benefit-cost analysis, project management, program evaluation, organizational architecture, and human resource management. Elective requirements can be met through an approved course pattern that achieves either breadth in organizational administration or depth in an area of emphasis chosen by the student and approved by the program coordinator.

Specialized course work in a student’s area of emphasis may be completed at CSU, Bakersfield, or transferred from another accredited institution. Up to 16 quarter units may be transferred into the program. Student and programmatic outcomes are assessed throughout the program as well as in a capstone course that requires compilation of a portfolio and a culminating project.

Advisor – In consultation with the student, the Program Coordinator either serves as the Advisor or designates an appropriate member of the program faculty to serve as the student’s advisor. The Advisor guides the student during graduate study and responds to any problems or concerns the student may have while in the program. The Advisor approves the student’s academic plan for the Elective Requirement and culminating project proposal. He or she serves as the instructor of record for ADMIN 690, Capstone. Students have a responsibility to regularly communicate with their advisor.

Program Committee – Students must work with a Program Committee of at least two faculty members to complete the culminating project for ADMIN 690, Capstone. The Program Committee is to include the Program Advisor. The student and advisor recommend to the Program Coordinator a second member of the Program Committee after considering expertise required for the culminating project.

Admission to the University as a post-baccalaureate unclassified student is required for admission to the MS in Administration program with an emphasis on organizations. Admission to the program requires the following minimum qualifications:

1. Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

2. Admission to the university as a post-baccalaureate student.

3. Submission of a complete application packet.

 

The student should apply to the CSUB Admissions Office for admission to the University as a post-baccalaureate. Admission to the program is distinct from admission to CSUB as a post-baccalaureate student. For application to the MS in Administration program the student must also submit the following to the Dean of the Extended University Division:

1. An application for admission (available from the Extended University).

2. A resume summarizing work experience.

3. A written statement of personal goals and program objectives.

4. Official transcripts for college- and university-level course work.

5. Three letters of reference.

6. GRE or GMAT scores.

 

In addition to meeting the requirements for admission given above, international students must take the TOEFL and have a score of 550 or higher (or 213 on the new conversation scale for the computer-based TOEFL exam).

Once an application file is complete, the Program Coordinator with the advice of the Program Committee will review the application and notify the applicant of his/her admission status.

The Program Committee takes a holistic approach to admission decisions. The decision is based on potential for academic success and potential to make significant professional contributions. Students are admitted to the program with conditionally classified standing and advance to classified standing and candidacy as various benchmarks are attained.

1. Post-Baccalaureate Unclassified Standing – Students who are admitted to the university for post baccalaureate work, but who do not meet all the requirements for admission to the program have post-baccalaureate unclassified standing within the university. Students with post-baccalaureate unclassified standing can advance to conditionally classified standing by satisfying previously unmet requirements, primarily by successfully completing courses.

2. Conditionally Classified Standing – Acceptance to the program with conditionally classified standing requires the student to demonstrate potential for academic success and professional potential.

a. Potential for academic success is demonstrated by:

• completing the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR);

• attaining an undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75 (4.0 scale) in the last 90 quarter units (60 semester units) of the undergraduate program or a 3.0 GPA in post baccalaureate and graduate work completed prior to application to the program (at least 24 quarter units); and

• scoring at least 500 on the GMAT or at least 1400 on the GRE (combined verbal, quantitative, analytical).

Unclassified post-baccalaureates can demonstrate potential for academic success and advance to conditionally classified standing by:

• completing ADMIN 510 with a grade of at least "C" to satisfy the GWAR; and,

• earning a GPA of at least 3.0 in the foundation courses and meeting either the GPA or GMAT/GRE benchmark. Students meeting neither the GPA nor GMAT/GRE benchmark advance to conditionally classified status by meeting university admission requirements for post baccalaureate study and completing a minimum of 20 quarter units of foundation and core requirements with a GPA of at least 3.0. The 20 units must include all foundation requirements.

b. Professional potential is demonstrated by the resume, written statement of personal goals and program objectives, and letters of recommendation.

3. Graduate Classified Standing – To be advanced from conditionally classified to classified standing the student must complete the foundation and core requirements with a GPA of at least 3.0 and submit an academic plan for the elective program that is approved by the Advisor. The proposal for an elective program should be submitted as early as possible.

4. Candidacy – To be advanced to candidacy the student must meet all requirements for classified standing, complete 10 units of the elective requirements, and submit a project proposal for the capstone course that is approved by the Advisor.

 

Foundation Requirement (14 units)

ADMIN 510 Advanced Technical Communication (5)

ADMIN 511 Interpersonal Communication Skills (4)

ADMIN 520 Statistical Analysis and Forecasting (5)

Core Requirement (22 units)

ADMIN 514 Benefit-Cost Analysis (3)

ADMIN 515 Project Management (3)

ADMIN 525 Human Resource Management Foundation (3)

ADMIN 600 Organizational Structure and Processes (5)

ADMIN 603 Program Evaluation (5)

ADMIN 690 Capstone (3)

Elective Requirement (19 units)

A coherent program of study approved by the student’s assigned Advisor. Students may specialize in a specific area by completing coursework from CSU, Bakersfield, or another accredited university or they may achieve breadth in organizational administration by combining appropriate courses from several areas.

Up to 16 quarter units of courses completed as a post-baccalaureate student may be transferred into the degree program from other accredited universities. In order to include senior-level courses (400-level) in the program, additional work in the form of a portfolio entry demonstrating knowledge and skills gained in the course must be submitted and approved for inclusion in the student’s portfolio. These options may be especially useful to students who wish to complete a depth area of specialized work to meet the elective requirement.

Note: The 500-level core requirements build foundation skills that will be further reinforced and applied in 600-level courses. Generally, the 500-level portion of the core should be completed before the 600-level courses. Specific prerequisites are enumerated.

 

(For course listing, see listing under "Interdisciplinary Courses.")

(For course listing, see listing under "Interdisciplinary Courses.")

Principles and practices of writing material particular to science, technology, and specialized professions. Includes expanded definitions, technical descriptions, process explanations, instructional pamphlets, laboratory reports, proposals, writing for the web, communicating with international audiences, and managing effective presentations. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to effectively write various types of technical documents, adapt rhetorical forms to technical communications, and provide constructive feedback regarding written communication in collaborative and leadership settings.

Conceptual and developmental views of interpersonal communication. Theory and practice of effective interpersonal communication. Self, perception, and cultural diversity in interpersonal communication. Skills relating to listening and responding, verbal and nonverbal communication, and conflict resolution. Understanding, developing, and nurturing interpersonal communication relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to effectively exercise fundamental interpersonal communication skills, build and nurture interpersonal relationships, provide constructive feedback regarding interpersonal communication in leadership settings, and exercise teamwork skills.

Techniques for evaluating the benefits and costs of projects and policies. Topics include time value of money and financial math, decision rules, expected inflation and relative price changes, discount rates, after-tax analysis, replacement analysis, risk and uncertainty, input constraints and benefit-cost ratios, and use of cost-effectiveness analysis when goals are mandated. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to use benefit-cost analysis to evaluate projects, utilize spreadsheets to make benefit-cost calculations, and concisely report the assumptions and conclusions of a benefit-cost analysis.

The process of integrating and harmonizing systems, techniques, and people to achieve the desired results of a project within established goals of time, budget, and quality. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to identify a project, articulate its goals and objectives, plan all aspects of its execution, execute and control the project, close out the project, and devise appropriate follow-up activities.

An analysis of the external economic environments of organizations. Environments to be analyzed include the national macroeconomy (growth, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates), industries and occupational markets (including roles of technology, demographics, and legal environment), the regional economy, and social trends that have been analyzed with rational choice models (e.g., demographics). Economic models are reviewed to identify causal relationships, and information resources are identified for monitoring and analyzing trends. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to locate information and data essential for analyzing external environments, use cause-effect models to analyze changes in variables that are external to an organization, monitor and interpret fundamental trends in external economic environments, and effectively communicate one’s findings.

Regression and forecasting techniques applied to real world problems encountered in various professions. Model building (including time series techniques) and the methodology of experimental design. The case study format is utilized in the diagnosis of problems and search for statistical solutions. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to interpret statistics reported in empirical research literature and statistical software printouts, formulate research questions and experimental designs to assist in decision support, utilize statistical software packages to organize data and make calculations, and independently carry out a research project. Prerequisite: one statistics course.

ADMIN 525 Human Resource Management Foundation (3) 

This course is an examination of the Human Resource foundation. Students will complete a series of projects that focus on the labor market, the external legal environment, and the manager’s view of the employee life cycle (recruiting and selection, training, supervision, and termination). Upon completion of this course, students should be able to analyze the legal and market forces affecting jobs, perform a job analysis, hire an employee, supervise employees, identify initial training needs and methods, and separate an employee from an organization.

ADMIN 526 Dealing with the Difficult Employee (3) 

This course examines a topic that has become more important to organizations — the management of human resources. Students will complete a series of projects that focus on supervisory methods (e.g., coaching and counseling), discipline, training, termination, and related legal issues (e.g., unfair termination, sexual harassment, abusive employees). Upon completion of this course students should be able to analyze and interpret the changing legal environment, exercise supervisory methods to effectively manage human capital to meet tactical and strategic organizational goals, and effectively address disruptive employees behaviors. Prerequisite: ADMIN 525.

This course identifies chains of production and marketing processes, considers the conditions under which buying in markets and vertically integrating these processes have inherent strengths and weaknesses, and analyzes the optimal structuring of outsourcing contracts. Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to identify separable production and marketing processes, identify and evaluate outsourcing versus vertical integration alternatives for specific production and marketing processes, and manage outsourcing activities through effective structuring of contracts.

This course is designed to acquaint students with the principles of organizational environments and structure and the ways in which decision-making, the use of technology, communications, political processes, organizational change, and conflict can be approached more effectively. Students will complete a series of projects in which they use the theories and models discussed in the course to critically examine an actual organization and to generate suggestions for improvement. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to analyze processes in organizations, diagnose organizational effectiveness, develop recommendations for improving effectiveness, and effectively communicate recommendations.

Definition, history, and development of program evaluation. Professional roles, ethics, and standards for the practice of program evaluation are emphasized throughout the course. Topics include development of program goals and objectives, reliability and validity, importance of multiple measures, reporting results, and use of program assessment to plan and implement change. Qualitative and quantitative methods covered include interviewing techniques, focus groups, surveys, and observation. Case studies utilized. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to: (1) evaluate validity, reliability and attainment of ethical/professional standards in various case studies of program evaluation and (2) carry out an effective program evaluation.

The process for formulating, evaluating, and executing competitive strategies for services, products, and product-mixes through identification and analysis of opportunities, challenges, and risks associated with dynamic and uncertain changes within industries in the domestic and international marketplace. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: analyze forces shaping and sustaining competitive advantage in an industry, develop strategies for creating a competitive advantage, and monitor and analyze technological and other trends influencing industry structure.

This course is designed to prepare students to understand and be successful in leadership roles. Topics include historical and contemporary models of leadership, effective leadership behaviors, power and influence, change process, self-assessment, personal character in leadership, and leadership in the future. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to assess their own strengths and weaknesses as a leader, inspire and motivate others toward a common purpose, and articulate a personal vision for organizational leadership.

ADMIN 625 Advanced Human Resource Management (4)

This course examines advanced topics in Human Resource Management. Students will complete a series of projects that focus on strategic human resources, selection, staffing planning, compensation, benefits, training, and employee development. Upon completion of this course students should be able to develop new selection methods, devise a plan for filling employment vacancies, develop compensation plans, and identify training and development needs. In addition, each student should be able to integrate information from the various areas for strategic HR planning decisions. Prerequisite: ADMIN 525.

In the capstone course, candidates for graduation complete a culminating project under the direction of a faculty team and present a portfolio demonstrating competency goals of the academic program.

Individual study may be used upon approval of the program coordinator and instructor of record to provide educational and research opportunities in areas not covered by regular courses. No more than 5 quarter units may be used to satisfy degree requirements.