Variety of Organizational Development Degrees Offered by CSU Continuing Education

Posted Monday, July 20, 2009

As Northern Colorado continues to face widespread economic challenges, Colorado State University Continuing Education is developing programs that foster more efficient and effective organizations. By offering additional training to individuals working in organizational development, Continuing Education continues to strive to provide Northern Colorado with accessible academic opportunities and to meet ever-growing workforce demands.

"Continuing Education is continually examining needs for Northern Colorado, as well as beyond our borders, for organizational development," said Carl Melle, Program Director for Continuing Education. "Colorado State offers a range of OD programs, both online and off campus."

Under current economic and workforce pressures, it is more important than ever for organizations and employees to be as productive as possible. Trained organizational development professionals are essential roles in an organization in order to retain quality employees and improve workplace efficiency.

"With the economy as it is, and the challenges that come with that, there's a huge demand and need for people trained in organizational development," said Bob Colmenares, Director of Business Development for Continuing Education. "These individuals have the tools to take existing organizations and help them to run better."

"People working in organizational development are able to assess how things are going in an organization, and also what can be improved," said Colmenares. "You look at where things are, and then where you want things to be. The key is figuring out how to get there."

Continuing Education has developed degree programs that train professionals in our community to do just that. A new Master of Applied Industrial/Organizational Psychology (MAIOP) and an Organizational Performance and Change master's degree train working professionals to analyze and improve performance and efficiency.

"Someone working in organizational development works with improving an organization across a myriad of perspectives," said Colmenares. "This kind of training is particularly important during a time like this, when lots of shifts may be happening, and an organization wants to keep an eye out for what needs to change as a result of these kinds of shifts."

The MAIOP program studies the behavior of individuals in organizations to determine how to improve performance and productivity for that organization.

"[The MAIOP program] is skill-based, designed to give the background knowledge and skills needed to have an impact in organizations," said Dr. Kurt Kraiger, Director of the MAIOP program. "It is increasingly important for organizations to understand how to recruit, select, and retain talented, and diverse, workers, and the MAIOP program gives students employable skills helping organizations do just this."

Offered entirely online, the program enables students to pursue advanced education while still maintaining responsibilities at home and work.

"Since it is online, it can be accessed by individuals working full-time," said Kraiger. The program's combination of quality and convenience makes it unique among other organizational development programs.

The Organizational Performance and Change (OPC) Master's program is offered at the Denver Learning Center and the Brighton Learning Center. It helps students develop both knowledge about their organizations, and the skills to apply that knowledge to help their organizations succeed. As a cohort, the same group of students starts and completes the program together, encouraging networking, relationships, and an enhanced learning community.

"These two programs are both rooted in organizational development, but examine that same topic from somewhat different perspectives," said Melle. "Students have the option to select the learning style and perspective that fit their needs and career goals."

Graduates of these two unique programs are prepared to grow and develop a workforce and to impact change in a broad range of organizations within Colorado and beyond its borders.

Learn more about the organizational development degrees.

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