Organizational Leadership, Accelerated General Specialization, MS

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Master of Science in Organizational Leadership

Description of Program

The Master of Science in Organizational Leadership (MSOL) program provides students with the knowledge to evaluate personal leadership skills and the components of leadership that contribute to the health of an organization, as well as how to apply leadership best practices in an organization.

Learning Outcomes

Assess the current state of leadership practice within a given profession
Evaluate the components of leadership that contribute to the health of an organization
Apply best leadership practices within a given organization
Evaluate themselves as leaders

Basis for Admissions

Admission to the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership (MSOL) program requires a conferred bachelor’s degree from a regionally or nationally accredited academic institution (including the NCU BBA degree).

Note: Students who complete NCU’s BBA bridge path in Business Leadership may be eligible to apply four graduate-level courses from the BBA program to the MBA program. Graduate-level courses completed in the BBA bridge path must be completed with a grade point average of 3.0 (grade of “B”) or better.

Degree Requirement

The Master of Science in Organizational Leadership is a 30 credit program comprised of 18 core credits, 9 specialization credits and 3 capstone credits. Graduates of the Northcentral University program must complete 30 credit hours. Students may select a discipline-specific specialization of their interest.

Students assume full responsibility for understanding both the foundational, specialization and capstone requirements of the program. Switching programs after completing coursework may result in reevaluation, monetary loss, loss of credit hours and/or the need to take additional credit hours. Students’ Academic Advisors can assist with any questions related to program requirements.

The University may accept a maximum of 12 semester credit hours in transfer toward the Master of Science in Organizational Leadership for graduate course work completed at an external accredited college or university with a grade of “B” or better. See the Transfer Credit Policy for additional information.

Note: Students with a conferred BBA degree from NCU who complete graduate-level coursework with a grade of “B” or better to satisfy required undergraduate specialization credit hours may be eligible to apply up to 12 graduate-level credit hours from the BBA program to the MSOL program. Please see the Bachelor of Business Administration program for program-specific course requirements.

Time to Completion

Northcentral University allows 5 years to complete all 30 credit hour master’s programs.

Normal time to completion for this program is 23 months.

Time to completion varies depending upon the pace in which a student completes courses and the number of transfer credits accepted. As most Northcentral students are working adults balancing educational, professional, and personal commitments, our academic advisors will work with you to develop a program schedule that works best for your needs.

The normal time disclosed above reflects the experience of students who may have entered under different program requirements. New students following the preferred schedule designed by the Dean for this program, and applying no transfer credits, can expect to finish in as little as 16 months.

Course Sequence

Students who complete at least 9 semester credit hours in a single area of specialization at Northcentral University (not counting foundational courses) may elect to have the specialization recorded on their transcript and diploma.

All Master of Science in Organizational Leadership (MSOL) programs require the foundation courses to be completed prior to enrolling in specialization courses. The program capstone will be completed as the last course in the degree program.

In some cases, specialization courses listed on the inital degree plan can be changed at the students request. Please contact your Academic Advisor for more information.

MSOL-5101 - Leadership Theories and Practices
MSOL-5102 - Ethics and Decision Making
MSOL-5103 - People, Processes, and Organizational Health
MSOL-5104 - Leadership: Change, Crises, and Communication
MSOL-5105 - Leadership and Organization Strategy
MSOL-5106 - Understanding data
Specialization Course 1
Specialization Course 2
Specialization Course 3
MSOL-5110 - Professional Project

Accelerated MSOL Program

Within the MSOL program, the School of Business and Technology Management offers an Accelerated MSOL scheduling track. The Accelerated MSOL is not an alternative program, but is a scheduling option designed for students capable of completing an intense, fast-paced and highly challenging graduate course structure. Students considering the Accelerated MSOL track are strongly encouraged to first think about their availability for study-time, work schedule or any other outside activities that may interfere with course participation, and their ability to learn in a rapidly moving academic environment. Students who enter and successfully complete the Accelerated MSOL track will graduate in 12 months with a Masters of Organizational Leadership degree.

Like the non-Accelerated MSOL, students are required to complete 30 credit hours, which include 18 credit hours of foundation course work. Additionally, the Accelerated MSOL requires 9 credit hours in prescribed content courses beyond the foundation courses and a 3 hour capstone program course. The second course, MSOL -5102 is staggered four weeks following the start of the first course, MSOL -5101 . The last course in the Accelerated MSOL track, MSOL5010-8 starts four weeks following the start of the last specialization course. All other courses are taken in pairs (see course schedule).

Students who start in the Accelerated MSOL track may reschedule their courses and continue their studies in the non-Accelerated MSOL track. Students who opt out of the Accelerated MSOL track, regardless of reason, will not be permitted back into the Accelerated track and will lose any promotional benefits, which may have been in effect at the time of initial enrollment.

Any student transferring out of the Accelerated MSOL track into the non-Accelerated MSOL or vice-versa must work with his or her assigned Academic Advisor to complete the process. Students in the non-Accelerated MSOL can only transfer into the Accelerated MSOL track within the first four weeks of the first course.

Students who fail a course in the Accelerated MSOL are immediately dismissed from the Accelerated track and must transfer to the non-Accelerated track if they want to continue in the MSOL program. Academic Leaves of Absences (ALOAs) are not permitted in the Accelerated MSOL track. Students who require an ALOA may request one with the understanding that they must move to the non-Accelerated track upon their return.