Human Resource Management, MS

The Master of Science in Human Resource Management (HRM) is a distinctive, flexible program designed for both recent graduates and full-time working professionals looking to enhance their careers as strategic organizational partners. Students will study how business issues and social, regulatory, and technical changes affect HR requirements and costs, learning to apply best HR management practices to create an attractive organizational culture that supports thriving employees and flourishing organizations. The MSHRM program provides the crucial analytical skills and design tools that prepare you to identify issues in human resources management and strategic solutions.

The program seeks students who have strong leadership ability or show the potential for strong leadership ability in order to be successful strategic business partners in their organizations.

The HRM program is offered throughout the academic year. Semesters are divided into two modules, each eight weeks in length. Courses are offered evenings and weekends to accommodate busy working professionals.

Program Schedule

The MS HRM program is a 2-year, 36- or 40*-unit program with curriculum that consists of courses in the following categories :

*Prerequisite (4 units)
Core courses (32 units)
Electives (4 units)

*Upon approval by the Program Committee, students with more than 5 years of relevant work experience in the human resources profession are not required to take the 4-unit prerequisite course, HRM 300 - Principles of Human Resource Management. All other students must take the 4-unit prerequisite course during the first Fall semester of their program (not counted towards the 36 units required for the degree).

Students who wish to front-load their units in their first year may add any 2nd year course with the exception of the HRM 329 Human Resource Strategic Planning (2 units) capstone course. Students who matriculate in the spring can complete the program in 3 semesters by taking all the fall program courses during their only fall semester and completing the 2nd year spring courses in their third semester.

University Policies

Policies detailed in the current Policies and General Information Bulletin apply.

Admissions Requirements

Admission requirements are detailed in the Admissions section of the current Policies and General Information Bulletin.

CURRICULUM PLANNING

Each required course is offered once a year, and electives are offered throughout the year. Courses are scheduled for evenings and weekends to accommodate working professionals. Students in the MS HRM program come from a variety of backgrounds, including HR professionals seeking advanced education, as well as students who are new to the field. Please note that a student that drops below 4 units in any given semester (excluding summer) will be ineligible to receive federal funding for their program.

First Semester (Fall, Year 1)

*HRM 300 - Principles of HR Management (prerequisite) (4 units)

HRM 301 – Overview of Organizational Behavior (2 units)

HRM 342 - Job Analysis, Job Design (2 units)

HRM 352 - Analytics, Metrics and Measurement (2 units)

HRM 346 – Training & Development (2 units)

Second Semester (Spring, Year 1)

HRM 357 - Workforce Planning, Talent Management (2 units)

HRM 303 – Organizational Development and Change (2 units)

HRM 320 – Planned Change Management (2 units)

HRM 358 – Staffing: Recruitment and Selection (2 units)

Third Semester (Fall, Year 2)

HRM 324 - Global HR & Diversity (2 units)

HRM 347 - Employee and Labor Relations Management (2 units)

HRM 325 – Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards (2 units)

HRM 344 – Performance Management (2 units)

Fourth Semester (Spring, Year 2)

HRM 327 – Ethical Issues in HR (2 units)

HRM 348 – Consulting (2 units)

HRM 323 – Legal Issues in HR (2 units)

HRM 329 - HR Strategic Planning (Capstone) (2 units)

Electives (4 units)

To fulfill the 4 elective units, students may take non-core courses through the HRM program. Students may also petition to take courses through the Psychology Department or Drucker Business School, transfer units from a previous graduate-level degree, or complete an approved internship or independent study to meet the electives requirement. Courses offered outside of DBOS and Drucker may also count as electives on a case-by-case basis. Fulfillment of the elective requirement is ultimately up to the discretion of your academic advisor and/or the HRM Program Director.

GPA Policy. The University’s policy on Satisfactory Academic Progress applies. For students who do not maintain the 3.0 grade point average (GPA) requirement, the HRM Program permits enrollment in only one semester of coursework for the student to raise the GPA.

Prerequisite (4 units)

Students with less than 5 years of relevant HR work experience are required to complete HRM 300 in their first Fall semester in the program.

HRM 300 - Principles of Human Resource Management

Core Courses (32 units)

HRM 329 is considered the capstone course and is generally taken during the student’s final semester in the program.

Electives (4 units)

With approval, students may schedule appropriate courses from other CGU disciplines, or may take classes from the Positive Human Resource Concentration.

HRM 326 - Crisis Management: 2.00 units
Crisis Management focuses on skills and protocols for preventing and responding to disruptive negative events in organizations. Topics include crisis audits, risk management, crisis preparation, crisis containment, media engagement, and crisis recovery. Particular attention is given to the role of HR in managing individual and organizational crises.

HRM 356 – Introduction to Positive Human Resource Management: 2.00 units
This course will introduce the positive psychological and strengths-first perspectives, theories and methods that have been revolutionizing HR practice over the last few years. While historically, scholars and practitioners have been primarily concerned with what goes wrong in organizations and how to remedy problems, the positive approach focuses on what works, and how to capitalize on strengths. Accordingly, this course will provide an overview of topics such as strengths-first and positive approaches to recruiting and selection, talent management, performance management, training and development, fostering high quality work relationships, job design and job crafting, employee empowerment and job satisfaction and engagement. This is a hands-on course and will involve active participation and discussion.

Concentration in Positive Human Resource Development

Students in the HRM program may add the 8-unit concentration in Positive Human Resource Development, 4 units of which could be counted toward electives in the M.S. in Human Resource Management program. Students can, therefore, earn the M.S. in Human Resource Management with Concentration in Positive Human Resource Development in as few as 40 units (44 units if pre-requisite is necessary), equivalent to 2 years of coursework.

A sample of courses that can be taken towards the Positive HRM concentration are as follows: