MA in Organizational Psychology

The Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology at the San Francisco campus is designed as a highly applied educational program that emphasizes the development of professional practice skills. It is most relevant for those desiring to enter a career in organizational psychology, organization development, management consulting, human resources development, or organizational research. It is also relevant for those in management or project leadership roles who would like to augment their current careers with an in-depth understanding of human behavior in work settings and acquire the skills required to manage complex organization change, develop team performance, and coach others for improved performance. Program faculty are thought leaders in their chosen areas of specialization and bring decades of professional practice experience and accomplishments to their classroom instruction.

APPLIED PRACTICE FOCUS
This degree program is designed to assist students in learning the pragmatic and creative application of behavioral science in organization and business settings by integrating rigorous cutting edge academic preparation with structured experiential and highly applied learning. The curriculum emphasizes the development of professional practice skills, but also provides important theoretical and research foundations for the effective application of such skills. The last semester of this Program includes a self-managed applied field work project the student completes under individualized faculty supervision. The newly established San Francisco Organizational Consulting Center provides one of several forums offered for students to engage in this applied field work learning experience.

This MA program consists of 46 units of coursework that can be completed in two years on a full time basis or in about three years on a part-time basis. Full time students commonly take a course load of 10-12 units per semester. Classes are scheduled in the late afternoon and evenings Mondays through Thursdays with some classes on weekends to accommodate full and part time working students. Students are admitted to the MAOP program in both the fall and spring semesters.

Representative topics in the MAOP curriculum include:
• Managing the organizational consulting process
• International applications of organization behavior
• Models of group & team development
• Organization change & development
• Executive assessment and coaching
• Cultural diversity in organizations
• Business literacy and performance metrics
• Ethics & Social Responsibility
• Team & organization-wide interventions
• Use of “self” as an instrument of change

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
• Undergraduate degrees in psychology or business and management are preferred although other undergraduate areas of study are also considered as long as certain course related prerequisites are met prior to enrollment.
• An undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 & Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
• Some work experience is preferred.

For more information, check out ourcurriculum