The Master of Arts in Organizational Management and Development (OMD) program requires the following:
- Online New Student Orientation
- Learning Plan
- Online Courses
- Face-to-face Session
- Master’s Project
Online New Student Orientation
You start the OMD program with an online orientation course (OMD600) that begins two weeks prior to your first academic trimester. Online Learning, the Fielding Community, and OMD is an online seminar that introduces you to the program’s practices, learning model, delivery method, and technology.
Learning Plan
Your learning plan is a living document that maps your studies based on your own professional and personal goals. You begin creating your learning plan during the online orientation by answering questions about interests, skills, and potential outcomes and competencies. You formally revise the plan between the first and second trimesters during a face-to-face session with faculty and student colleagues. Your learning plan becomes a tool for designing your final master’s project.
Within your learning plan, you can combine elective courses and your master's project work into your particular areas of interest, such as:
- Employee and Team Development
- Organization Development Practice and Consulting
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Systems Thinking and Change
- Integral Studies Concentration
Online Courses
You complete 8 online courses, 4 core and 4 electives. Each course lasts 12-weeks and generally operates with weekly or biweekly assignments with access available 24 hours/7 days a week. You can attend full-time with two courses per term, or at any point you may opt to take one course per term. You work independently on recommended readings, assignments, and other assessment criteria provided in the course syllabi, as well as collaborating on group projects. Your course curriculum is integrated and builds upon your previous learning.
Face-To-Face Session
Prior to the beginning of your second trimester in the program, you attend a 3-day, face-to-face Community Building and Master’s Project Preparation session. Your first day focuses on developing relationships among faculty and students through small-group discussions about academic and professional development goals. The next 2 days, you participate in large and small group exercises, discussions, and lectures that further develop your learning plan and master’s project work. You share your ideas about your potential master’s project and contribute what others are thinking about their projects.
Master’s Project
You develop a master’s project during 2 additional courses in your last 2 terms (for a total of 10 courses in all). Your project demonstrates your skills as a scholar and practitioner, as well as your ability to synthesize your program learning. Your project can be based on an organizational intervention, program evaluation, research proposal, or building a model or practice.