Master of Professional Studies

Master of Professional Studies

Master of Professional Studies

Required Credits: 30

Format: Part-time, Online

This Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree is a flexible program that provides interdisciplinary concentrations and combines a rigorous academic experience with industry-specific courses to meet the growing need for advance credentials in a highly applied, hands-on research setting. The MPS is ideal for working professionals at any stage of their career seeking knowledge that can be directly applied to the workplace and that will elevate their careers. Completion of the degree will prepare graduates to assume leadership roles within a variety of industries. Core Competencies will include, but are not limited to:

  • Data-driven decision making
  • Agile frameworks
  • Strategic resource planning
  • Team leadership
  • Project management

Learn in the Real World

The Master or Professional Studies degree offers a dynamic interdisciplinary learning approach, both in and out of the classroom, cemented with a final culminating Action Study in your concentration. The Action Study encompasses a real-life working project that aims to instill a specific set of skills that are highly valued by employers which will serve graduates well into their careers. Its purpose is to provide a unique opportunity for students to exercise independent or group research to devise an innovative solution for a real-world problem.

Choose Your Track

In conjunction with the MPS program core (see below), students can choose one Certificate of Graduate Study from these options:

  • Option 1: Administrative Science 

    • The Certificate of Graduate Studies in Administrative Science is your compass to navigate your organization through an ever-changing world. This certificate prepares leaders with the crucial skills and competencies to find areas of improvement and leverage strengths.

  • Option 2: First Responder Executive Leadership

    • The Certificate of Graduate Studies in First Responder Executive Leadership can help you address the next crisis. Whether it is a natural disaster response, terrorism, public health, or humanitarian aid needs—this certificate equips students with the skills in areas like fiscal management, ethical decision making and pre-event planning to prepare and mitigate risks towards the next great challenge.

Start Your Application

Program Advisor

 Dennis Barrera | barrerad@rowan.edu | (856) 256-5582

Professional Studies Core Courses (required for all tracks)

Professional Studies Seminar
This course acquaints students with the Master of Professional Studies Degree program. The course allows students to engage in assessments that evaluate their knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests as they develop and/or refine college and career goals. Additionally, students will develop key communication skills for the 21st century workplace. Students also explore their own role and ethical considerations within a workplace.
Foundations of Agile Management

The course teaches principles and values of Agile frameworks and helps students apply Agile practices and techniques to real world project management. Moreover, the course is designed to demonstrate the value of project management that fosters continuous organizational development where project management is at the center of organizational change.

Foundations of Data Analytics and Reporting

This course will introduce business analytical models and tools used to interpret data and their implications to management decision making. The data analysis will enable students to make data driven decisions to optimize the business process and enhance organizational efficiency. Moreover, the use of data in the creation of enhanced business documents and oral presentations will be a key component of the course.

Project Management and Team Building
This course is designed to introduce project management principles and help organizational leaders strategically build teams to achieve goals related to organizational output. The course will cover core elements of project management including project scope, time and cost management, quality management, human resource considerations, communications, risk management, and procurement management. Moreover, the course examines leadership styles and the analysis of group dynamics from an interdisciplinary perspective including: psychology, sociology, organizational management, and cultural anthropology.
Action Study: Master of Professional Studies
This course is designed to serve as the capstone course for the Master of Professional Studies Program. The goal of the course is for students to be able to articulate, define, research and analyze a problem or challenge in their current profession or field and integrate theory, data, and practical applications to address and develop a solution to the issue. More specifically, the course will incorporate an "action study" in which the student will use their academic experiences and knowledge to actively address the issue during the course, as part of an action-based plan that will be developed in the context of an internship experience with support from a faculty member. The capstone course serves as the final course in the Master of Professional Studies.

Choosing Your Path

Certificate of Graduate Studies in Administrative Science

Plan. Lead. Execute. These are tenets of the Certificate of Graduate Study in Administrative Science. Students understand the dynamics that motivate diverse workforces, secure resources, and develop sound strategies. View our Program Guide here.

 

Certificate of Graduate Studies in Administrative Science Courses

Cultural Diversity in the Workplace
This course has two basic areas of focus - diversity as a key component in labor relations and overall labor relations with complex organizations. Also, this course provides an overview of the history of major labor movements, primary labor laws, diversity and inclusion, and the general processes (establishment of union representation, collective bargaining processes and contracts) involved in labor relations to meet the needs of a variety of work environments.
Organizational Decision Making and Strategic Planning
This course will integrate complex organizational theory and leadership theory with relative, practical knowledge to hone a student’s decision-making abilities in the workplace. Students will learn the tools to craft a large-scale organizational strategic plan that can be applied to their current work environment.
Contract Administration and Collective Bargaining
This course examines labor relations and collective bargaining, organizing, and dispute resolution, in a variety of public and private settings. Furthermore, the course will discuss current labor law to help students gain a framework for understanding labor relations concepts to prepare for future work in the public sector area of labor relations, with specific examples and discussions related to New Jersey.
Personnel Administration
This course will provide a general overview of the management process of an organization’s workforce, including talent management, succession planning, diversity, and inclusion. How an organization’s personnel, or workforce, influences organizational leadership culture, will be discussed, along with the ethical ramifications of ensuring compliance with hiring practices and labor laws.
Non-Profit Organization Development and Management
This course focuses on developing the skills for twenty-first century management and leadership in the non-profit corporate world. Emphasis will be place on developing the skills for a collaborative approach to leadership to help non-profit corporation managers leverage the wisdom and resources of multiple stakeholders as they come together to plan, make decisions, and take action in organizational and community settings.

Choosing Your Path

Certificate of Graduate Studies in First Responder Executive Leadership

The Certificate of Graduate Studies in First Responder Executive Leadership takes first responders to the next level. Those with firsthand experience in disaster preparedness and emergency response can now see the entirety of the process from planning, to management of processes and resources to ensuring that reliable response plans are ever-present. View our Program Guide here.

Certificate of Graduate Studies in First Responder Executive Leadership Courses

Disaster Policy & Legal Environment in Emergency Management
This course examines the complex framework of political and social policy issues related to addressing natural, technological and terrorism disasters. Federal and state-related policies and legal considerations at the mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery stages of the disaster cycle will be emphasized.
Public Budgeting and Finance for Emergency Managers
This course focuses on government fiscal management duties as they relate to emergency management and emergency services administration: the area generally known as public finance or fiscal administration, including public economies and policy, budgeting, revenue policy and taxation, financial management, and politics. The key to this course will be the fiscal administration of disasters and crisis at every phase of the disaster cycle, from planning to recovery. Students are exposed to departmental budgeting, revenue structures and tax administration, financial risk management, government and corporate grants and grants administration.
Administrative Public Policy and Law for Public Managers
This course is designed to help public leaders, public managers, and members of the private sector examine administrative agencies, problems of administrative procedure, and the methods and extent of judicial control over administrative action. The goal of this course is to be able to extract rules and policy from cases, statutes, and administrative regulations. Also to analyze, interpret and understand rules and statutes by applying rules and policy to facts. More specifically, for the field of public management, the course highlights how decisions and actions taken by government agencies are monitored to hold agencies accountable.