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Management & Leadership
Great leaders don’t just manage—they inspire, strategize, and drive success. As a Management and Leadership major, you’ll develop the analytical, interpersonal, and decision-making skills needed to guide teams and organizations effectively. Through hands-on coursework, you’ll learn how to navigate challenges, optimize processes, and motivate people to achieve their best.
Your experience culminates in a professional capstone project, where you’ll collaborate with a local business or nonprofit to tackle a real-world management challenge. By graduation, you’ll have the skills—and the confidence—to step into leadership roles and make an impact from day one.
Experiential Learning
By the time you graduate, your experiences may include:
- Professional development and networking through the Society for Human Resource Management, Women in Business, and Phi Chi Theta business fraternity
- Mentoring relationships with faculty who are active in the business community, sometimes including participating in research projects or independent studies
- Internships with organizations such as ConAgra, Caterpillar, American Red Cross, Maui Jim, and OSF HealthCare
Program Details
Required Courses – 17 hrs.
- ML 300: Environments of Organizations (2 hrs.)
- ML 353: Operations Management in Organizations (3 hrs.)
- ML 356: Human Capital in Organizations (3 hrs.)
- ML 357: Leading Organizations (3 hrs.)
- ML 358: Managerial Decision Making (3 hrs.)
- PSY 101: Principles of Psychology (3 hrs.)
Elective courses – 9 hrs.
At least 6 of 9 hours must be M L prefix. Remaining hours can be selected from the following:
- ATG 268 – Business Ethics (3 hrs.)
- BLW 345 – Law of Business (3 hrs.)
- BLW 355 – Labor Management Relations (3 hrs.)
- BLW 446 – Employment Law (3 hrs.)
- ENT 280 – Entrepreneurial Creativity (3 hrs.)
- ENT 382 – Entrepreneurial Startups (3 hrs.)
- ENT 383 – Managing Entrepreneurial Growth (3 hrs.)
- ENT 385 – Technology Entrepreneurial (3 hrs.)
- ENT 386 – Social Entrepreneurial (3 hrs.)
- MIS 272 – Business Analytics and Software Applications I (3 hrs.)
- MIS 375 – Business Systems Analysis and Design (3 hrs.)
- Other M L courses
Degree Concentrations
Take your career any way you want! Explore the different degree concentrations we offer so you can personalize your education.
The Human Resource Management concentration equips you with analytical and interpersonal skills to handle staffing decisions, labor relations, and workplace challenges. Courses emphasize critical thinking around employment law and organizational dynamics, culminating in a hands-on capstone project with a local business or nonprofit. Students benefit from mentorship, networking opportunities, and involvement in professional organizations.
Career Opportunities
Management and Leadership majors are valued in all business and nonprofit settings. In recent years, almost all students found jobs within six months of graduation. They’re working at places such as Accenture, AT&T, Boeing, and Motorola.
Minor
The management and leadership minor, open to all students, introduces you to best practices for leading in organizations. Courses give you foundational knowledge in management and relational skills. You then can customize the minor to your career interests. The minor is an asset to any major, whether it be business or another area of study.