Program Information
The purpose of the Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Human Skills Development is to address the need for the critical skills that are in continual demand in organizations and businesses of all sizes, from the small startup to large multinationals. Organizations are in constant need of workers across all levels of the organization who can influence, inspire others, and demonstrate best practices. These workers have a set of human skills or “soft skills” that revolve around the human dimension of organizations such as demonstrating emotional and social intelligence, building teams, managing conflict, communicating effectively, fostering creativity and innovation, adaptability, and understanding diversity. Employer needs are shifting in response to rapid changes in local and global industry and the marketplace and, as a result, college graduates, mid-career professionals, and seasoned executives must keep refreshing not only their leadership skills and expertise but especially these soft skills that connect, empower, and mobilize people.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the BA in Organizational Leadership and Human Skills Development will be able to:
- Design and create written communications that clearly articulate and advance ideas, arguments, solutions, and strategies.
- Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills in individual relationships and collaborative projects with teams and external clients using persuasive speech to provide clear directions and guidelines in and beyond organizational settings.
- Locate, analyze and apply information-taking advantage of various research approaches and tools to address organizational problems or to weigh the merits of a solution of emerging possibility.
- Demonstrate how the use and interpretation of quantitative data based on team and individual assessment data can be used to support professional and team development as well as strengthen the overall effectiveness of the organization.
- Demonstrate specialized knowledge of leading and leadership that includes effective approaches and practices that influence people and processes and which can accelerate employee engagement, organizational performance, transformation, and change.
- Develop innovative approaches and solutions to existing issues and new opportunities that strengthen diversity and inclusion relating to people, perspectives, and cultures within organizations and the communities in which those organizations exist.
- Identify and apply practices that support innovation, creativity, and design thinking and which can generate solutions to systemic problems, as well as leverage emerging opportunities that impact people, communities, and organizations.
- Identify approaches and employ practices that can constructively address and manage conflict and facilitate crucial conversations.
- Build agile and adaptive responses to individual, team, and organizational change and disruption generated by local, national, and global forces and experienced within business and industry settings.
Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Human Skills Development
The degree requires completion of 123 units as follows: 39 units of general education coursework (including 21 units of liberal studies core), 33 units required for the major (including 6 units of foundation courses and 27 units of Organizational Leadership and Human Skills Development courses), and 51 units of general elective courses. Each course listed carries three semester units of credit, unless otherwise noted. A cumulative grade-point average of 2.00 “C” or higher is required in all courses taken at Golden Gate University.
All degree-seeking undergraduate students must complete their English, mathematics and critical thinking requirements within their first 27 units at Golden Gate University, unless they have already earned credit for the equivalent courses from another institution and have had those courses accepted in transfer by Golden Gate University. If either Math or English requirements for the degree have not been satisfied, newly enrolled students must take placement tests to ensure proper placement in the appropriate Math or English course. Students may also choose to waive the placement tests and enroll in the first course in either series, which are ENGL 10A and MATH 10 . (See the course descriptions below to identify courses that have prerequisite course requirements.)
