The Fresno & Sacramento campuses offer a doctoral (PsyD) program in Organization Development (OD). This PsyD degree program, the only one of its kind in the United States, prepares people for careers as consultants, leaders/managers, or other organizational change agents. Graduates are also prepared to be faculty in local community college districts and other academic institutions in the area of organizational training and consultation, a high need-high growth field.
The program addresses the need for increasingly complex and multifaceted organizational and management skills that encompass several disciplines. The first year focuses on the individual as a scholar-practitioner (organizational skills and foundation); the second year focuses on themes and cultures of organizations with professional training placements; the third year focuses on practice in the global community with orientation toward completion of the PsyD project and professional issues seminars.
This three-year, part-time post-master’s program has been developed with the needs of the adult learner in mind and is accessible to adults with multiple responsibilities. The intensive weekend executive format course schedule (Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday) makes it possible for students to attend from the greater San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento, and more distant communities.
Students in the program will:
- Acquire new knowledge and skills for managing change processes in complex organizations
- Examine and assess existing organizational instruments, processes, and designs
- Design interventions at the system, group and individual levels, addressing such areas as work strategies and structures, staffing issues and job design, performance appraisal and feedback, compensation and rewards, staff training and leadership development
- Gain knowledge of organizational theory and interventions and explore international and global business and management relationships
- Develop competencies for OD consultation and design and implementation of applied research projects
- Receive training in professional practice by participating in field placements supervised by faculty, organizational consultants, corporate executives and agency administrators
This 66-unit post-master’s executive format program includes courses held one weekend a month and includes some video conferencing and online courses. The PsyD degree in Organization Development requires the completion of a master’s degree from an accredited university which includes at least 9 units in organization development, organization behavior, social or behavioral science or a closely related field. In the case of a master’s degree in other academic fields, either several years of work experience will be necessary in the field or the prospective student will need to complete 9 units in the MAOB program before admittance to the PsyD doctorate program. Approval of units/courses/work experience will rest with the Program Director.