Master of Arts in Professional Development

The Master of Arts in Professional Development adopts a unique approach to graduate studies. Designed especially for professionals who desire to expand their knowledge and credentials beyond the boundaries of their bachelor's degree, the MA in Professional Development enhances a broad and diverse educational experience, and students may select the single-discipline track from business, criminal justice, higher education, counseling, leadership, English as a Second Language, missions, professional life coaching, training, and development, or an interdisciplinary track. The 30-credit-hour curriculum is comprised of a three-credit-hour interdisciplinary core with two options available for the completion of the remaining 27 hours.

ADMISSION

There are no additional requirements other than those required for admission to the graduate program at DBU.

Admission and Retention Requirements for Accounting Concentration:

Graduate and Undergraduate students seeking admission to this degree with an accounting concentration must have an overall GPA of 3.0.
Students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 and a GPA of 3.0 in all accounting coursework in order to remain in the program and to graduate with this degree in accounting.
Students must sign a Statement of Understanding about the accounting concentration before beginning graduate accounting coursework. The statement will be provided by the student’s advisor.

Core Courses (3 hours):

MAPD 5302 - Servant Leadership and Worldviews (S-L)

Single Discipline Track
Concentration (18 hours)*
Electives (9 hours)

*(The Training and Development concentration is a 27-hour concentration with no electives)

Interdisciplinary Track

Complete any combination of DBU graduate courses (27 hours).

Concentrations available to the MA in Professional Development student are:

Course
Accounting Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: ACCT 5311 - Survey of Accounting ACCT 6321 - Managerial Accounting (requisite ACCT 5311 or UG equivalent; MISM 6314 strongly recommended) ACCT 6330 - Tax Planning and Research (requisite: ACCT 3323 completed within the last three years.) ACCT 6335 - Financial Statement Analysis (requisites: ACCT 3301 and ACCT 3302) ACCT 6343 - Accounting for Governmental and Nonprofit Entities (Requisite: ACCT 6321) ACCT 6344 - Nonprofit Accounting, Resource Development, and Fundraising (Requisite: ACCT 6321) ACCT 6345 - Fraud and Forensic Accounting (Requisite ACCT 5311) ACCT 6346 - Advanced Auditing (Requisite: ACCT 4304) Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Church Leadership Choose 3 classes from the following Church Leadership courses: HIST 5301 - Western Church History HIST 5302 - History of Religion in America HIST 5303 - Baptist History HIST 5357 - History of the Reformation MALA 5358 - Teaching Ministry of the Church MALA 5362 - Youth Ministry in the Church THEO 5345 - Christianity in a Pluralistic World Choose 3 classes from the following Leadership Studies courses: COUN 5314 - Lifespan Human Development COUN 5316 - Research Methods CRMN 6310 - Conflict Resolution Management HIST 5312 - The Twentieth Century MANA 51.521 - Management Theory MANA 51.522 - Business Legal Environment MANA 6301 - Employment Law (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6312 - Communication and Business Behavior (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6320 - Business Ethics (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6323 - Human Resource Strategy (S-L) (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6342 - Employee Negotiations and Collective Bargaining (Requisites: MANA 51.521 and CRMN 6310) MANA 6343 - Total Rewards (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MRKT 51.521 - Marketing Concepts MRKT 6301 - Creative Problem Solving for Marketing Decisions (S-L) (Requisite: MRKT 51.521) Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Communication Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: COMA 6300 - Introduction to Graduate Communication Studies COMA 6301 - Advanced Communication Theory COMA 6303 - Digital Media Communication COMA 6305 - Presentation Communication (S-L) COMA 6307 - Communication Leadership for Groups COMA 6309 - Social Media and Communication COMA 6310 - Rhetoric, Argumentation, and Advocacy COMA 6311 - Relational Communication COMA 6312 - Advanced Persuasive Communication COMA 6313 - Advanced Nonverbal Communication COMA 6314 - Intercultural Communication COMA 6320 - Organizational Communication COMA 6321 - Strategic Communication for Organizations COMA 6322 - Communication Campaigns COMA 6323 - Communication Consulting (Requisites: COMA 6320 and COMA 6321) COMA 6324 - Communication for Global Organizations COMA 6326 - Organizational Communication Management Graduate Research Project The following Communication classes are reserved for MA in Communication students only: COMA 6315 - Communication Studies Graduate Internship COMA 6316 - Communication Studies Graduate Research Project COMA 6325 - Organizational Communication Management Graduate Internship
Counseling* Required Concentration Courses: COUN 5310 - Introduction to Professional Counseling COUN 5312 - Counseling Theories and Techniques (Requisite: PSYC 1301) Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: COUN 5311 - Ethics in Professional Counseling COUN 5314 - Lifespan Human Development COUN 5315 - Psychological Testing (Requisite: Undergraduate statistics) COUN 5316 - Research Methods (Requisite: Undergraduate statistics) COUN 5317 - Counseling Culturally Diverse Clients COUN 6310 - Career Counseling and Lifestyle Development COUN 6311 - Addictive and Compulsive Disorders (Requisite: COUN 5312) COUN 6312 - Psychopathology I (Requisites: COUN 5310, 5312) COUN 6313 - Psychopathology II (Requisites: COUN 5310, 5312) COUN 6314 - Marriage and Family Counseling COUN 6315 - Theological Perspectives in Christian Counseling (Requisite: COUN 5312) COUN 6316 - Advanced Counseling Methods and Crisis Intervention (Requisites: COUN 5310, 5312) COUN 6320 - Counseling Victims of Trauma COUN 6321 - Advanced Trauma Counseling (Requisite: COUN 6320) COUN 6322 - Play Therapy COUN 6323 - Advanced Techniques of Play Therapy (Requisite: COUN 6322) COUN 6324 - A Christian Approach to Human Sexuality COUN 6325 - Assessment and Intervention in Marriage and Family Counseling (Requisite: COUN 6314) *This program of study does not provide students the necessary coursework to meet academic requirements to become a Licensed Professional Counselor. Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Criminal Justice* Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: CRJS 5320 - Ethical Issues in Law Enforcement CRJS 5321 - Principles of Organizations and Administration for Justice Professionals CRJS 5322 - Crime and Drug Problems and Control CRJS 5323 - Crime and Community CRJS 5324 - Correctional Theory and Application CRJS 5326 - Research Methods in Criminal Justice CRJS 5327 - Selected Topics in Criminal Justice CRJS 5330 - Victim/Victimization (Requisites: 6 hours in CRJS/PSYC/SOCI) CRJS 5332 - Crisis Intervention (Requisites: 6 hours in CRJS/PSYC/SOCI) * Requisites for the Criminal Justice Concentration are CRJS 1302, or Undergraduate Major/Minor in Criminal Justice or Past/Present Services as a Law Enforcement Officer
English as a Second Language (ESL) Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: ESLS 5301 - Second Language Acquisition ESLS 5304 - Methods in Teaching ESL ESLS 5306 - Content Area Language Proficiency Skills ESLS 5308 - Multicultural and Multilingual Learning Environments ESLS 5310 - Administration of ESL Programs ESLS 5312 - Practicum for State Certification (S-L) ESLS 5314 - Practicum in ESL/EFL Settings (S-L) ESLS 5320 - Assessing English Language Learners ESLS 5321 - Linguistics for Reading and ESL
Finance Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: ACCT 5311 - Survey of Accounting FINA 51.521 - Foundations of Finance FINA 6301 - Corporate Finance (Requisite: FINA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) FINA 6302 - Capital Markets and Institutions (Requisite: FINA 6301) FINA 6321 - International Finance (Requisite: FINA 6301) FINA 6331 - Investments (Requisite: FINA 6301) FINA 6332 - Futures and Options (Requisite: FINA 6301) FINA 6351 - Advanced Managerial Finance (Requisite: FINA 6301) Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Higher Education Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: HIED 5300 - College and University Administration HIED 5380 - Readings in Higher Education (Requisites: 6 hours of HIED courses) HIED 6310 - Legal Aspects and Finance in Higher Education HIED 6320 - Practicum in Higher Education (S-L) (Requisites: A minimum of six hours of completed HIED courses, excluding HIED 5380, is required as well as approval of MED in Higher Education Program Director.) HIED 6321 - Practicum in Higher Education (S-L) (Requisites: A minimum of six hours of completed HIED courses, excluding HIED 5380, is required as well as approval of MED in Higher Education Program Director.) HIED 6330 - Research Methods in Higher Education HIED 6340 - History and Philosophy of Higher Education HIED 6361 - Teaching, Learning, and Student Development HIED 6362 - Curriculum/Program Planning HIED 6364 - Campus Community Design and Development HIED 6366 - History and Philosophy of Community Colleges HIED 6367 - Finance and Administration in Community Colleges HIED 6368 - Contemporary Issues and Challenges in Community Colleges HIED 6369 - Teaching and Learning in Community Colleges HIED 6370 - The College Student HIED 6371 - Introduction to Student Affairs Work HIED 6372 - Principles of Co-Curricular Learning HIED 6373 - Methods for the Higher Education Administrator HIED 6374 - Academic Affairs in Higher Education
Leadership Studies Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: COUN 5314 - Lifespan Human Development COUN 5316 - Research Methods (Requisite: Undergraduate Statistics) HIST 5312 - The Twentieth Century MANA 51.521 - Management Theory MANA 51.522 - Business Legal Environment MANA 6301 - Employment Law MANA 6305 - Talent Acquisition and Development MANA 6310 - Leadership in Management MANA 6311 - Global Initiatives in Management* MANA 6312 - Communication and Business Behavior MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development MANA 6320 - Business Ethics MANA 6323 - Human Resource Strategy (S-L) MANA 6342 - Employee Negotiations and Collective Bargaining MANA 6343 - Total Rewards MRKT 51.521 - Marketing Concepts MRKT 6301 - Creative Problem Solving for Marketing Decisions (S-L) Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Management Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: MANA 51.521 - Management Theory MANA 51.522 - Business Legal Environment MANA 6301 - Employment Law (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6302 - Quantitative Analysis for Managers (Requisite: MANA 6303 or undergraduate equivalent. Managerial accounting and economics are strongly recommended.) MANA 6303 - Research and Statistics MANA 6305 - Talent Acquisition and Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6310 - Leadership in Management (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6311 - Global Initiatives in Management (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6312 - Communication and Business Behavior (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6319 - Operational Finance (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6320 - Business Ethics (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6323 - Human Resource Strategy (S-L) (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6327 - Future Trends in Technology (Requisite: MISM 6314) MANA 6329 - Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital (Requisite: MISM 6314) MANA 6330 - Leadership Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6331 - Leadership Coaching and Counseling (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6332 - Strategies, Models, and Processes (Requisites: MANA 6305, 6330, 6331) MANA 6333 - Operations and Quality Management (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6340 - Workforce Analytics (Requisites: MANA 51.521) MANA 6342 - Employee Negotiations and Collective Bargaining (MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent, and CRMN 6310) MANA 6343 - Total Rewards (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6348 - Legal Issues for Nonprofit Organizations (Requisites: MANA 6310 and 6320) MANA 6349 - Creative Leadership for Nonprofit Organizations (Requisites: MANA 6310 and 6320) MANA 6350 - Creative Decisions (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6357 - Decision-Making (Requisites: MANA 6303, 51.521) MANA 6358 - Business Negotiation and Conflict Resolution MANA 6370 - Innovative Leadership (S-L) (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6371 - Motivating and Vision-Casting MANA 6372 - Managing Organizations and Teams (S-L) MANA 6373 - Business Strategy and Planning Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Management Information Systems MISM 6314 - Management Information Systems MISM 6320 - Systems Analysis and Project Management (Requisite: MISM 6314) MISM 6330 - Business Data Management MISM 6335 - Data Communication (Requisite: MISM 6314) MISM 6353 - IT Security (Requisite: MISM 6314 and 6335) In consultation with the Program Director, choose one elective if pursuing the single discipline track. Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Marketing Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: MRKT 51.521 - Marketing Concepts MRKT 6301 - Creative Problem Solving for Marketing Decisions (S-L) (Requisite: MRKT 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MRKT 6302 - Business Development Strategies (Requisite: MRKT 6301) MRKT 6303 - New Product Development (Requisite: MRKT 6301) MRKT 6312 - Consumer and Buyer Behavior (Requisite: MRKT 6301) MRKT 6321 - International Marketing (Requisite: MRKT 6301) MRKT 6331 - Marketing Analysis (Requisite: MANA 6303 or undergraduate equivalent, MRKT 6301) MRKT 6340 - Marketing Strategy for Nonprofit Organizations (S-L) (Requisite: MRKT 6301) MRKT 6341 - Advanced Marketing Strategies (Requisite: MRKT 51.521, MRKT 6301) Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Missions Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: MAGL 5330 - Introduction to Missiology MAGL 5331 - Cross-Cultural Living and Ministry MAGL 5332 - Strategies for Missionary Work MAGL 5333 - Local Church on Mission MAGL 5334 - Chronological Bible Storying MAGL 5335 - Biographies of Outstanding Missionaries MAGL 5340 - Integrating Faith and Cultures MAGL 5341 - Global Christianity MAGL 5342 - Ethnography, Cultures, and Worldviews MAGL 5343 - Understanding Islam MAGL 5344 - Strategies for Urban Ministries
Professional Life Coaching Required Concentration Courses: MAPD 5310 - Foundational Life Coaching I MAPD 5315 - Foundational Life Coaching II MAPD 5316 - Developing Coaching Skills (Requisite: MAPD 5310) MAPD 5317 - Professional Life Coaching Practicum (Requisite: MAPD 5310, MAPD 5316) Choose the appropriate number of classes from the following: COUN 6310 - Career Counseling and Lifestyle Development EDAD 6301 - Instructional Leadership Development* EDSC 6380 - Career Development and Lifestyle Counseling for School Counselors ENTR 6301 - New Business Creation** MACC 6301 - Introduction to Christian Counseling* MACM 5301 - Foundations of Christian Ministry MACM 6303 - Conflict Resolution in Ministry MACM 6309 - Pastoral Care MAEML 6307 - Business and Legal Administration for Ministry MAEML 6309 - Equipping Disciples for Ministry (S-L) MANA 6312 - Communication and Business Behavior (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6330 - Leadership Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6331 - Leadership Coaching and Counseling (Requisite: MANA 51.521) Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course. A student enrolling in this class must be a certified teacher. *Recommended for professional coaches.
Training and Development Required Concentration Courses: COMA 6305 - Presentation Communication (S-L) EDUC 6302 - Research in Education (S-L) EDUC 6304 - Improvement of Instruction MANA 6305 - Talent Acquisition and Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521 or undergraduate equivalent) MANA 6330 - Leadership Development (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6331 - Leadership Coaching and Counseling (Requisite: MANA 51.521) MANA 6332 - Strategies, Models, and Processes (Requisite: MANA 6305, 6330, 6331) MISM 6314 - Management Information Systems

Total Credit Hours Required

(S-L)=Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

Course Descriptions

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