AU Organization Development, Advanced International Organization Development

The Certificate in Advanced International Organization Development (AIOD) offers mid-career professionals with an MSOD or equivalent degree the skills and international experience needed to facilitate and guide change in organizations around the world. For many OD practitioners, the AIOD Certificate is the logical next step in professional development. Global knowledge, skill-building experiences outside the USA, international connections—these are increasingly vital components of a 21st century change agent’s portfolio.

Offered by American University’s School of Public Affairs, the program is led by seasoned AU faculty with deep experience in international OD and in graduate education. Faculty are supplemented by outstanding professional and academic counterparts at our host locations abroad. Certificate graduates will acquire the knowledge, skills, experience, and expanded networks needed to practice OD in globalized and international settings. The program is offered on a non-credit bases to reduce costs and expedite completion.

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

The AIOD program provides high-intensity fieldwork opportunities through two residencies. In these ten-day engagements with pre-selected local client systems, AIOD participants increase their cultural competence and gain business acumen and consultation experience that can only be acquired in an international setting.

While abroad, our Certificate participants work as part of a fieldwork team mentored directly by experienced scholar-practitioners. They complete a compressed full-cycle OD project in South Africa and conduct research or complete a second project in Northern Europe.

WORLD-CLASS FACULTY, UP-TO-DATE LEARNING

AU MSOD scholar/practitioners bring unparalleled classroom learning to the real task of helping a client face change. Their teaching is part of a tradition uniquely alive at AU and refined over a 30-year history of offering the AU’s Master of Science in Organization Development. This tradition is known for academic rigor, practical learning, and meaningful reflection and connections. Certificate program instructors include Anastasia White Bukashe, Kate Cowie, Katherine Farquhar, Lennox Joseph, Robert J. Marshak, Edwin Nichols, Wick van der Vaart, Jane Magruder Watkins, Gary Weaver, Enrique Zaldivar, Suzanne Zaldivar.

Certificate participants each receive an e-reader containing assigned books and readings. The online learning platform Blackboard contains links to additional books and chapters and provides a forum for supplemental online learning and communication.