AU Organization Development

The AU MSOD Experience:

The AU MSOD classroom is a dynamic, challenging space where students learn from scholar-practitioner instructors, each other, and through reflection on their cohort's experiences and their own use of self. The MSOD program is built on a rigorous academic curriculum enriched by experiential learning. In recent years, the MSOD curriculum has been expanded to include international fieldwork experience for each cohort, along with active and engaging online learning outside of the classroom for each course.

Experiential learning, developed from the work of philosopher John Dewey and scholars Malcolm Knowles, Paulo Freire, David Kolb and others, draws on an adult’s natural talent to learn from his or her own experiences. “Learning,” as David Kolb once said, “is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience." In the AU MSOD program, classroom experiences are transformed into practical knowledge and deep understanding.

There are many benefits to an AU MSOD degree. In deciding whether to apply to the program, consider:

A Prestigious Leader in the Field of OD Education: Instructors throughout the program are leaders in OD who know the classics – and produce some of the most up-to-date work in the field and in the organizations where many of them consult or work as executives.

Unique Curriculum Strengths: An AU MSOD offers a rigorous theoretical and practical course of study for students from all sectors: corporate, nonprofit, and government. The program uniquely focuses on: 

• The importance of the practitioner's own presence or use of self
• The pivotal role of groups and teams in creating and leading sustainable organization change
• The action research and process consultation approaches to system change
• The importance of diversity, cultural competence, social justice and values in the ethical practice of transformational change
  

The Cohort Model: Students progress through the program as part of a cohort, an intact learning community. The cohort provides support for learning as well as a dynamic model for the study of groups and teams.

For the Working Professional: The AU MSOD curriculum is offered in a monthly weekend class format which suits the schedules of working professionals as well as out-of-town students.

International Component: The AU MSOD's International Residency experience is a unique approach to developing OD practice skills with an emphasis on culturally-competent use of self. The experience is designed to ready our students for capable OD work in global and multicultural systems.

Theory-based Tools: The AU MSOD program builds on the action research approach developed by social psychologist Kurt Lewin. In action research, systems (people, organizations and communities) learn and change through a sequence in which participants are involved in planning, data collection, action and analysis. This cycle is the bedrock of skillful OD practice. AU MSOD students learn to question assumptions, exercise curiosity, and to apply sound research strategies in data collection and diagnosis. They also work in depth with emerging theory and practice: Appreciative Inquiry, Organization Discourse, new forms of large-scale intervention and change, etc.

Powerful Alumni Network: More than 1,400 AU MSOD alumni work in the corporate, government, and non-profit sectors. AU MSOD graduates are distinguished by their ability to work successfully within complex organizations facing rapid change. These accomplished alumni provide a powerful network for current students as they advance in their OD-related careers. Every student meets numerous program graduates along the journey to the MSOD degree – there is ample opportunity to get to know them and build your career awareness and strategies.

Program History

The AU Master of Science in Organization Development was launched in a 30-year partnership between American University and the NTL Institute, a membership organization committed to systems change, personal growth, and social justice.

The original degree program was founded by then-NTL President Edie Seashore and then-AU Professor Morley Segal. The first cohort began in 1980. Since these early days, the AU MSOD scholar-practitioner faculty have continued the tradition of top-tier, mid-career graduate education in OD. The curriculum is continuously updated, even as it retains an emphasis on the foundations of theory and practice in the OD tradition of change.