Organizational Leadership and Administration (BLA)

The Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Administration (BLA) is a degree completion program for adult learners (typically age 23 and older) whose opportunities for securing employment and/or career advancement will be enhanced by a Bachelor’s Degree.

The BLA’s structure and curricular design is modeled on various successful adult degree completion programs from throughout the country, which enable compressed degree completion and emphasize applied learning in leadership within for-profit and non-profit organizations. In a cohort-based fashion, students matriculate through the BLA’s 36 upper-level credit hour course sequence, which includes the completion and public presentation of an applied research project.

Students are able to enroll officially in the program only if: 1) they have completed or are completing the 36 hours of General Studies courses, 2) have 60 + total hours of college credit, and 3) have at least a 2.0 grade point average. Students may also be able to receive Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) credit through the submission and evaluation of a portfolio.

From the moment students inquire about the BLA program, they receive close personal academic supervision to help them manage their credit hours so that they can matriculate in the BLA and graduate successfully.

The BLA program embodies and fosters WLU’s Core Values in that it stresses: a) a commitment to excellence through continuous improvement of one’s leadership capabilities; b) the merits of consistent professionalism; c) teaching and curricular contents that respect the adult learners’ experience and needs; and d) the vital importance of leadership with ethics and integrity.

Prior Learning Assessment

For Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) portfolios where credit is awarded based on standardized awards, an evaluation fee of $300 will be charged. For faculty-evaluated portfolios, a $10 per-credit-hour posting fee will be added to the initial charge of $300. The fees will be charged whether or not academic credit is awarded. The fees will be charged each time a student requests any subsequent assessments of work not included in the initial appraisal.

Requirements

Required Courses

BLA 300Intro to Org Ldrshp & Admin

1

BLA 302Perspectives on Leadership

3

BLA 304Org Comm & Negotiation

3

BLA 306Current Theories of Ldrshp Mgt

3

BLA 308Organizational Ethics

3

BLA 310Leadership in Lit & Film

3

BLA 400Marketing for Leaders

3

BLA 402Research Methods & Design

3

BLA 404Finance for Administrators

3

BLA 406Organizational Psychology

3

BLA 408Human Resources for Administr

3

BLA 410Legal Issues in Org Ldrshp/Adm

3

BLA 412Capstone:Applied Research Proj

3

Regents General Education Requirements

Communication

6

Humanities

3

Natural Science

3

Social Science

3

Mathematical Sciences or Computer Applications

3