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Undergraduate spring application deadline is December 1 for spring term.

Human Resource Management BS

About The Program

The human resource management (HRM) program prepares students for professional career opportunities in business, government and nonprofit organizations. Examples of job titles for HR management bachelor’s degree recipients are personnel representative/manager, interviewer, recruiter, job analyst, compensation specialist/manager, labor relations specialist/manager, training specialist/manager, manpower planner, employment specialist/manager and manager of employee relations. Persons from the HR management program may also work in employment/staffing agencies, consulting firms and government agencies related to the areas mentioned above.

Current management thought and practice emphasizes the importance of human capital in the strategic management of organizations. Courses within the HR management program incorporate this strategic management perspective into policies and programs in functional areas of HR management including staffing, compensation, benefits, employee development, employee relations, labor relations and related areas. Many courses within the HR management program are appropriate for general managers as well as HR professionals. In addition, courses meet the needs of both degree-seeking students and those who want to continue their education for professional development purposes.

This program can be completed on campus, online, or by combining on campus and online courses. Program requirements are the same, regardless of the delivery mode.

If you plan to major within the HR management program, and work in the field, it is important that you acquaint yourself with the Society for human resource management (SHRM), the largest professional association in the field. Student memberships are available and will be very helpful when taking your HRM courses. You will also want to investigate local HRM organizations that may provide you with job networking opportunities such as Twin Cities Human Resource Association (TCHRA), Human Resource Professionals (HRP) and the Twin Cities Compensation Network (TCCN).

Student outcomes

Students who earn a bachelor’s degree in HR Management will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the human resource management (HRM) theories, principles, processes and practices used to achieve individual and organizational goals.

Related minors

Start your HRM journey

With changes in business and innovations in technology, HR is rapidly changing. Study in person at Metro State’s urban campus or online, earning a bachelor’s degree in HR Management that will help you serve organizational needs across industries. Founded in 1971, Metro State is a part of Minnesota State’s higher education system.

How to enroll

Current students: Declare this program

Once you’re admitted as an undergraduate student and have met any further admission requirements your chosen program may have, you may declare a major or declare an optional minor.

Future students: Apply now

Apply to Metropolitan State: Start the journey toward your Human Resource Management BS now. Learn about the steps to enroll or, if you have questions about what Metropolitan State can offer you, request information, visit campus or chat with an admissions counselor.

Get started on your Human Resource Management BS

More ways to earn your degree: Metropolitan State offers the flexibility you need to finish your degree. Through programs at our partner institutions, you can find a path to getting your Human Resource Management BS that works best for you.

About your enrollment options

Program eligibility requirements

Students must complete major program courses with a grade of C- or better. The College of Business and Management Foundation Courses are prerequisites for many upper division College of Business and Management courses. Completing these courses early in your program will help you succeed and have the most valuable experience in other College of Business and Management courses.

Courses and Requirements

SKIP TO COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Human Resource Management Major Residency Requirement: At least 20 credits from among the Business Core Courses, Major Required Courses, Major Elective, and Capstone must be completed at Metropolitan State. See also the CBM policies page for requirements that are common to all programs.

Requirements (120 credits)

+ College of Business and Management Foundation (22 credits)

This course is the first information technology foundation course in the College of Management. It focuses on the technology literacy, managerial and business problem solving dimensions of computer based information systems. It provides students with an introduction to the fundamental terminology of the hardware, software and the people involved with computer based information systems. The course includes hands on computer lab time to introduce students to word processing, database, spread sheet, and Internet microcomputer applications. This course is designed specifically to prepare students for information technology competence as needed in College of Management courses.

Full course description for Fundamentals of Information Technology in Organizations

This course develops the fundamental concepts of algebra with an emphasis on the classification and analysis of linear, quadratic, polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions. Applications to the natural and social sciences are given throughout. It aims to provide insights into the nature and utility of mathematics, and helps students develop mathematical reasoning skills.

Full course description for College Algebra

This course covers the basic principles and methods of statistics. It emphasizes techniques and applications in real-world problem solving and decision making. Topics include frequency distributions, measures of location and variation, probability, sampling, design of experiments, sampling distributions, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation and regression.

Full course description for Statistics I

This course focuses on the economy as a whole and studies how government can affect the economy. After starting with principles of markets, the price system and supply and demand, the course covers national income accounting, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, fiscal policy, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve System, different approaches to economic growth, and the foundations of international trade.

Full course description for Macroeconomics

This course focuses on the interactions between the consumer and the producer. It begins with the theory of markets, supply and demand, and the price system. Then it covers demand elasticity, the costs of production including the various factor inputs, the four major market structures (pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly), and ways to increase the competition in markets.

Full course description for Microeconomics

This course in financial accounting acquaints students with the "language of business" and the concepts and practices of accounting in order to understand, interpret, and analyze the financial accounting reports of economic entities. Topics include: economic context of accounting; introduction to basic financial statements with emphasis on the statement of cash flows; measurement fundamentals; analysis of financial statements; cash; receivables; inventories; investments in equity and debt securities including Consolidations; long-lived assets; current and long-term liabilities; stockholders' equity; and time value of money concepts and computations for decision making: international accounting practices are incorporated into every topic. This is not a bookkeeping course.

Full course description for Financial Accounting

+ College of Business and Management Core (20 credits)

This course surveys factors that marketing managers take into account when creating a marketing plan, including consumer behavior principles, market segmentation, product life cycle, packaging, branding, pricing, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, product distribution methods and key laws affecting marketing practices. The course takes a practical approach to explaining how to identify marketing objectives and determine strategies for reaching them. It is useful to general business students, students who plan marketing management or marketing communications careers and those who wish to be better informed consumers. This course is also offered online. Prerequisite: Goal 1 writing requirement plus 30 credits must be satisfied.

Full course description for Marketing Principles

This course is designed to define the role of information systems in organizations, and in particular the roles of IS staff and end-users in developing and maintaining computer systems. The managerial aspects and implications of databases, telecommunications, hardware, software and e-commerce are included. Special attention is given to management information systems theories in the organizational setting including: infrastructure, transaction processing, operational reporting, decision support systems and executive information systems. Also included are all phases of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) as well as alternative development methodologies. The course prototypically includes analysis of real world business cases and post-implementation audit report of a recently completed management information system. All students taking this class must have completed as a prerequisite the MIS 100 Fundamentals of Information Technology in Organizations course or its approved…

Full course description for Principles of Management Information Systems

This course introduces the application to financial decision-making of mathematics, statistics, economic theory, and accounting procedures. The two central ideas are time value of money and the relationship between expected return and risk, and how these ideas are used to value bonds, stocks, and other financial securities, and to make capital investment decisions.

Full course description for Principles of Finance

+ Required (20 credits)

Consistent with current management thought this course examines the importance of human capital in organizations. Human Resource Management theories, trends, policies and practices are studied from a strategic management, decision-making perspective covering staffing compensation, employee development, employee relations, labor relations and related areas. A case study approach is used and outside research is required.

Full course description for Human Resource Management: A Strategic Framework

This course examines the concepts and methods of human resource forecasting, planning and alternative staffing strategies within an organization. It addresses staffing needs under varying organizational conditions such as mergers, downsizing, and acquisitions. Selected topics include job analysis, recruitment methods, selection techniques, training needs, termination procedures, and the ethical and legal implications of staffing policies.

Full course description for Staffing Organizations

This course, specifically designed for students interested in human resource management or general management, focuses on human resource development in organizations and stresses applications to improve productivity and meet organizational goals. Topics include the evolution of training and development, needs assessment, the learning process, selecting training and development methods, and evaluating training and development.

Full course description for Employee Development and Training

This course examines principles and practices of compensation management to support organizational mission and goals. Topics include job analysis, job evaluation, external market analysis, pay structures, salary administration, motivation theories and legal principles. It covers the concept of total compensation by examining the integrated roles of base pay, employee benefits, and incentive programs within an organization. It is intended for people who will design, develop, implement and/or administer compensation programs.

Full course description for Compensation Management

This course emphasizes the design, administration and communication of employee benefit plans to support organizational mission and goals. Students are taught to set program objectives, understand the dynamic regulatory environment which governs benefits, and learn basic design features for various benefits including medical/dental, life, disability, retirement and flexible benefit plans. The course also examines methods used to communicate and administer benefit programs.

Full course description for Employee Benefits Management

+ Electives (4 credits)

This course focuses on principles and techniques of personnel and industrial psychology and applications of scientific psychology to business and industrial settings. Topics include: psychology as a science and professional practice issues; employee selection, psychological testing, performance appraisal, and training and development; leadership in organizations; motivation, job satisfaction and job involvement; organizational structure; work conditions, engineering psychology, employee safety and health, and work stress; and consumer psychology. This course is appropriate for general management, business administration and psychology students in addition to human resource management professionals.

Full course description for Personnel and Industrial Psychology

In this upper-division undergraduate course, students will be expected to understand, value and maximize human capital potential among stakeholders from a variety of cultures and races in order to be successful. Students will explore and reflect on their own beliefs and experiences while learning how to address individual-level and institutional racism in organizations. The ability to create and foster workplace environments that are inclusive, respectful and accepting of racial diversity is important for professional advancement and success in increasingly global environments.

Full course description for Understanding and Addressing Race in the Workplace

Internships offer students opportunities to gain deeper knowledge and skills in their chosen field. Students are responsible for locating their own internship. Metro faculty members serve as liaisons to the internship sites¿ supervisors and as evaluators to monitor student work and give academic credit for learning. Students are eligible to earn 1 credit for every 40 hours of work completed at their internship site.

Full course description for Human Resources Management Individual Internship

Key laws, administrative regulations and selected court cases which impact day-to-day, employee-employer relationships are the focus of this course. Students explore formulation of policies and programs that respond to issues such as equal employment opportunity, wage and salary administration, safety and health, employment at will, immigration, drug testing, and labor/management relations in unionized organizations.

Full course description for Employment Law

This course covers the basics of developing an effective and compliant Health & Safety program. It will lead the student through the process of evaluating health and safety risks and developing required OSHA programs to manage those risks. Topics to be covered include: OSHA recordkeeping, hazard communication, personal protective equipment, machine safeguarding, electrical safety, ergonomics, chemical safety, employee health and wellness and workplace security. By the end of the course, the student will have the knowledge and the tools to develop a Health and Safety program.

Full course description for Managing Employee Health and Safety

This course focuses on employer-employee relationships in both union and nonunion settings in the private and public sectors. . Employee relations policies and practices include topics such as workplace violence, drug and alcohol policies, dispute resolution mechanisms, work teams, lean manufacturing/continuous improvement, employee involvement programs and employee communications. Labor relations topics addressed in the course include the unionization process, collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance procedure, arbitration and the future unions in the United States.

Full course description for Employee/Labor Relations

Data analytics is critical to HR and businesses as a part of competitive or business intelligence. In the past, HR professionals typically relied on their understanding of processes and the organization to make decisions and serve their stakeholders. For the last decade, data is increasingly available, and analytics provides a way to demonstrate the linkage between people and business outcomes (Waters et al., 2018). This course is designed to examine the use of data to understand, improve, and optimize the people side of the organization. It focuses on improving students¿ critical evaluation and business acumen, a part of the main core competencies for HR professionals in the Society of Human Resource Management competency model. Students will gain up-to-date knowledge in current evidence about managing people, develop skills necessary to make the most of the available analyses in people decision-making, and become more skilled analysts in incorporating people's data to inform…

Full course description for People Analytics

This course covers the current issues, policies and practices of international human resource management within a typical U.S. multinational corporation. It addresses staffing, compensation, benefits, training and development, and labor and employee relations as they relate to Foreign Service employees and local national employees in subsidiary operations. Each student completes a special project related to human resource practices in another country. This course is recommended for general management and business administration students in addition to human resource management professionals.

Full course description for International Human Resource Management

This course focuses on policies and practices for effectively managing a diverse workforce in private, public and nonprofit organizations. The current context, legal environment and historical development of equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and diversity are addressed. Students gain theoretical and practical knowledge to understand beliefs, attitudes, biases, and prejudices to more effectively manage differences in order to enhance organization productivity. A significant amount of time will be focused on racism, origin of racism, and individual responsibility of racism.

Full course description for Managing a Diverse Workforce

This course assesses the role of labor as a production factor in the economy, as well as the factors affecting the supply of, and demand for, labor. Topics include: determinants of labor supply and demand; analysis of labor markets; theories of wages and employment; income and wage inequality among occupations, industries and regions; the role of labor unions and collective bargaining as they affect supply and demand conditions; and the relationships among wages, inflation, unemployment and government policies.

Full course description for Labor Economics

This course focuses on principles and techniques of personnel and industrial psychology and applications of scientific psychology to business and industrial settings. Topics include: psychology as a science and professional practice issues; employee selection, psychological testing, performance appraisal, and training and development; leadership in organizations; motivation, job satisfaction and job involvement; organizational structure; work conditions, engineering psychology, employee safety and health, and work stress; and consumer psychology. This course is appropriate for general management, business administration and psychology students in addition to human resource management professionals. Overlap: HRM 330 Personnel and Industrial Psychology.

Full course description for Industrial-Organizational Psychology

HRM 350i: Up to 4 credits (1-4) of human resource management-related internship credit can be applied toward your HRM major as elective credit.

+ College of Management Capstone Course (4 credits)

This advanced course uses the case study approach to develop systems and techniques for analyzing the internal strengths and weaknesses of diverse organizations and the external environments in which they operate. Students craft strategies and develop implementation plans that apply organizational resources to opportunities and threats in its external environment. This course should be taken during the last semester of a student's program.

Full course description for Case Studies in Strategic Management