Business Marketing
Associate of Science (AS)
Online Degree Program

Principles of Management serves as an introduction to the discipline of management. It is designed to integrate the accepted theories in the area with real world applications to provide students with the basic knowledge and skills needed for managing others. This course begins with a discussion of the current issues in management and then proceeds to cover the traditional functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. By the end of this course, students should have an understanding of the needs of modern public and private organizations, including emerging national and international trends.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Examine the role of managers in organizations, and identify the value of studying management.
• Describe managerial challenges and issues relating to ethics, diversity, and social responsibility.
• Demonstrate an understanding of management functions including planning and managing strategy.
• Examine organizational structure and human resources in relation to managing, organizing, and leading individuals and teams within the organization.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to management.

Organizational Theory and Behavior emphasizes the relationships among individuals, groups, organizations, and society. It presents a dynamic, systems approach to understanding and facilitating work relationships. Emphasis is given to the interaction of individual values, attitudes, needs, abilities, traits, and motivation within teams and organizations.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define organizational behavior and assess the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.
• Examine the concepts of ethics, diversity, attitude, emotions, personality, and motivation of the individual within organizations.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the foundations of group behavior and key factors influencing group behavior.
• Examine best practices for creating an organizational culture.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to organizational behavior.

Human Resource Management explores the fundamentals of human resource management and its significance to a company’s success. Examined, in detail, are HR functions such as recruitment, retention, appraisal, compensation, labor relations, development, and current trends in the field. Practical skills-oriented concepts and techniques are highlighted throughout the course, as is the emphasis on building and maintaining an engaged and productive workforce.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define human resource management, and describe major trends and best practices related to the field.
• Demonstrate an understanding of staffing and training issues related to human resource management.
• Develop an understanding of compensation plans and total rewards.
• Recognize the importance of employee and labor relations, social responsibility, ethics, and risk management as they relate to the field.
• Identify the issues of managing human resources on a global scale.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to human resource management.

Small Business Management presents an overview of entrepreneurship, including launching a new venture, managing an ongoing venture, financial planning, taxation, and other topics specific to entrepreneurs. Students will learn the necessary elements to successfully start, run, and manage a small business and be able to apply those concepts and ideas within their business careers, even if they do not choose the entrepreneurial route.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the basics and challenges of small business management including its role in the U.S. economy.
• Recognize the importance of strategic planning and early decisions in small business management.
• Describe key principles of financial and legal management.
• Explain aspects of marketing in small business in relation to products and services.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to small business management.

Operations Management introduces the theory and practice of operations management and explores the systems approach to tie information together. The course explores issues in operations strategy, development, and implementation. Students will be able to apply various management tools, such as inventory management and supply-chain management, to effectively contribute to managing business operations.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define operations management and assess why it is important to businesses.
• Develop an understanding of product design and process management.
• Demonstrate an understanding of best practices related to process performance improvement, utilizing business forecasting, capacity planning, inventory management, and supply chain design.
• Analyze important issues relating to operations management including location, project management and trends influencing the field.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to operations management.

Introduction to Criminal Justice aims to provide students with a general understanding of the criminal justice system’s response to crime in society. It is important to note that the general theme of this course involves the delicate balance between community interests and individual rights that criminal justice decision-making requires. This theme will be explored by examining the criminal justice process in some detail, focusing on how the system is structured to respond to crime.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define the study of criminal justice and examine the history of crime in America.
• Demonstrate an understanding of policing, its history, purpose, legal aspects, and challenges.
• Describe the process of adjudication including court systems, criminal trial and sentencing.
• Discuss the practice of corrections including probation, parole, prisons and jails, and examine future trends.
• Examine special issues in criminal justice related to globalization, juvenile justice, drugs and crime, terrorism, and multinational crime.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to criminal justice.

Criminal Investigation aims to provide students with an overview of the criminal investigation field. Course topics include the fundamentals of criminal investigation, follow-up investigative processes, methods for obtaining information, and how to approach the investigation of different types of crimes.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify and define the study of criminal investigation and discuss the foundations of criminal investigation.
• Demonstrate an understanding of follow-up investigative processes and analyze the legal issues involved.
• Discuss best practices for obtaining information through interviews, interrogations, criminal intelligence and surveillance operations.
• Examine the various types of crimes related to people, property and national security.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to criminal investigation.

Procedures in the Justice System covers the fundamental principles and procedures employed in the investigation of crimes. The course connects criminal procedure cases to the real world through innovative instruction and encourages critical thinking. This course is designed to help students develop a working knowledge of the steps of investigation, beginning with the initial security of the crime scene and concluding with the presentation of evidence and proper testimony in court in such a way as to make the concepts easy to apply to any state’s specific procedural laws.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Describe the foundations of criminal procedure and define the exclusionary rule.
• Examine the various components of search and seizure.
• Demonstrate an understanding of criminal procedures including interrogations, confessions, and identification procedures.
• Describe the different elements of formal proceedings.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to procedures in the justice system.

Criminal Behavior provides a detailed look at the field of criminal behavior and forensic psychology. Research, theories, and the varying factors impacting criminal behavior, forensic psychology, the criminal justice system, victimology, and correctional settings are explored from a psychological and cultural perspective.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss the history and definition of forensic psychology.
• Demonstrate an understanding of policing and investigative processes used in forensic psychology.
• Describe the legal and ethical processes related to forensic psychology.
• Examine the theoretical perspectives of criminal behavior.
• Explain the different types of victimization, and discuss the services available to victims.
• Analyze the processes related to correctional psychology including assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to criminal behavior.

Forensic Science explores the forensic investigation process and procedures. Students will learn how to identify, gather, and analyze multiple types of evidence through contemporary case studies. This course is designed to make the subject of forensic science comprehensible to a wide variety of students who are, or plan to be, aligned with the forensic science profession.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define forensic science and criminalistics including commonly used terms and key concepts.
• Examine factors related to the various types of evidence related to forensics.
• Describe and examine best practices of collection and preservation of evidence.
• Assess the role of forensic science in terrorism including aspects of cybercrime, computer forensics, cyberterrorism, classification of explosives, and detecting weapons of mass destruction.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to forensic science.

The United States Health Care System course is designed to introduce students to the organization, structure, and operation of the nation’s health care system. This course aims to help students effectively identify their present and future roles as consumer, provider, manager, decision- maker, and analyst. The class examines an overview of the health care system, causes and characteristics of health service utilization, the nature of wellness and disease, individual provider settings, financial and nonfinancial resources used and needed, and measurement of quality of care.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define health and healthcare, key terminology, and analyze the role and process of healthcare in America.
• Describe aspects of employment in healthcare delivery including key personnel and required education and training.
• Examine the various delivery systems in healthcare and discuss related legal, ethical, and political issues.
• Analyze issues in the healthcare industry regarding research, cultural competency, and international applications.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the United States healthcare system.

Essentials of Managed Health Care focuses on health insurance as it impacts the management of healthcare organizations. This course provides a systematic overview of the history of managed healthcare and health insurance in the United States, types of health plans and available payers, the provider network, utilization management, quality management, accreditation, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care, and laws and regulations in health insurance and managed care.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Discuss the major forces shaping health insurance and managed care today.
• Examine the basic elements of health benefits coverage and provider payment options.
• Describe the basic components of utilization management for medical services.
• Explain the Medicare and Medicaid benefit structures.
• Identify key state and federal laws and regulations governing managed care.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the essentials of managed care.

Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness promotes an awareness of the dimensions and complexities involved in interactions between health professionals and patients from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. It examines different cultural perspectives regarding health, illness and health care that exists within American society by demonstrating traditional health beliefs and practices among selected populations. Emphasis is placed on the importance of having culturally competent health care professionals to better serve an increasingly diverse population.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define and describe the importance of cultural and linguistic competence in healthcare.
• Examine the various health domains including health, healing, and familial traditions.
• Analyze trends in healthcare and describe current issues and barriers to healthcare.
• Discuss health care problems in various demographic groups.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to cultural diversity in health and illness.

Medical Law and Ethics explores the study of medical ethics, or applied ethics, for healthcare professionals who often face dilemmas that are not experienced by the general population. The fast-paced growth of medical technology has made the study of ethics even more relevant. The study of bioethics, or biomedical ethics, refers to moral dilemmas due to advances in medicine and medical research. Since medical law and ethics are often interrelated, students need to have a clear understanding of both in order to protect themselves, their employer, and the patient. The study of ethics includes many questions for which there is no one answer.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define medical law, ethics, and bioethics and examine why it is important to study them.
• Examine the legal environment of healthcare including the legal and court systems and essential laws for healthcare professionals.
• Describe issues related to the healthcare environment regarding liability, confidentiality, and the physician-patient relationship.
• Demonstrate an understanding of medical ethics and describe future trends in healthcare.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to medical law and ethics.

Introduction to Psychology introduces the methods and findings of contemporary psychology. Emphasizing the need for scientific and critical thinking, topics include a survey of biology and behavior, sensory process, human development, perception, learning and motivation. Emotion, personality, psychological disorders, therapy and social interaction are also examined to provide students with a solid understanding of the facts, principles, and theories which make up the field of psychology.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define psychology including the history and evolution of the field.
• Describe the major theories, aspects, and perspectives of psychology includng research, physiological, developmental, learning theories, sensation and perception.
• Demonstrate an understanding of processes related to thinking, intelligence, emotion, personality, and psychological disorders.
• Discuss the various psychological approaches to treatment and therapy.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the field of psychology.

Psychology of Gender examines the biological, cultural, and historical factors that influence the development of gender roles and identities. Stereotypes of masculinity and femininity are examined, and the impact that these ideas have on our lives at the personal, social, and institutional levels are explored.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define sex, gender and gender identity, and discuss how gender movements have shaped history.
• Examine biological, social, cognitive, emotional, and communicative factors related to gender development.
• Evaluate issues related to gender stereotyping, discrimination, and power.
• Describe the factors related to gender that affect health and wellbeing.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to the psychology of gender.

Developmental Psychology introduces students to the scientific study of patterns of change and stability that occur as we move through the process of human development from conception to death. Various theories of development will be presented and an emphasis on physical, emotional, cognitive, and psychosocial changes throughout the lifespan will be discussed.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define human development, discuss how it is studied, and examine the major theories and stages of development from infancy to late adulthood.
• Examine the genetic, environmental, and physical factors related to the varying developmental stages.
• Evaluate the factors of sensation, perception, cognition, memory, learning, intelligence, creativity, and language related to the varying developmental stages.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the self, personality, social and moral development, gender roles, sexuality, emotions, attachment, and relationships related to the varying developmental stages.
• Demonstrate an understanding of unique factors related to developmental psychology, psychopathology, death, and bereavement.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to developmental psychology.

Social Psychology offers students an in-depth look at how people come to understand themselves and others in a social context, with considerable emphasis on society’s role in social psychology. Each chapter in this course will introduce students to key individuals within the realm of social psychology whose research has made a significant contribution to the field.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define the field of social psychology and describe its foundations, key terms, and theories.
• Examine theoretical perspectives related to social psychology and research methodologies.
• Evaluate the individual in society including stratification, self and identity, and socialization over the life course.
• Analyze the various areas of social life.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to social psychology.

Personality Theories presents an in-depth look at a number of classical and current personality theories, providing an explanation and interpretation of personality development from several different theoretical approaches. Classic theory is integrated with the latest research and current topics, preparing students to apply theoretical approaches to better understand the particular individuals and personalities they may encounter in their professional and personal lives.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define personality and examine perspectives in theories of personality.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the major psychodynamic personality theories.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the major humanistic/existential personality theories.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the major biological/evolutionary, and learning-cognitive personality theories.
• Describe and examine the research methods used in personality research.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to theories of personality.

Abnormal Psychology offers students an integrative approach to the study of psychopathology, drawing on contributions from various disciplines and theoretical stances. Through clinical case studies, the psychosocial and psychophysiological factors of abnormal behavior are examined, along with the exploration of prevention efforts and research-based advancements in the field.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Define abnormal behavior and describe the historical conceptions of abnormal behavior.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the various types of psychological disorders, their causes, and types of treatment.
• Examine the processes of clinical assessment, diagnosis, and research in psychopathology.
• Evaluate the legal and ethical issues that pertain to mental health services.
• Demonstrate proficiency with academic writing related to abnormal psychology.