This advanced course explores the theory and strategic application of performance management systems. An emphasis is placed on best practices in employee engagement, leadership development, succession planning, evaluative performance feedback, and compensation models. The ways that the changing nature of work and changing demographics in the business world are influencing performance management systems are examined, including globalization, generational differences, multinational operations and cross-cultural issues. Based on current theories and applications for performance management systems, students explore current literature and case examples to implement and support organizational development activities and increased organizational effectiveness.

This advanced graduate seminar explores issues and models for leveraging human resources to execute business strategy. Topics include succession planning, leadership development models, workforce staffing models, compensation models, and training and development strategies.

This course will develop a deep understanding of the primary outcome of performance enhancement programs: peak experiences and the acquisition of expertise. The central emphasis is on developing advanced awareness skills crucial for attaining self-mastery in any high-performance domain. Students will learn how to effectively guide individuals and groups toward goal achievement, ensuring congruence with their current capabilities. The ultimate aim for students is to recognize and cultivate individual and collective experiences characterized by optimal performance, actualization, effortless awareness, flow states, and peak experiences across diverse contexts such as business, organizations, leadership, music, military, and sport.

In this course, doctoral students will evaluate and implement the helping relationship in the context of performance psychology to enhance performance in self and others. The curriculum includes foundational topics, including selecting theoretical orientations and identifying consulting fundamentals. Students will also explore relevant issues regarding ethics, supervision, and referral. Importantly, students will learn how to use consulting skills in a variety of performance domains.

In this course students will analyze the foundational principles of performance psychology, exploring mind-body practices that are essential for optimal individual and team performance in diverse settings. Students will learn to both apply and teach core skills to manage systemic arousal and enhance focus. Students will acquire the tools necessary to construct detailed performance profiles, considering individual variables such as age, gender, and cultural parameters. This deep level of analysis serves as a crucial foundation for effectively integrating mind-body practices to enhance performance. Throughout the course, students will also evaluate and apply strategies for measuring the efficacy of these practices across various professional, organizational, and creative settings.

In this course, students will analyze educationally relevant factors and historical events that have influenced educational practices, and how innovation and technology can prepare students for the future. Particular attention will be paid to educational technology and innovation. Learners will evaluate the application of theories, frameworks, and models of change with emphasis on the role of the change agent. In addition, learners will develop competencies to build organizational or institutional capacity by fostering personal growth and promoting transparency within the organizational change process, and proposing innovative, technology-focused solutions to a problem of practice.

This course offers participants a chance to explore the diverse aspects of educational politics and policy creation at all educational levels. It emphasizes the development of educational policies, the political dynamics surrounding both non-profit and for-profit learning environments, the rise of new educational technologies, and governance across various educational settings. The course will investigate the impact of societal shifts, examining significant reform movements and potential future developments in education from local to national scales. Key topics include the process of shaping educational policies, the global dimensions of educational politics, the politics surrounding learning environments, issues of inclusivity and exclusivity in education, and the dynamics of educational reform. This course is designed to be accessible and relevant to individuals working or involved in all levels of education.

This applied doctoral course introduces educational leaders to inquiry as a leadership practice, drawing on principles of action research and insider inquiry. The course emphasizes how leaders examine and respond to complex problems of practice within their own organizational contexts through cycles of reflection, evidence, and action. Students explore foundational concepts such as scholar-practitioner identity, knowing-in-action, positionality, ethics, and organizational context as they relate to leadership decision-making. Rather than focusing on implementation, the course centers on the design of an action-research-informed leadership inquiry that is responsive to context, values, and organizational dynamics. Through engagement with scholarly literature, applied examples, and peer dialogue, students develop a structured inquiry plan that prepares them to lead thoughtful, ethical, and evidence-informed change.

In this course, students will explore what it means to lead with vision, ethics, and equity in today’s educational landscape. Using real-world case studies, students will critically examine leadership theories and practices while applying research and systems thinking to challenges across PreK–12 and higher education contexts. Through iterative analysis, reflection, and synthesis, students strengthen their capacity as scholar-practitioners-leaders who connect evidence-based inquiry with meaningful organizational transformation. Culminating in the creation of an original, research-informed leadership case study, students will demonstrate mastery by translating theory into practice, articulating ethical and systemic insights, and contributing their own voice to the evolving discourse on educational leadership.