Academic Director: Bonnie D. Oglensky, PhD
CUNY School of Professional Studies
101 West 31st Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Email Contact: humanrelations@sps.cuny.edu
Mission
The mission of the Human Relations Program is to prepare students to understand and skillfully respond to the challenges and possibilities of social and interpersonal relations in 21st century workplaces. By offering multidisciplinary and practice-focused curricula at the undergraduate and graduate level, the Human Relations Program seeks to build student capacity to effectively address the human needs and demands of evolving workplaces.
Program Learning Outcomes
Graduates of the BA in Human Relations will be able to:
- Demonstrate writing and verbal skills that support effective communication in organizational settings and work life.
- Demonstrate multidisciplinary knowledge of theory, research, public policies, and trends pertinent to the field of human relations as the basis to analyze and formulate solutions to real-world and case study examples of workplace difficulties.
- Utilize a range of social science and organizational research methods and data sources to identify, investigate, and formulate solutions to human relations challenges in workplaces.
- Identify and analyze the interests and challenges of multiple stakeholders in order to devise inclusive approaches to human relations problems within workplace settings.
- Analyze the connections between human relations problems affecting work life and issues of sex, race, age, gender, sexuality, religion, marital status, (dis)ability and other bases of social inequity to formulate solutions that promote diversity and fairness in the workplace.
- Demonstrate knowledge about and skills for constructive engagement with people in work life and organizations.
The Program
The first degree of its kind at CUNY, the CUNY SPS BA in Human Relations (HRL) is designed to prepare students to meet the demands of the increasingly global, multicultural, and service-oriented workplace.
Human Relations is an applied, innovative, interdisciplinary field of study that examines human behavior, interactions, and relationships within the workplace and society. Drawing on the fields of psychology, sociology, communication, business, and the humanities, students examine the organizational forms, practices, and policies that can foster or hinder the development of productive relationships and organizational success. Students develop the necessary knowledge and skills to make these relationships and their workplaces more effective.
The degree focuses on the application of theoretical concepts to students’ work and civic lives. The degree addresses the learning needs of adult students, promotes diversity and multicultural understanding, as well as improves written and oral communication skills.
Coursework for the HRL degree takes place in-person at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) at 119 West 31st Street in Manhattan. Students may also opt to take online courses.
Students who complete the HRL degree will be able to:
- Apply a broad range of human relations concepts, to growing service-sector, people-oriented occupations;
- Utilize key human relations, sociological, and psychological concepts to foster collaboration, motivation, and employee engagement;
- Develop relevant strategies for conflict prevention, negotiation, and resolution in workplace settings;
- Identify and communicate ethical and legal issues at stake in individual and collective decision-making;
- Analyze and evaluate workplace problems, and construct and communicate well-researched and relevant solutions;
- Communicate effectively across all levels of organizations;
- Apply leadership principles to workplace settings; and,
- Career and Academic Advancement Prospects.
Admissions Criteria
Applicants must possess at least 24 transferrable credits from an accredited institution with a minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. Applicants need to demonstrate basic proficiency in reading, writing, and math.
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