Master of Arts in Professional Development

The Master of Arts in Professional Development degree program adopts a unique approach to graduate studies. Designed especially for professionals who desire to expand their knowledge and credentials beyond the boundaries of their bachelor's degree, the MA in Professional Development enhances a broad and diverse educational experience, and students may select from communication, counseling, criminal justice, leadership development, ministry leadership, or training and development. The 30-credit-hour curriculum is comprised of a three-credit-hour interdisciplinary core with a choice of seven concentrations for the completion of the remaining 27 hours.

ADMISSION

There are no additional requirements other than those required for admission to the graduate program at DBU.

Admission and Retention Requirements for Accounting Concentration:

Graduate and Undergraduate students seeking admission to this degree with an accounting concentration must have an overall GPA of 3.0.
Students must maintain an overall GPA of 3.0 and a GPA of 3.0 in all accounting coursework in order to remain in the program and to graduate with this degree in accounting.
Students must sign a Statement of Understanding about the accounting concentration before beginning graduate accounting coursework. The statement will be provided by the student’s advisor.

Core Courses (3 hours):

MAPD 5302 - Servant Leadership and Worldviews (S-L)

Concentration (18 hours)
Electives (9 hours) (with approval of academic advisor to support student's vocational goals)

Concentrations available to the MA in Professional Development student are:

Course
Communication COMA 5300 - Introduction to Graduate Communication Studies COMA 6307 - Communication Leadership for Groups COMA 6309 - Social Media and Communication COMA 6320 - Organizational Communication COMA 6321 - Strategic Communication for Organizations COMA 6322 - Communication Campaigns Choose any three graduate electives.
Counseling* COUN 5312 - Advanced Counseling Theories and Techniques COUN 5314 - Lifespan Human Development COUN 5317 - Counseling Culturally Diverse Clients COUN 6310 - Career Counseling and Lifestyle Development COUN 6311 - Addictive and Compulsive Disorders (Requisite: COUN 5312) COUN 6314 - Marriage and Family Counseling Choose any three graduate electives. *This program of study does not provide students the necessary coursework to meet academic requirements to become a Licensed Professional Counselor. Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.
Criminal Justice* CRJS 5320 - Ethical Issues in Law Enforcement CRJS 5321 - Principles of Organizations and Administration for Justice Professionals CRJS 5323 - Crime and Community CRJS 5324 - Correctional Theory and Application CRJS 5326 - Research Methods in Criminal Justice CRJS 5332 - Crisis Intervention (Requisites: 6 hours in CRJS/PSYC/SOCI) Choose any three graduate electives. * Requisites for the Criminal Justice Concentration are CRJS 1302, or Undergraduate Major/Minor in Criminal Justice or Past/Present Services as a Law Enforcement Officer
Digital Transformation Choose 8 of the following courses: MSAIS 6301 - AI Revolution: Transforming the Digital Landscape   MSITM 6302 - Business Intelligence and Data Mining   MSAIS 6304 – AI Techniques for Data Scientists  MSITM 6305 - IoT and Big Data  MSAIS 6306 – AI Enterprise Strategy & Implementation MSITM 6307 – Humanics: Design Thinking     MSITM 6308 - DevOps   MSITM 6320 - Agile Project Management   MSITM 6321 - IT Strategy   MSITM 6323  - Blockchain   MSITM 6332 – User Experience Principles     MSITM 6333 – User Experience Analytics   MSITM 6339 - Product Management
Ministry Leadership MACM 5301 – Foundations of Christian Ministry MAEML 6304 – Principles for Bible Teaching MALA 5361 – Children’s Ministry in Church MANA 5310 – Ethical Leadership THEO 5345 - Christianity in Pluralistic World THEO 6306 – Systematic Theology Choose any three graduate electives.
Training and Development* (The Training and Development concentration is a 27-hour concentration.) Students must complete six of the listed courses in consult with the program director. MANA 5300 - Career and Professional Development MANA 5302 - Quantitative Analysis and Modeling for Decision-Making MANA 5303 - Technology, Innovation, and the Entrepreneurial Mindset MANA 5310 - Ethical Leadership MANA 5333 - Operations and Quality Management MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development MANA 6372 - Managing Operations and Teams (internship) (S-L)* MSAIS 5302 - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning MSITM 6307 - Humanics Design Thinking/Workforce Analytics MSITM 6320 - Agile Project Management PROJ 5301 - Project Management Foundations Choose any three graduate electives. *This track is offered through an agreement partnership with Chinese corporate entities. Students must apply and be admitted to the Master of Professional Development in Training and Development at DBU in order to receive transcript credit from DBU. Class registration is completed in coordination with Chinese corporations and DBU, with all tuition and fees paid to DBU. Contact the MAPD Program director for more information about this specialization.
Leadership Development MAL 5308 - Great Leaders in History MAL 6305 - Relational Leadership and Emotional Intelligence (Summer only) MANA 5310 - Ethical Leadership MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development MANA 6330 - Leadership Development MANA 6331 - Leadership Coaching and Counseling Choose any three graduate electives. Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.

Course

Communication
COMA 5300 - Introduction to Graduate Communication Studies
COMA 6307 - Communication Leadership for Groups
COMA 6309 - Social Media and Communication
COMA 6320 - Organizational Communication
COMA 6321 - Strategic Communication for Organizations
COMA 6322 - Communication Campaigns
Choose any three graduate electives.

Counseling*
COUN 5312 - Advanced Counseling Theories and Techniques
COUN 5314 - Lifespan Human Development
COUN 5317 - Counseling Culturally Diverse Clients
COUN 6310 - Career Counseling and Lifestyle Development
COUN 6311 - Addictive and Compulsive Disorders (Requisite: COUN 5312)
COUN 6314 - Marriage and Family Counseling
Choose any three graduate electives.
*This program of study does not provide students the necessary coursework to meet academic requirements to become a Licensed Professional Counselor.
Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.

Criminal Justice*
CRJS 5320 - Ethical Issues in Law Enforcement
CRJS 5321 - Principles of Organizations and Administration for Justice Professionals
CRJS 5323 - Crime and Community
CRJS 5324 - Correctional Theory and Application
CRJS 5326 - Research Methods in Criminal Justice
CRJS 5332 - Crisis Intervention (Requisites: 6 hours in CRJS/PSYC/SOCI)

Choose any three graduate electives.
* Requisites for the Criminal Justice Concentration are CRJS 1302, or Undergraduate Major/Minor in Criminal Justice or Past/Present Services as a Law Enforcement Officer

Digital Transformation

Choose 8 of the following courses:

MSAIS 6301 - AI Revolution: Transforming the Digital Landscape  

MSITM 6302 - Business Intelligence and Data Mining  

MSAIS 6304 – AI Techniques for Data Scientists 

MSITM 6305 - IoT and Big Data 

MSAIS 6306 – AI Enterprise Strategy & Implementation

MSITM 6307 – Humanics: Design Thinking    

MSITM 6308 - DevOps  

MSITM 6320 - Agile Project Management  

MSITM 6321 - IT Strategy  

MSITM 6323  - Blockchain  

MSITM 6332 – User Experience Principles    

MSITM 6333 – User Experience Analytics  

MSITM 6339 - Product Management  

Ministry Leadership

MACM 5301 – Foundations of Christian Ministry

MAEML 6304 – Principles for Bible Teaching

MALA 5361 – Children’s Ministry in Church

MANA 5310 – Ethical Leadership

THEO 5345 - Christianity in Pluralistic World

THEO 6306 – Systematic Theology

Choose any three graduate electives.

Training and Development*
*(The Training and Development concentration is a 27-hour concentration.) Students must complete six of the listed courses in consult with the program director.

MANA 5300 - Career and Professional Development

MANA 5302 - Quantitative Analysis and Modeling for Decision-Making

MANA 5303 - Technology, Innovation, and the Entrepreneurial Mindset

MANA 5310 - Ethical Leadership

MANA 5333 - Operations and Quality Management

MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development

MANA 6372 - Managing Operations and Teams (internship) (S-L)

MSAIS 5302 - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

MSITM 6307 - Humanics Design Thinking/Workforce Analytics

MSITM 6320 - Agile Project Management

PROJ 5301 - Project Management Foundations

Choose any three graduate electives.

*This track is offered through an agreement partnership with Chinese corporate entities. Students must apply and be admitted to the Master of Professional Development in Training and Development at DBU in order to receive transcript credit from DBU. Class registration is completed in coordination with Chinese corporations and DBU, with all tuition and fees paid to DBU. Contact the MAPD Program director for more information about this specialization.

Leadership Development

MAL 5308 - Great Leaders in History

MAL 6305 - Relational Leadership and Emotional Intelligence (Summer only)

MANA 5310 - Ethical Leadership

MANA 6314 - Organizational Change and Development

MANA 6330 - Leadership Development

MANA 6331 - Leadership Coaching and Counseling

Choose any three graduate electives.

Note: Requisites must be met before a student is allowed to register for a specific course.

Total Credit Hours Required

(S-L) = Course(s) with field-based service-learning component.

Refer to individual course descriptions for course requisites.

Course Descriptions

Find course descriptions by category under the Graduate Course Descriptions section in the navigation panel.