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Organizational Studies Major

  2. Majors and Minors
  3. Departments and Units
  4. Courses
  5. LSA Degrees
  6. LSA Requirements
  7. LSA Academic Policies
  8. Dates and Deadlines
  9. Academic Integrity
  10. Engaged Learning
  11. STEM
  12. What Will You Do with an LSA Degree?
Advising
Department Website

Effective Fall 2024

Advising

Appointments may be scheduled with the department advisor, or the prospective student advisor via our online web scheduling system. See our homepage www.lsa.umich.edu/orgstudies

Grade Policies

Pre-requisite courses may be taken P/F, but the underlying letter grade received will be considered in the OS application review.

Prerequisites

Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas:

  1. Economics (ECON 101)
  2. Psychology (PSYCH 111, 112, 114, or 115)
  3. Sociology (SOC 100, 102, 195 or 300).

Prerequisite courses may be taken P/F, but the underlying letter grade received will be considered in the OS application review.

All students should be aware that additional prerequisites are required for many of the upper-level courses in the OS curriculum. Depending on their particular area of interest, students may wish to complete additional entry-level courses in political science, communication studies, women's studies, and/or economics as they prepare to apply to the OS Program.

Application. Students must apply for and be accepted into the major. Students are declared into the major by the department advisor only.

Application for the major can be submitted during the sophomore year. It is preferred that applicants have all three prerequisites completed at the time of application. At a minimum, to be eligible to apply, you must have completed (with final grades showing) at least two of the three prerequisite courses, and be currently enrolled in the third. 

Admission is very competitive and enrollment in the major will be limited to assure a high quality educational experience. Program faculty will make admission decisions based on a holistic review, with consideration given to overall grade point average at the time of application, with special attention given to grades in the three prerequisite courses, resume, and a personal statement written by the applicant.

Requirements

Minimum Credits: 34
  1. Core requirements. Two courses are required [6 credits]:
    • ORGSTUDY 305: Inside Organizations
    • ORGSTUDY 310: Formal Organizations and Environments
  2. Senior Capstone Research Requirement. ORGSTUDY 410 (or ORGSTUDY 497&498 for Honors majors).
  3. Cluster Requirements. 7 courses (21 credits minimum), chosen from Clusters A, B, and C:
    • Two courses must be from Cluster A, two from Cluster B, and the remaining three in any cluster (A,B, or C)
    • Two of the cluster courses must be 300/400-level ORGSTUDY courses, taken for a minimum 3 credits each.
    • No more than 2 cluster courses can be at the 200-level
    • No more than 2 cluster courses can be taken outside of UM-Ann Arbor

    The cluster requirements are designed to provide disciplinary variety in the study of organizations, drawing on courses in a number of fields, and ranging across multiple levels of organizational analysis. Due to the cluster requirement representing a broad spectrum of courses that a student can take to complete their program, students are subject to taking five of the seven courses at UM-Ann Arbor. 

    1. Organizations and Individuals (Cluster A) [2 course minimum]. Cluster A courses focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organized behavior of individuals or the behavior of individuals in organizations. These courses may address the relations of individuals to larger structures such as the family or formal organizations, but their concern with the larger structures will typically remain the impact thereof on individual psychology or individual behavior.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster A courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    2. Organizations and Society (Cluster B) [2 course minimum]. Cluster B courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organization of social groups (e.g., ethnic groups), historical processes (e.g., the rise of capitalism), and/or medium to large social structures (e.g., corporations, national governments, or global governing bodies). Although they may at times address the impact of such larger social structures and processes on individual behavior or may include attention to particular individuals from U.S. or world history, the primary concern of Cluster B courses is with questions about how social groups, historical processes, and social structures emerge, remain stable, and/or change.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster B courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    3. Interest Cluster Courses (Cluster C) [minimum of 9 credits]. Cluster C courses are electives intended to allow majors to pursue their curriculum pathway interests in a more specialized way. These should have an organizational theme and can be of either the micro or macro variety, but are almost always more narrow and focused in their content.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster C courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.

      Courses taken as ORGSTUDY 395: Current Issues in Organizational Studies, ORGSTUDY 490: Advanced Research Team, and ORGSTUDY 495: Special Topics may be included, when appropriate and in consultation with the department advisor, as a course in Cluster A, Cluster B, or Cluster C.

  4. Quantitative Skills Requirements [3 credit minimum]. One course from the following:
    • SOC 210
    • STATS 250 or 280
  5. Electives (as needed). Students may choose electives from any requirement area on the OS curriculum list as needed to reach the overall 34 credit requirement for the OS major.

 

Constraints

  • Additional courses may on occasion be used as part of the plan for the major with written approval from the department advisor.
  • No more than six credits of upper-level independent study / experiential credit may count toward the major.
  • ORGSTUDY 499 does not automatically count toward the major, but may be petitioned in individual cases.

Residency

OS Core courses (OS 305 and OS 310), Senior Research Capstone course (OS 410), and a minimum of five of the seven required Cluster courses must be taken at UM-Ann Arbor.

Distribution Policy

No course used to fulfill a major requirement may be used toward the LSA Distribution Requirement. In addition, courses in the ORGSTUDY subject area may not be used toward the Distribution Requirement.

Honors

Effective Fall 2014

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan (OSHC) is designed to enable advanced undergraduate students to gain experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research on organizations and organizational behavior. In the program, the Honors student will collaborate directly with a faculty mentor to complete an original research project. For students with strong academic records and an interest in research, the Honors program can serve as a capstone for undergraduate studies, and as important preparation for graduate studies or other future endeavors.

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan is focused solely on research skills and activities, and interested students should be certain that they have a serious interest in academic research and the capability and desire to complete a prolonged independent study project culminating in a major empirical research paper.

Formal Application to the OS Honors Plan. To qualify for the Honors plan, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher, and must maintain it through graduation. To apply to the OSHC, an application including a project proposal that has been approved by the faculty mentor must be submitted. Deadline for submitting OS Honors Plan application: First Friday in March of the junior year. If admitted, the student will enroll in the OS Senior Honors Research sequence in the senior year (ORGSTUDY 497 & 498). These are independent study courses in which the student will work on research and a thesis with a faculty mentor, and together may replace ORGSTUDY 410 to fulfill the senior research capstone requirement.

Program Completion. The Honors student must submit the final thesis to the faculty mentor by the first Friday in March of their senior year, and also must present the findings at the OS Honors Symposium in early April.

Each thesis is evaluated by a faculty panel consisting of three readers: the faculty mentor, an independent faculty reader, and the OS Honors coordinator. The readers will complete their evaluation of the thesis by the end of classes.To receive an Honors designation on the college degree, the faculty readers must approve the thesis, and the Honors student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.40 at graduation.

Students interested in the Organizational Studies Honors Plan may obtain further information on the OS website.

Organizational Studies (Major) (Fall 2022 - Summer 2024)

Effective Fall 2022

Advising

Appointments may be scheduled with the department advisor, or the prospective student advisor via our online web scheduling system. See our homepage www.lsa.umich.edu/orgstudies

Grade Policies

Pre-requisite courses may be taken P/F, but the underlying letter grade received will be considered in the OS application review.

Prerequisites

Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas:

  1. Economics (ECON 101)
  2. Psychology (PSYCH 111, 112, 114, or 115)
  3. Sociology (SOC 100, 102, 195 or 300).

Prerequisite courses may be taken P/F, but the underlying letter grade received will be considered in the OS application review.

All students should be aware that additional prerequisites are required for many of the upper-level courses in the OS curriculum. Depending on their particular area of interest, students may wish to complete additional entry-level courses in political science, communication studies, women's studies, and/or economics as they prepare to apply to the OS Program.

Application. Students must apply for and be accepted into the major. Students are declared into the major by the department advisor only.

Application for the major can be submitted during the sophomore year. It is preferred that applicants have all three prerequisites completed at the time of application. At a minimum, to be eligible to apply, you must have completed (with final grades showing) at least two of the three prerequisite courses, and be currently enrolled in the third. 

Admission is very competitive and enrollment in the major will be limited to assure a high quality educational experience. Program faculty will make admission decisions based on a holistic review, with consideration given to overall grade point average at the time of application, with special attention given to grades in the three prerequisite courses, resume, and a personal statement written by the applicant.

Requirements

Minimum Credits: 34
  1. Core requirements. Two courses are required [6 credits]:
    • ORGSTUDY 305: Inside Organizations
    • ORGSTUDY 310: Formal Organizations and Environments
  2. Senior Capstone Research Requirement. ORGSTUDY 410 (or ORGSTUDY 497&498 for Honors majors).
  3. Cluster Requirements. 7 courses (21 credits minimum), chosen from Clusters A, B, and C:
    • Two courses must be from Cluster A, two from Cluster B, and the remaining three in any cluster (A,B, or C)
    • Two of the cluster courses must be 300/400-level ORGSTUDY courses, taken for a minimum 3 credits each.
    • No more than 2 cluster courses can be at the 200-level

    The cluster requirements are designed to provide disciplinary variety in the study of organizations, drawing on courses in a number of fields, and ranging across multiple levels of organizational analysis.

    1. Organizations and Individuals (Cluster A) [2 course minimum]. Cluster A courses focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organized behavior of individuals or the behavior of individuals in organizations. These courses may address the relations of individuals to larger structures such as the family or formal organizations, but their concern with the larger structures will typically remain the impact thereof on individual psychology or individual behavior.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster A courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    2. Organizations and Society (Cluster B) [2 course minimum]. Cluster B courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organization of social groups (e.g., ethnic groups), historical processes (e.g., the rise of capitalism), and/or medium to large social structures (e.g., corporations, national governments, or global governing bodies). Although they may at times address the impact of such larger social structures and processes on individual behavior or may include attention to particular individuals from U.S. or world history, the primary concern of Cluster B courses is with questions about how social groups, historical processes, and social structures emerge, remain stable, and/or change.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster B courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    3. Interest Cluster Courses (Cluster C) [minimum of 9 credits]. Cluster C courses are electives intended to allow majors to pursue their curriculum pathway interests in a more specialized way. These should have an organizational theme and can be of either the micro or macro variety, but are almost always more narrow and focused in their content.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster C courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.

      Courses taken as ORGSTUDY 395: Current Issues in Organizational Studies, ORGSTUDY 490: Advanced Research Team, and ORGSTUDY 495: Special Topics may be included, when appropriate and in consultation with the department advisor, as a course in Cluster A, Cluster B, or Cluster C.

  4. Quantitative Skills Requirements [3 credit minimum]. One course from the following:
    • SOC 210
    • STATS 250 or 280
  5. Electives (as needed). Students may choose electives from any requirement area on the OS curriculum list as needed to reach the overall 34 credit requirement for the OS major.

 

Constraints

  • Additional courses may on occasion be used as part of the plan for the major with written approval from the department advisor.
  • No more than six credits of upper-level independent study / experiential credit may count toward the major.
  • ORGSTUDY 499 does not automatically count toward the major, but may be petitioned in individual cases.

Residency

Limit of two courses taken off the AA campus (not including Camp Davis, Biological Station, or Michigan-in-Washington programs)

Distribution Policy

No course used to fulfill a major requirement may be used toward the LSA Distribution Requirement. In addition, courses in the ORGSTUDY subject area may not be used toward the Distribution Requirement.

Honors

Effective Fall 2014

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan (OSHC) is designed to enable advanced undergraduate students to gain experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research on organizations and organizational behavior. In the program, the Honors student will collaborate directly with a faculty mentor to complete an original research project. For students with strong academic records and an interest in research, the Honors program can serve as a capstone for undergraduate studies, and as important preparation for graduate studies or other future endeavors.

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan is focused solely on research skills and activities, and interested students should be certain that they have a serious interest in academic research and the capability and desire to complete a prolonged independent study project culminating in a major empirical research paper.

Formal Application to the OS Honors Plan. To qualify for the Honors plan, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher, and must maintain it through graduation. To apply to the OSHC, an application including a project proposal that has been approved by the faculty mentor must be submitted. Deadline for submitting OS Honors Plan application: First Friday in March of the junior year. If admitted, the student will enroll in the OS Senior Honors Research sequence in the senior year (ORGSTUDY 497 & 498). These are independent study courses in which the student will work on research and a thesis with a faculty mentor, and together may replace ORGSTUDY 410 to fulfill the senior research capstone requirement.

Program Completion. The Honors student must submit the final thesis to the faculty mentor by the first Friday in March of their senior year, and also must present the findings at the OS Honors Symposium in early April.

Each thesis is evaluated by a faculty panel consisting of three readers: the faculty mentor, an independent faculty reader, and the OS Honors coordinator. The readers will complete their evaluation of the thesis by the end of classes.To receive an Honors designation on the college degree, the faculty readers must approve the thesis, and the Honors student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.40 at graduation.

Students interested in the Organizational Studies Honors Plan may obtain further information on the OS website.

Organizational Studies (Major) (Winter 2019 - Summer 2022)

Effective Winter 2019

Advising

Appointments may be scheduled with the department advisor, or the prospective student advisor via our online web scheduling system. See our homepage www.lsa.umich.edu/orgstudies

Grade Policies

Pre-requisite courses must be taken for a grade.

Prerequisites

Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas:

  1. Economics (ECON 101)
  2. Psychology (PSYCH 111, 112, 114, or 115)
  3. Sociology (SOC 100, 102, 195 or 300).

Prerequisite courses must be taken for a grade (not P/F).

All students should be aware that additional prerequisites are required for many of the upper-level courses in the OS curriculum. Depending on their particular area of interest, students may wish to complete additional entry-level courses in political science, communication studies, women's studies, and/or economics as they prepare to apply to the OS Program.

Application. Students must apply for and be accepted into the major. Students are declared into the major by the department advisor only.

Application for the major can be submitted during the sophomore year. It is preferred that applicants have all three prerequisites completed at the time of application. At a minimum, to be eligible to apply, you must have completed (with final grades showing) at least two of the three prerequisite courses, and be currently enrolled in the third. Admission is very competitive and enrollment in the major will be limited to assure a high quality educational experience. Program faculty will make admission decisions based on a holistic review, with consideration given to overall grade point average at the time of application, with special attention given to grades in the three prerequisite courses, resume, and a personal statement written by the applicant.

Requirements

Minimum Credits: 34
  1. Core requirements. Two courses are required [6 credits]:
    • ORGSTUDY 305: Inside Organizations
    • ORGSTUDY 310: Formal Organizations and Environments
  2. Senior Capstone Research Requirement. ORGSTUDY 410 (or ORGSTUDY 497&498 for Honors majors).
  3. Cluster Requirements. 7 courses (21 credits minimum), chosen from Clusters A, B, and C:
    • Two courses must be from Cluster A, two from Cluster B, and the remaining three in any cluster (A,B, or C)
    • Two of the cluster courses must be 300/400-level ORGSTUDY courses.
    • No more than 2 cluster courses can be at the 200-level

    The cluster requirements are designed to provide disciplinary variety in the study of organizations, drawing on courses in a number of fields, and ranging across multiple levels of organizational analysis.

    1. Organizations and Individuals (Cluster A) [2 course minimum]. Cluster A courses focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organized behavior of individuals or the behavior of individuals in organizations. These courses may address the relations of individuals to larger structures such as the family or formal organizations, but their concern with the larger structures will typically remain the impact thereof on individual psychology or individual behavior.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster A courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    2. Organizations and Society (Cluster B) [2 course minimum]. Cluster B courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organization of social groups (e.g., ethnic groups), historical processes (e.g., the rise of capitalism), and/or medium to large social structures (e.g., corporations, national governments, or global governing bodies). Although they may at times address the impact of such larger social structures and processes on individual behavior or may include attention to particular individuals from U.S. or world history, the primary concern of Cluster B courses is with questions about how social groups, historical processes, and social structures emerge, remain stable, and/or change.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster B courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    3. Interest Cluster Courses (Cluster C) [minimum of 9 credits]. Cluster C courses are electives intended to allow majors to pursue their curriculum pathway interests in a more specialized way. These should have an organizational theme and can be of either the micro or macro variety, but are almost always more narrow and focused in their content.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster C courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.

      Courses taken as ORGSTUDY 395: Current Issues in Organizational Studies, ORGSTUDY 490: Advanced Research Team, and ORGSTUDY 495: Special Topics may be included, when appropriate and in consultation with the department advisor, as a course in Cluster A, Cluster B, or Cluster C.

  4. Quantitative Skills Requirements [3 credit minimum]. One course from the following:
    • SOC 210
    • STATS 250 or 280
  5. Electives (as needed). Students may choose electives from any requirement area on the OS curriculum list as needed to reach the overall 34 credit requirement for the OS major.

 

Constraints

  • Additional courses may on occasion be used as part of the plan for the major with written approval from the department advisor.
  • No more than six credits of upper-level independent study / experiential credit may count toward the major.
  • ORGSTUDY 499 does not automatically count toward the major, but may be petitioned in individual cases.

Residency

Limit of two courses taken off the AA campus (not including Camp Davis, Biological Station, or Michigan-in-Washington programs)

Distribution Policy

No course used to fulfill a major requirement may be used toward the LSA Distribution Requirement. In addition, courses in the ORGSTUDY subject area may not be used toward the Distribution Requirement.

Honors

Effective Fall 2014

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan (OSHC) is designed to enable advanced undergraduate students to gain experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research on organizations and organizational behavior. In the program, the Honors student will collaborate directly with a faculty mentor to complete an original research project. For students with strong academic records and an interest in research, the Honors program can serve as a capstone for undergraduate studies, and as important preparation for graduate studies or other future endeavors.

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan is focused solely on research skills and activities, and interested students should be certain that they have a serious interest in academic research and the capability and desire to complete a prolonged independent study project culminating in a major empirical research paper.

Formal Application to the OS Honors Plan. To qualify for the Honors plan, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher, and must maintain it through graduation. To apply to the OSHC, an application including a project proposal that has been approved by the faculty mentor must be submitted. Deadline for submitting OS Honors Plan application: First Friday in March of the junior year. If admitted, the student will enroll in the OS Senior Honors Research sequence in the senior year (ORGSTUDY 497 & 498). These are independent study courses in which the student will work on research and a thesis with a faculty mentor, and together may replace ORGSTUDY 410 to fulfill the senior research capstone requirement.

Program Completion. The Honors student must submit the final thesis to the faculty mentor by the first Friday in March of their senior year, and also must present the findings at the OS Honors Symposium in early April.

Each thesis is evaluated by a faculty panel consisting of three readers: the faculty mentor, an independent faculty reader, and the OS Honors coordinator. The readers will complete their evaluation of the thesis by the end of classes.To receive an Honors designation on the college degree, the faculty readers must approve the thesis, and the Honors student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.40 at graduation.

Students interested in the Organizational Studies Honors Plan may obtain further information on the OS website.

Organizational Studies (Major) (Fall 2018)

Effective Fall 2018

Advising

Appointments may be scheduled with the department advisor, or the prospective student advisor via our online web scheduling system. See our homepage www.lsa.umich.edu/orgstudies

Grade Policies

Pre-requisite courses must be taken for a grade.

Prerequisites

Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas:

  1. Economics (ECON 101)
  2. Psychology (PSYCH 111, 112, 114, or 115)
  3. Sociology (SOC 100, 102, 195 or 300).

Prerequisite courses must be taken for a grade (not P/F).

All students should be aware that additional prerequisites are required for many of the upper-level courses in the OS curriculum. Depending on their particular area of interest, students may wish to complete additional entry-level courses in political science, communication studies, women's studies, and/or economics as they prepare to apply to the OS Program.

Application. Students must apply for and be accepted into the major. Students are declared into the major by the department advisor only.

Application for the major can be submitted during the sophomore year. It is preferred that applicants have all three prerequisites completed at the time of application. At a minimum, to be eligible to apply, you must have completed (with final grades showing) at least two of the three prerequisite courses, and be currently enrolled in the third. Admission is very competitive and enrollment in the major will be limited to assure a high quality educational experience. Program faculty will make admission decisions based on a holistic review, with consideration given to overall grade point average at the time of application, with special attention given to grades in the three prerequisite courses, resume, and a personal statement written by the applicant.

Requirements

Minimum Credits: 34
  1. Core requirements. Two courses are required [6 credits]:
    • ORGSTUDY 305: Inside Organizations
    • ORGSTUDY 310: Formal Organizations and Environments
  2. Senior Capstone Research Requirement. ORGSTUDY 410 (or ORGSTUDY 497&498 for Honors majors).
  3. Cluster Requirements. 7 courses (21 credits minimum), chosen from Clusters A, B, and C:
    • Two courses must be from Cluster A, two from Cluster B, and the remaining three in any cluster (A,B, or C)
    • Two of the cluster courses must be 300/400-level ORGSTUDY courses.
    • No more than 2 cluster courses can be at the 200-level

    The cluster requirements are designed to provide disciplinary variety in the study of organizations, drawing on courses in a number of fields, and ranging across multiple levels of organizational analysis.

    1. Organizations and Individuals (Cluster A) [2 course minimum]. Cluster A courses focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organized behavior of individuals or the behavior of individuals in organizations. These courses may address the relations of individuals to larger structures such as the family or formal organizations, but their concern with the larger structures will typically remain the impact thereof on individual psychology or individual behavior.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster A courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    2. Organizations and Society (Cluster B) [2 course minimum]. Cluster B courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organization of social groups (e.g., ethnic groups), historical processes (e.g., the rise of capitalism), and/or medium to large social structures (e.g., corporations, national governments, or global governing bodies). Although they may at times address the impact of such larger social structures and processes on individual behavior or may include attention to particular individuals from U.S. or world history, the primary concern of Cluster B courses is with questions about how social groups, historical processes, and social structures emerge, remain stable, and/or change.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster B courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    3. Interest Cluster Courses (Cluster C) [minimum of 9 credits]. Cluster C courses are electives intended to allow majors to pursue their curriculum pathway interests in a more specialized way. These should have an organizational theme and can be of either the micro or macro variety, but are almost always more narrow and focused in their content.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster C courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.

      Courses taken as ORGSTUDY 395: Current Issues in Organizational Studies, ORGSTUDY 490: Advanced Research Team, and ORGSTUDY 495: Special Topics may be included, when appropriate and in consultation with the department advisor, as a course in Cluster A, Cluster B, or Cluster C.

  4. Quantitative Skills Requirements [3 credit minimum]. One course from the following:
    • SOC 210
    • STATS 250 or 280
  5. Electives (as needed). Students may choose electives from any requirement area on the OS curriculum list as needed to reach the overall 34 credit requirement for the OS major.

 

Constraints

  • Additional courses may on occasion be used as part of the plan for the major with written approval from the department advisor.
  • No more than six credits of upper-level independent study / experiential credit may count toward the major.
  • ORGSTUDY 499 does not automatically count toward the major, but may be petitioned in individual cases.

Residency

Limit of two courses taken off the AA campus (not including Camp Davis, Biological Station, or Michigan-in-Washington programs)

Distribution Policy

No course used to fulfill a major requirement may be used toward the LSA Distribution Requirement. In addition, courses in the ORGSTUDY subject area may not be used toward the Distribution Requirement.

Honors

Effective Fall 2014

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan (OSHC) is designed to enable advanced undergraduate students to gain experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research on organizations and organizational behavior. In the program, the Honors student will collaborate directly with a faculty mentor to complete an original research project. For students with strong academic records and an interest in research, the Honors program can serve as a capstone for undergraduate studies, and as important preparation for graduate studies or other future endeavors.

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan is focused solely on research skills and activities, and interested students should be certain that they have a serious interest in academic research and the capability and desire to complete a prolonged independent study project culminating in a major empirical research paper.

Formal Application to the OS Honors Plan. To qualify for the Honors plan, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, and must maintain it through graduation. To apply to the OSHC, an application including a project proposal that has been approved by the faculty mentor must be submitted. Deadline for submitting OS Honors Plan application: First Friday in March of the junior year. If admitted, the student will enroll in the OS Senior Honors Research sequence in the senior year (ORGSTUDY 497 & 498). These are independent study courses in which the student will work on research and a thesis with a faculty mentor, and together may replace ORGSTUDY 410 to fulfill the senior research capstone requirement.

Program Completion. The Honors student must submit the final thesis to the faculty mentor by the first Friday in March of their senior year, and also must present the findings at the OS Honors Symposium in early April.

Each thesis is evaluated by a faculty panel consisting of three readers: the faculty mentor, an independent faculty reader, and the OS Honors coordinator. The readers will complete their evaluation of the thesis by the end of classes.To receive an Honors designation on the college degree, the faculty readers must approve the thesis, and the Honors student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.40 at graduation.

Students interested in the Organizational Studies Honors Plan may obtain further information on the OS website.

Organizational Studies (Major) (Winter 2018 - Summer 2018)

Effective Winter 2018

Advising

Appointments may be scheduled with the department advisor, or the prospective student advisor via our online web scheduling system. See our homepage www.lsa.umich.edu/orgstudies

Prerequisites

Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas:

  1. Economics (ECON 101)
  2. Psychology (PSYCH 111, 112, 114, or 115)
  3. Sociology (SOC 100, 102, 195 or 300).

Prerequisite courses must be taken for a grade (not P/F).

All students should be aware that additional prerequisites are required for many of the upper-level courses in the OS curriculum. Depending on their particular area of interest, students may wish to complete additional entry-level courses in political science, communication studies, women's studies, and/or economics as they prepare to apply to the OS Program.

Application. Students must apply for and be accepted into the major. Students are declared into the major by the department advisor only.

Application for the major can be submitted during the sophomore year. It is preferred that applicants have all three prerequisites completed at the time of application. At a minimum, to be eligible to apply, you must have completed (with final grades showing) at least two of the three prerequisite courses, and be currently enrolled in the third. Admission is very competitive and enrollment in the major will be limited to assure a high quality educational experience. Program faculty will make admission decisions based on a holistic review, with consideration given to overall grade point average at the time of application, with special attention given to grades in the three prerequisite courses, resume, and a personal statement written by the applicant.

Requirements

Minimum Credits: 34
  1. Core requirements. Two courses are required [6 credits]:
    • ORGSTUDY 305: Inside Organizations
    • ORGSTUDY 310: Formal Organizations and Environments
  2. Senior Capstone Research Requirement. ORGSTUDY 410 (or ORGSTUDY 497&498 for Honors majors).
  3. Cluster Requirements. 7 courses (21 credits minimum), chosen from Clusters A, B, and C:
    • Two courses must be from Cluster A, two from Cluster B, and the remaining three in any cluster (A,B, or C)
    • Two of the cluster courses must be ORGSTUDY courses.
    • No more than 2 cluster courses can be at the 200-level

    The cluster requirements are designed to provide disciplinary variety in the study of organizations, drawing on courses in a number of fields, and ranging across multiple levels of organizational analysis.

    1. Organizations and Individuals (Cluster A) [2 course minimum]. Cluster A courses focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organized behavior of individuals or the behavior of individuals in organizations. These courses may address the relations of individuals to larger structures such as the family or formal organizations, but their concern with the larger structures will typically remain the impact thereof on individual psychology or individual behavior.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster A courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    2. Organizations and Society (Cluster B) [2 course minimum]. Cluster B courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organization of social groups (e.g., ethnic groups), historical processes (e.g., the rise of capitalism), and/or medium to large social structures (e.g., corporations, national governments, or global governing bodies). Although they may at times address the impact of such larger social structures and processes on individual behavior or may include attention to particular individuals from U.S. or world history, the primary concern of Cluster B courses is with questions about how social groups, historical processes, and social structures emerge, remain stable, and/or change.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster B courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    3. Interest Cluster Courses (Cluster C) [minimum of 9 credits]. Cluster C courses are electives intended to allow majors to pursue their curriculum pathway interests in a more specialized way. These should have an organizational theme and can be of either the micro or macro variety, but are almost always more narrow and focused in their content.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster C courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.

      Courses taken as ORGSTUDY 395: Current Issues in Organizational Studies, ORGSTUDY 490: Advanced Research Team, and ORGSTUDY 495: Special Topics may be included, when appropriate and in consultation with the department advisor, as a course in Cluster A, Cluster B, or Cluster C.

  4. Quantitative Skills Requirements [3 credit minimum]. One course from the following:
    • SOC 210
    • STATS 250, 280, 400, or 405
    • ECON 404 or 405.
  5. Electives (as needed). Students may choose electives from any requirement area on the OS curriculum list as needed to reach the overall 34 credit requirement for the OS major.

Additional courses may on occasion be used as part of the plan for the major with written approval from the department advisor.

Constraints

No more than six credits of upper-level independent study / experiential credit may count toward the major. ORGSTUDY 499 does not automatically count toward the major, but may be petitioned in individual cases.

Distribution Policy

No course used to fulfill a major requirement may be used toward the LSA Distribution Requirement. In addition, courses in the ORGSTUDY subject area may not be used toward the Distribution Requirement.

Honors

Effective Fall 2014

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan (OSHC) is designed to enable advanced undergraduate students to gain experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research on organizations and organizational behavior. In the program, the Honors student will collaborate directly with a faculty mentor to complete an original research project. For students with strong academic records and an interest in research, the Honors program can serve as a capstone for undergraduate studies, and as important preparation for graduate studies or other future endeavors.

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan is focused solely on research skills and activities, and interested students should be certain that they have a serious interest in academic research and the capability and desire to complete a prolonged independent study project culminating in a major empirical research paper.

Formal Application to the OS Honors Plan. To qualify for the Honors plan, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, and must maintain it through graduation. To apply to the OSHC, an application including a project proposal that has been approved by the faculty mentor must be submitted. Deadline for submitting OS Honors Plan application: First Friday in March of the junior year. If admitted, the student will enroll in the OS Senior Honors Research sequence in the senior year (ORGSTUDY 497 & 498). These are independent study courses in which the student will work on research and a thesis with a faculty mentor, and together may replace ORGSTUDY 410 to fulfill the senior research capstone requirement.

Program Completion. The Honors student must submit the final thesis to the faculty mentor by the first Friday in March of their senior year, and also must present the findings at the OS Honors Symposium in early April.

Each thesis is evaluated by a faculty panel consisting of three readers: the faculty mentor, an independent faculty reader, and the OS Honors coordinator. The readers will complete their evaluation of the thesis by the end of classes.To receive an Honors designation on the college degree, the faculty readers must approve the thesis, and the Honors student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.40 at graduation.

Students interested in the Organizational Studies Honors Plan may obtain further information on the OS website.

Organizational Studies (Major) (Fall 2014 - Fall 2017)

Effective Fall 2014

Advising

Appointments may be scheduled with the department advisor, or the prospective student advisor via our online web scheduling system. See our homepage www.lsa.umich.edu/orgstudies

Prerequisites

Students must complete one course in each of the following three areas:

  1. Introduction to Economics (ECON 101)
  2. Introduction to Psychology (PSYCH 111, 112, 114, or 115)
  3. Introduction to Sociology (SOC 100, 101, 102, or 195).

All students should be aware that additional prerequisites are required for many of the upper-level courses in the OS curriculum. Depending on their particular area of interest, students may wish to complete additional entry-level courses in political science, communication studies, women's studies, and/or economics as they prepare to apply to the OS Program.

Application. Students must apply for and be accepted into the major. Students are declared into the major by the department advisor only.

Application for the major can be submitted during the sophomore year. It is preferred that applicants have all three prerequisites completed at the time of application. At a minimum, to be eligible to apply, you must have completed (with final grades showing) at least two of the three prerequisite courses, and be currently enrolled in the third. Admission is very competitive and enrollment in the major will be limited to assure a high quality educational experience. Program faculty will make admission decisions based on a holistic review, with consideration given to overall grade point average at the time of application, with special attention given to grades in the three prerequisite courses, resume, and a personal statement written by the applicant.

Requirements

Minimum Credits: 34
  1. Core requirements. Two courses are required [6 credits]:
    • ORGSTUDY 305: Inside Organizations
    • ORGSTUDY 310: Formal Organizations and Environments
  2. Senior Capstone Research Requirement. ORGSTUDY 410 (or ORGSTUDY 497&498 for Honors majors).
  3. Cluster Requirements. 7 courses (21 credits minimum), chosen from Clusters A, B, and C:
    • Two courses must be from Cluster A, two from Cluster B, and the remaining three in any cluster (A,B, or C)
    • Two of the cluster courses must be ORGSTUDY courses.
    • No more than 2 cluster courses can be at the 200-level

    The cluster requirements are designed to provide disciplinary variety in the study of organizations, drawing on courses in a number of fields, and ranging across multiple levels of organizational analysis.

    1. Organizations and Individuals (Cluster A) [2 course minimum]. Cluster A courses focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organized behavior of individuals or the behavior of individuals in organizations. These courses may address the relations of individuals to larger structures such as the family or formal organizations, but their concern with the larger structures will typically remain the impact thereof on individual psychology or individual behavior.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster A courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    2. Organizations and Society (Cluster B) [2 course minimum]. Cluster B courses are those that focus mainly on questions and topics concerning the organization of social groups (e.g., ethnic groups), historical processes (e.g., the rise of capitalism), and/or medium to large social structures (e.g., corporations, national governments, or global governing bodies). Although they may at times address the impact of such larger social structures and processes on individual behavior or may include attention to particular individuals from U.S. or world history, the primary concern of Cluster B courses is with questions about how social groups, historical processes, and social structures emerge, remain stable, and/or change.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster B courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.
    3. Interest Cluster Courses (Cluster C) [minimum of 9 credits]. Cluster C courses are electives intended to allow majors to pursue their curriculum pathway interests in a more specialized way. These should have an organizational theme and can be of either the micro or macro variety, but are almost always more narrow and focused in their content.

      A complete list of acceptable Cluster C courses is available on the Organizational Studies website.

      Courses taken as ORGSTUDY 395: Current Issues in Organizational Studies, ORGSTUDY 490: Advanced Research Team, and ORGSTUDY 495: Special Topics may be included, when appropriate and in consultation with the department advisor, as a course in Cluster A, Cluster B, or Cluster C.

  4. Quantitative Skills Requirements [3 credit minimum]. One course from the following:
    • SOC 210
    • STATS 250, 280, 400, or 405
    • ECON 404 or 405.
  5. Electives (as needed). Students may choose electives from any requirement area on the OS curriculum list as needed to reach the overall 34 credit requirement for the OS major.

Additional courses may on occasion be used as part of the plan for the major with written approval from the department advisor.

Constraints

No more than six credits of upper-level independent study / experiential credit may count toward the major. ORGSTUDY 499 does not automatically count toward the major, but may be petitioned in individual cases.

Distribution Policy

No course used to fulfill a major requirement may be used toward the LSA Distribution Requirement. In addition, courses in the ORGSTUDY subject area may not be used toward the Distribution Requirement.

Honors

Effective Fall 2014

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan (OSHC) is designed to enable advanced undergraduate students to gain experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of research on organizations and organizational behavior. In the program, the Honors student will collaborate directly with a faculty mentor to complete an original research project. For students with strong academic records and an interest in research, the Honors program can serve as a capstone for undergraduate studies, and as important preparation for graduate studies or other future endeavors.

The Organizational Studies Honors Plan is focused solely on research skills and activities, and interested students should be certain that they have a serious interest in academic research and the capability and desire to complete a prolonged independent study project culminating in a major empirical research paper.

Formal Application to the OS Honors Plan. To qualify for the Honors plan, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, and must maintain it through graduation. To apply to the OSHC, an application including a project proposal that has been approved by the faculty mentor must be submitted. Deadline for submitting OS Honors Plan application: First Friday in March of the junior year. If admitted, the student will enroll in the OS Senior Honors Research sequence in the senior year (ORGSTUDY 497 & 498). These are independent study courses in which the student will work on research and a thesis with a faculty mentor, and together may replace ORGSTUDY 410 to fulfill the senior research capstone requirement.

Program Completion. The Honors student must submit the final thesis to the faculty mentor by the first Friday in March of their senior year, and also must present the findings at the OS Honors Symposium in early April.

Each thesis is evaluated by a faculty panel consisting of three readers: the faculty mentor, an independent faculty reader, and the OS Honors coordinator. The readers will complete their evaluation of the thesis by the end of classes.To receive an Honors designation on the college degree, the faculty readers must approve the thesis, and the Honors student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.40 at graduation.

Students interested in the Organizational Studies Honors Plan may obtain further information on the OS website.

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