At Cal State Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics, MBA students gain from the insights and expertise of professors with versatile academic and applied professional experience. In management-focused disciplines such as human resources, faculty bring decades of highly ranked research and a vast professional network to provide a holistic introduction to the rapidly evolving business landscape.
One such faculty member is management professor Lori Muse, who earned her doctorate in human resource management and organizational change from Auburn University. She teaches HR-focused courses in the college’s MBA programs, including Seminar in Human Resource Management, a Flex MBA course, and Team Leadership Skills in the Fully-Employed MBA program. Both courses focus on experiential learning, incorporating class discussion, role play and case discussion. Her research interests have focused on the employer-employee relationship, including work-family conflict, work-life balance and benefits, and stress and job performance.
“The experience level in the MBA program makes the graduate courses I teach especially rewarding,” said Muse. “I incorporate student work experience into each class meeting. For example, in the team leadership class, I ask students to bring a work-related problem to class. Following our discussion on creative problem-solving, they discuss the problems in teams to explore how class content can be used to solve these business world challenges they are facing. When we discuss supportive communication, students pair up to role play a manager communicating a sensitive issue to their peer who is playing the role of an employee. I select two to three pairs to do the role play in front of the class for the class to critique their technique of applying the communication tools discussed.”
In the College of Business and Economics, the combined research and instructional acumen of faculty sets the graduate programs apart, explained Muse. This treasure trove of experience and knowledge is an immense resource for graduate students.
Read more in CSUF Business News.