Online Bachelor of Technical and Applied Studies

Mid-Collegiate Experience/Bridging Module

Transitional course for students who have completed an associates degree in a technical or applied field and who desire to earn a technical baccalaureate degree in applied studies for the purposes of career advancement and personal development. The focus will be on analyzing, comparing, and defining concepts and methods that bring technology and the liberal arts together.

Team Building

Facilitation skills, group roles, team performance assessment, stages of team development, dysfunctional teams, autonomous work teams. Class will function in teams to accomplish a project and numerous exercises/activities.

Financial Information for Managers

The course will cover how to read and to use financial statements, how to employ ratios and performance measures, and how to improve decision making. There will be emphasis on distinguishing relevant information from irrelevant information. The course will deal with how to use principles of leverage, and of working capital management, as well as the issues, tools and techniques that drive financial decision making. Subjects covered will include variable costing and absorption costing (both traditional and activity-based costing), cost behavior, budgeting principles, and target costing.

Diversity in Professional Settings

Students will understand basic gender and diversity theories. The course will examine the effects of gender and diversity in the workplace and how to balance these issues.

Applied Professional Writing

This course covers practical strategies necessary to produce effective writing in professional environments. You will explore the assumptions that govern writing in your field and practice the writing skills and styles applicable to communicating effectively in the workplace.

Applied Data Analytics

This applied statistics course emphasizes strategic decision-making using statistical data analytics methods and quantitative reasoning techniques. Principles and techniques used for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative data for strategic organizational decision-making are covered. Additionally, the basics of conceptualizing and designing data analytics projects with the highest level of integrity are covered. A scenario-based approach is utilized focusing on evaluating information and data, selecting appropriate statistical or quantitative methods, and recommending effective decisions that support an organization’s mission and strategy.

Applied Technology for Personal and Professional Productivity

Technology tools have become an integral part of personal and professional activities. This course focuses on ways in which technology can be applied to facilitate and improve personal and professional productivity, problem-solving skills,and decision-making ability. Students will develop strategies for (1) analyzing technology needs; and (2) evaluating, selecting, acquiring, and using technology tools that meet those needs. The course will also explore effective ways to manage the disruptions and distractions that occur as a result of the infusion of technology in personal and professional activities.

Law and Ethics in Professional Settings

The course focuses on the legal issues, the regulatory issues and the ethical issues common to organizations as they employ workers, compete in the marketplace, and produce goods and services, all in the context of a global environment. Relevant ethical behavior and theories will be studied. Emphasis will be placed on the employment relationship covering such topics as hiring, dismissal, wrongful discharge, employee rights, and the employer's duty to provide a safe workplace. Consumer protection and product liability will be studied.

Public Images of Organizations

Internal and external communication practices in businesses as related to mass media and public relations, organizational and strategic communication, identity, image, and risk management.

Trends in Communication Technology

This course examines the role of media technologies in society and culture as they affect current professional practices. Emphasis is on the technologies of the Information Age, including both social and cultural influences that have shaped the development of various new media, information, and communication technologies, as well the social and cultural impacts of these technologies.

Applied Human Resource Practices

This course explores the application of human resource fundamentals in a wide variety of organizational settings. Its purpose is to develop critical human resource competencies and knowledge necessary to be an effective manager. Topics addressed in this course include strategic human resource management in a changing environment, work analysis and design, planning, recruitment and selection, performance management and appraisal, training and development, compensation systems/benefits, labor relations and employee health and safety. This course utilizes experiential exercises and case studies that require the application of the human resource knowledge and competencies expected of a practicing manager.

Senior Capstone

This course is the capstone course for the BTAS degree. It is designed to provide students the opportunity to integrate knowledge and skills acquired in the communication and management courses to the recurring phenomenon of organizational change in the real world. By working on a capstone project that draws on prior coursework and a series of case projects, students utilize their critical thinking skills in synthesizing previous coursework to extend and develop their ability to manage change.

Media Assets and the Law

The course examines media content and intellectual property assets within contemporary commercial and communications distribution systems with an emphasis on economic, legal, and political issues.Explores professional and legal issues of media production including contracts, copyright and licensing of media assets and related intellectual property rights. Also explores emerging opportunities within the field.

Technology: Promises and Perils

Technology has irreversibly changed our personal, professional, and economic lives. This course will view technology through a critical lens as it explores the potential benefits and challenges of the infusion of technology at home, at work, and in society at large. Areas of exploration include personal, business, and government implications of data collection, aggregation, analysis, and distribution; the impact of technology on innovation and creativity; economic implications of technology; and ways in which technology is influencing human interaction.

Applied Employee Supervision

A study of the role of the supervisor. Identification and use of supervisory functions as applied to leading, planning, organizing, communicating, counseling, motivating, and human skills are examined. This course will utilize a case study approach to emphasize the applied nature of these concepts.

Interpersonal Connections in the Workplace

This course examines and builds on major interpersonal theories and principles related to businesses, and helps students apply their theoretical knowledge to practical experiences in the workplace.

Global Challenges for the 21st Century

This course addresses seven major challenges of the 21st Century -- population, resources, communication, technology, economics, governance and conflict -- with an emphasis on how they will change our world in the coming years. The course will incorporate broad overviews as well as very specific examples and case studies, with a focus on helping students become more globally competent citizens and leaders.

Applied Media Methods

A survey of the commercial media industry and an introduction to the principles and process of creating mediated messages in an increasingly media-saturated world. Students are exposed to a theoretical and practical foundation in the intersecting worlds of message development, media production, and visual communication. The course also explores the wide range of distribution methods that are available through contemporary technology and the roles and responsibilities of the people that generate the content. Students are introduced to the development process, the software and hardware systems used during production, and their technical potential and constraints. A working understanding of the skill set, time, and budget necessary to effectively create and deliver media messages will be developed through examples and hands-on activities.

Public and Non-Profit Administration

This course provides an overview of the administration of public and non-profit organizations. Topics include: current definitions and terminology, core activities for supervision, public and non-profit organizational designs, decision-making and communication strategies, budgetary and funding aspects, including government and grant funding sources and strategies, and the use of commercial and social marketing for public and non-profit programs and organizations.

Persuasive Applications

This course examines theories, principles, and practices of persuasion. The emphasis will be on persuasive messages for informal and formal settings, whether interpersonal, group, public, or media forums.