With eight concentrations in administration, organizational supervision, social services, hospitality, media innovation, consumer behavior,data analytics, and information technology, you can customize your coursework to create a degree path that’s right for you and your career. B.A.A.S. students must complete the university core curriculum and additional unifying courses to earn their bachelor’s degree.
Information Technology Concentration
(Google IT Certificate on Coursera)
Learners who complete the Google IT Support Professional Certificate on Coursera can receive credit for the information technology concentration of the B.A.A.S. degree. These credits would count as lower division credits. Your advisor will assess whether or how these credits may be able to count towards your degree plan.
This 5-course certificate, developed by Google, includes innovative curriculum designed to prepare you for an entry-level role in IT support. A job in IT can mean in-person or remote help desk work in a small business or at a global company like Google. The program is part of Grow with Google, a Google initiative to help create economic opportunities for all Americans.
Courses
This course covers a wide variety of IT security concepts, tools, and best practices. It introduces threats and attacks and the many ways they can show up. We’ll give you some background of encryption algorithms and how they’re used to safeguard data. Then, we’ll dive into the three As of information security: authentication, authorization, and accounting. We’ll also cover network security solutions, ranging from firewalls to Wifi encryption options. Finally, we’ll go through a case study, where we examine the security model of Chrome OS. The course is rounded out by putting all these elements together into a multi-layered, in-depth security architecture, followed by recommendations on how to integrate a culture of security into your organization or team.
In this course -- through a combination of video lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on practice -- you’ll learn about the main components of an operating system and how to perform critical tasks like managing software and users, and configuring hardware.
This course will transition you from working on a single computer to an entire fleet. Systems administration is the field of IT that’s responsible for maintaining reliable computers systems in a multi-user environment. In this course, you’ll learn about the infrastructure services that keep all organizations, big and small, up and running. We’ll deep dive on cloud so that you’ll understand everything from typical cloud infrastructure setups to how to manage cloud resources. You'll also learn how to manage and configure servers and how to use industry tools to manage computers, user information, and user productivity. Finally, you’ll learn how to recover your organization’s IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster.
This course is the first of a series that aims to prepare you for a role as an entry-level IT Support Specialist. In this course, you’ll be introduced to the world of Information Technology, or IT. You’ll learn about the different facets of Information Technology, like computer hardware, the Internet, computer software, troubleshooting, and customer service. This course covers a wide variety of topics in IT that are designed to give you an overview of what’s to come in this certificate program.
This course is designed to provide a full overview of computer networking. We’ll cover everything from the fundamentals of modern networking technologies and protocols to an overview of the cloud to practical applications and network troubleshooting.
Administration Concentration (12 hrs)
Study in how organizations are designed and properly managed in the 21st Century. Students will be well-versed in themes such as common organizational behavior, ethical practices, and management philosophy as they apply to both large (publicly traded corporations) and small businesses.
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Courses
Individual behavior in formal organizations. Cases, lectures and experiential exercises in organizational culture, motivation, leadership, dynamics of power, perception and attribution, communication, decision making and performance, and individual differences.
Management philosophy; planning, organizing and controlling; entrepreneurial processes; organizational performance; structure and design. Includes an overview of organization theory and strategic management.
A study of ethical behaviors crucial to personal and corporate success in organizations. Codes of ethics, theoretical models and managerial behavior serve as the foundation to investigate ethics and, in turn, social responsibility associated with firm theory. Various stakeholder interest and demands are analyzed as an important theme during the course.
In-depth course on leadership. Students are provided practical tools and methods of leadership that apply to a variety of organizational structures. Students gain insights about their own personalities, skills, ethics, values and beliefs as they relate to leading others, and have the opportunity to discuss and debate a number of leadership topics.
Consumer Behavior Concentration (12 hrs)
Study in consumer behavior in connection with the purchasing, utilization, and arrangement of goods and services. Students will be well-versed in foundations of marketing practice, consumer behavior in a global context, and user consumption in retail hospitality, and entertainment industries.
Courses
Cross-cultural comparisons using systems, human needs, and consumer behavior frameworks are integrated with critical, empirical and creative thinking processes to develop a global perspective that is sensitive to diverse consumers’ needs and preferences for products and services in a global market. This class helps students gather the tools necessary for full engagement in the undergraduate experience by having them examine their own value systems and compare and contrast them with other cultures’ in a consumption context. Requires students to think critically, articulate views, cultivate self-awareness, balance and an openness to change, and engage with others in thoughtful and well-crafted communication.
Survey of marketing concepts and practices and overview of the range of activities performed by marketing managers. Topics include the identification of market opportunities, strategic marketing planning, product/service development and management, price setting and management, establishing and managing distribution channels, and structuring promotional programs.
Exploration of the dynamic merging of retail merchandising, hospitality, and entertainment industries to create total consumer experiences. Topics include evolution of consumption, symbolic consumption, ritual consumption, sensory consumption, consumer efficiency; entertainment, thematic, lifestyle and value experiences; branding, brand extension and strategic alliance; and global experiential retailing.
A survey of individual and organizational decision making in the acquisition, consumption and disposition of goods and services, with selected applications in market segmentation, marketing communications and marketing management. Topics include consumer and organizational behavior models and decision processes; internal influencing forces of motivation, perception, learning, personality, lifestyle and attitudes; external influencing forces of culture, subculture, demographic, social class, reference group and household.
Data Analytics Concentration (12 hrs)
Courses in the concentration provide an understanding of the underlying fundamental concepts of contemporary data analytics methods, as well as experience in obtaining, wrangling and learning from big data through machine learning and deep learning tools. Courses emphasize applications of theory and tools to solving real-world business and industry problems.
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Courses
Provides an overview of quantitative methods essential for analyzing data, with an emphasis on science and industry applications. Topics include identification of appropriate metrics and measurement methods, descriptive and inferential statistics, experimental design, parametric and non-parametric tests, simulation, and linear and logistic regression, categorical data analysis, and select unsupervised learning techniques. Standard and open source statistical packages are used to apply techniques to real-world problems.
Contemporary techniques of multivariate analysis, including association rules, classification methods, time series, text analysis and machine learning methods with an emphasis on applications in science and industry. Introduction to state-of-practice computational statistical and data analysis methods and tools.
Introduction to collecting, wrangling, storing, managing, retrieving and processing datasets. Topics include fundamental concepts and techniques of data engineering, large-scale data harvesting, data wrangling methodologies, and storage and process architectures. Emphasizes applications and includes many hands-on projects.
Introduction to contemporary methods for discovery and learning from data sets. Emphasizes applications of predictive and pattern recognition techniques in deriving insights and making decisions in business and science contexts. Topics complemented by hands-on projects using data discovery and statistical learning software.
Organizational Supervision Concentration (12 hrs)
Study in how organizations are designed and properly supervised in the 21st Century. Students will be well-versed in organizational design and change, commonly accepted ethical behavior in business, production management, and mediation.
Courses
Review of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to address sources of conflict in the workplace. Examines procedures and benefits of arbitration, mediation, ombudspersons, minitrials, neutral fact-finding, and other alternatives to litigation-based conflict resolution. Trends in use and ethical/professional considerations are considered.
Management of production emphasizing industrial enterprises; production objectives; design and improvement of processes, work methods, and physical facilities; use of measurements and standards; production planning and control; quality control; budgetary and cost control; materials management.
Introduces the fundamentals of non-litigation strategies for a variety of business, professional and personal settings. Learning and skills are developed through lecture, role playing, out-of-class assignments, case studies and negotiation simulations.
Organizational design is a primary management tool for organizing business processes and developing organizational capabilities. The course focuses on developing an understanding of the basics of organizational design, how to utilize organizational design principles to manage change, and how to keep the design aligned with the needs of the firm and the demands to which it must respond. The design and development effort includes study of organizational structures, the basic work patterns of the organization, organizational cultures, managerial roles, and the use of teams.
Social Wellness and Community Concentration (12 hrs)
Addresses societal concerns and the well-being of people to ensure they have equal access to resources, services and opportunities. Students will learn cause and effect of social problems in modern society, how social bases affect human behavior, and cross-cultural and historical patterns of different social institutions.
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Courses
Conditions disruptive to society today, both those seen as problematic as a whole and those that violate the norms of special groups in society; includes population, poverty, minorities, crime, drugs, sexual deviance, mental illness, changing family patterns and violence.
Interpersonal dynamics of marriage and family life; role and influence of the family as both a powerful primary group and as a social institution in society; current status of families in the United States plus cross-cultural and historical patterns.
Review of the common sociological dimensions of all religions such as moral definitions, group membership and dynamics, prescribed ritual practices and definitions of the sacred. An examination of sociologists contributing to the field such as Durkheim and Weber. Includes a sociological analysis of selected major world religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.
Conditions and distribution of race and ethnic minorities; socio-psychological and cultural factors in race and ethnic relations; pattern of relations in the United States with emphasis on the Southwest and on social services.
Media Innovation Concentration (12 hrs)
Addresses strategic communications, media management, public relations practices and journalism in an ever changing media industry. Students will study trends and implications that have helped propel and halt media innovation throughout history.
Courses
Course provides an overview of the current and future state of media and what it takes to become an entrepreneur. Students will learn how to start a business in media, find customers and pitch a business idea.
Broad overview of public relations practices covering the history, mechanism and processes of public relations in various workplace settings and types of relations. Emphasis is on the four-step public relations process, strategic planning, writing formats and real-world cases. Implications of technological changes, globalization as well as unethical and illegal practices are discussed.
In a collaborative atmosphere, students explore strategic applications of a variety of social media platforms used for strategic communications and journalism. Students are challenged to bring new ideas to the classroom while adapting social media tools to traditional communications planning and measurement methods. Students with specific expertise/interests are encouraged to present to class.
Course introduces media management issues including leadership, management, marketing and budget. Students gain analytical tools to help understand the current state of media and to help develop new models for the future. Students read, discuss, listen, observe, analyze and make recommendations about how media has changed, what’s going on now and how it can be changed for the future. Students will also meet and discuss current issues and trends with media executives.
Hospitality Concentration (12 hrs)
Students will examine service-driven management foundations including conflict mediation, ethics, event planning, budgeting, marketing, and workforce diversity.
Courses
Analysis of the factors to be considered in the successful management of corporate and association meetings, conferences, conventions and special events. Topics include special event planning, budgeting, marketing, arrangements, international considerations and ethics.
Introduction to motivation, leadership, communications, decision making, and leading people through effective management of human resources, ethics, social responsibility, and managing consumer experiences in the hospitality industry by examining service-driven management foundations.
Introduces the fundamentals of non-litigation strategies for a variety of business, professional and personal settings. Learning and skills are developed through lecture, role playing, out-of-class assignments, case studies and negotiation simulations.
Workforce diversity provides strength in the current global business environment. Investigates the concepts, policies and practices facing professionals in the global workplace. Effective workplace interactions result when personnel hold a global perspective that incorporates an appreciation and understanding of human diversity. Personnel who perceive themselves as global employees are a critical element in business success. Managing a diverse workforce requires working effectively with people who vary by nationality, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, language, age, abilities and unique personal characteristics. This diverse workforce may be employed in one locale, region or nation, or it may span several countries or the world.
