Leadership & Managing Teams Graduate Certificate

MSU’s Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Managing Teams helps you recognize and leverage the relationship between leader behavior, employee motivation and behavior, and your organization’s bottom line and productivity.

What You’ll Learn

• Develop and improve your personal approach to leadership, considering implications of trait, behavior, contingency and path-goal models
• The strengths and weaknesses of various organizational structures, and how a company’s life cycle drives organization design
• How to establish an enriched, fair work environment for your team to drive performance and motivation
• Techniques for effectively leading and motivating people based on theory, research and best practices
• Ways to gain support for ideas, encourage team members to meet objectives and overcome obstacles using different negotiation tactics
• Practical approaches to promoting ethics in the workplace based on best practices and real-world examples

Admission Requirements

• At least three years full-time managerial experience in a supervisory role strongly preferred
• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college
• 3.0 cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA)
• A high degree of potential for advancement to an organizational leadership role
• Important personal and managerial attributes, such as intellectual curiosity, strong communication skills, maturity, openness to new ideas and change, leadership qualities, analytical thinking ability, perseverance, and an ability to lead and work in teams
• Background knowledge of and exposure to word processing, spreadsheets and presentations

Applicants must submit the following items:

• A completed application
• A one-time, nonrefundable $100 application fee
• Official undergraduate transcripts from a bachelor’s degree program at an accredited college or university and official transcripts of other programs or courses of study from any accredited college or university attended prior to Michigan State University. Transcripts from Michigan State are not required.
• If an applicant selects they are a Service member or a Veteran of the military an official military transcript will be required
• Current resume detailing professional work experience, academic credentials and related accomplishments, and pertinent biographical information
• Three letters of recommendation from professional, work-related references, preferably supervisors. Letters that attest to your ability to work within and lead teams, as well as to your contribution to a professional business environment, are strongly recommended.
• A statement of intention essay, no more than two pages, including details of your direct supervisory and/or project/program management experience, as well as a statement on how you intend to leverage the degree in your career
• GMAT scores may be submitted if your bachelor’s degree GPA was below 3.0 in your last two years of undergraduate work*

Transfer Credit Policy

• At the sole discretion of Michigan State University, up to 9 graduate credit hours (excluding research and thesis credits) may be transferred from other postsecondary accredited institutions of comparable academic quality. Only courses in which at least a 3.0 grade or its equivalent was received will be considered for transfer. Transfer credit can only be used towards a master’s degree of 30 credits minimum; not towards a Graduate Certificate.

*Qualified applicants with 3 or more years’ full-time managerial experience in a supervisory role and a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher are typically not required to submit GMAT scores for admissions consideration. Admissions decisions are determined by several factors, including: quantity and quality of professional and/or military experience; academic degrees (including graduate degrees) and grade point averages; institution(s) where credits were earned; Letters of Recommendation; and the Statement of intention. Applicants may be requested to submit GMAT scores based on these criteria. Applicants who have earned below a cumulative 3.0 GPA, especially from non-regionally accredited institutions, are encouraged to provide a strong GMAT score along with their application. Applicants with cumulative GPAs above 3.0 from non-regionally accredited institutions or for-profit institutions may be asked to take a GMAT depending upon the quality of their overall application. Submitted GMAT scores must not be more than five years old.