Pfeiffer University’s new Master of Science in Human Resources Studies (MSHR) program will launch online in August, aiming to meet the growing demand for professionals with the kind of specialized HR knowledge that a master’s program can provide.

MSHR has emerged at a time when, increasingly, learning HR on the job is becoming a thing of the past. Master’s-level knowledge in HR is needed for an ever-increasing list of responsibilities, including hiring, onboarding, professional development, compliance, conflict resolution, organizational culture, and benefits management.

Dr. Susan Luck, a Professor of Business at Pfeiffer who also serves as Program Director for the University’s Graduate Schools of Business, is bullish on MSHR’s prospects. She notes that the I-85 corridor towards Greensboro, N.C. has one of the largest needs in the country for specialized people who know HR, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

She and her colleagues undertook a lot of research to discern exactly what businesses and organizations in that area were looking for in an HR professional. MSHR’s curriculum, which can be completed in four semesters, provides some compelling answers.

A course called “Professional Design and Development,” for example, explores “supporting a company to the best it can be by developing the employees to the best they can be.”

“You’ve probably heard the old adage that people do not leave a job; they leave a boss,” Luck said. “In actuality, they usually leave a company culture of which the boss is a representative.”

When an employee leaves, costs go up, especially if their position is filled again: Luck said that “the usual consensus is that it costs at least a position’s yearly salary” to recruit, interview, hire, and onboard a new employee. A financial loss for the first six to eight months of an employee’s tenure is incurred as they learn the culture and how to work with colleagues around them. 

“A strong HR advisor can help the company save significant money by designing plans to keep employees from leaving in the first place,” Luck said.

A course called “Industrial Psychology” will complement “Professional Design and Development” by applying the principles of psychology to the workplace to improve employee well-being, performance, and organizational effectiveness. It focuses on understanding how individuals and groups behave in work settings, and then uses this knowledge to solve problems, improve processes, and enhance the overall work environment.

A course called “Human Performance Evaluation and Improvement” explores how HR can help managers evaluate, motivate, and improve performance continuously. Training and development falls in this category as well. The course will help teach how to design effective training courses delivered both in person and virtually.

Luck stressed that each course in MSHR features real-life assignments, in addition to tests and papers. 

“If the student can use something for his or her current job as the basis of the course projects, that’s terrific! We would love to see that application,” she said. “Real-life application and experiential learning make the content meaningful.”

Luck enthusiastically supports an important component of MSHR – a field project in which students will apply all that they have learned to the creation of a real-life HR plan and project, either for their employer, if they are employed, or for a small non-profit, if they are not.

“This really excites me,” Luck said. “Students get to use their skills in real life, which will add value to their resumes as well as give them something to talk about in interviews.”

Pfeiffer is accepting applications for MSHR’s first cohort of students on a rolling basis up until the fall semester start date of Aug. 25. The free graduate application is available at explore.pfeiffer.edu.