Previously 15 credits, Starting Fall of 2025 12 credit hours (4 classes)
A Certificate in Labor Leadership will develop your academic and professional skills to support worker-oriented public, non-profit or academic research or policy development, a career in a labor union or related worker-oriented organization, or to build skills for workplace organizers. For those planning a career in management, the program will build a stronger foundation for labor-management collaboration in organized public or private-sector workplaces.
These certificates are administered by the Center for New Directions in Politics and Policy. Some courses will be delivered through the New Directions weekend intensive (three weekend) format taught by practitioners. Others are offered by Political Science faculty through traditional, weekly courses offered in-person or remotely over the course of a full term.
Requirements
- BA degree from an accredited college or university for an MA certificate
- High school degree from an accredited high school for a BA certificate
- Complete 4 courses (12 credits)
The Labor Leadership Certificate's Learning Outcomes
Labor Leadership Certificate
Outcomes Assessment Plan
Updated November 2024 Based on Forthcoming Fall 2025 Catalog Requirements
Certificate’s Educational Goals: This credit-bearing graduate certificate develops academic and professional skills that will support students pursuing labor-focused activism and careers in the academy, in labor organizations, in community settings or in the government sector.
Certificate Learning Outcomes: Graduates of the Labor studies program will be able to:
- Design, execute, and evaluate research studies that address a variety of questions related to labor issues and effective labor leadership
- Critique community and labor organizing strategies, across time and place
- Analyze how local labor challenges are connected to global dynamics
- Describe “social economy” and worker cooperative pathways to labor empowerment
- Effectively communicate findings and recommendations to specific audiences
Curriculum and Assessment Map: The Labor Leadership certificate requires students to complete four graduate-level courses. One is required and three are electives, from the approved list of labor leadership courses below:
- PSCI 5545 Labor and Working Class Politics Required
- PSCI 5548 Labor Law and Collective Bargaining Elective
- PSCI 5550 Labor, Unions and the Global Economy Elective
- PSCI 5434 Cooperative Movement: Politics and Policy Elective
- PSCI 5424 The Social Economy and Sustainable Development Elective
- PSCI 5914 Community Organizing and Community Development Elective
- PSCI 5008 Special Topics (When Labor-related, upon dept approval) Elective
The table on the next page maps the learning objectives to two of the required three courses (PSCI 5545 and PSCI 5550), and provides examples of typical assessments for each course with respect to each learning objective.
|
Learning Objective |
PSCI 5545 |
|---|---|
|
Research Design and Evaluation |
Short Papers & Final Project |
|
Critique Community and Labor Organizing Strategies |
Class Papers & Oral Presentation Evaluation |
|
Understand How Local Labor Issues Connect to Global Dynamics |
|
|
Understand Alternative Economic Development Strategies |
Class Papers & Oral Presentation Evaluation |
|
Effectively Communicate Findings |
Class Papers and Oral Presentation Evaluation |
Assessment Data Collection and Analysis: Assessment for each learning objective for each student will be undertaken at the time of either of these two required classes are completed, using the rubrics below. Assessments will be conducted by reviewing relevant course records, and in consultation with relevant instructors. Assessment of achievement of learning outcomes for all students in the course will be conducted, providing evidence of the extent to which the opportunity to master learning objectives was provided to certificate student who might have been in the courses.
Learning Outcome 1: Design, execute, and evaluate research studies that address a variety of questions related to labor issues and effective labor leadership
|
Category |
Percentage of Students |
Rubric |
|
Exceeds Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a broad and sophisticated understanding of the factors involved in formulating effective research questions and developing a research strategy to answer those questions, within the parameters of a single class. Demonstrates sophisticated ability to summarize and evaluate a broad range of research studies relevant to the question at hand. |
|
Meets Expectations |
|
Demonstrates an effective and capable understanding of the factors involved in formulating effective research questions and research strategies appropriate to a single class project. Demonstrates basic ability to summarize and evaluate a reasonable range of research studies relevant to the question at hand |
|
Below Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a limited understanding of the factors involved in formulating effective research questions and research strategies appropriate to a single class project. Struggles to effectively summarize and evaluate core themes and findings of relevant research related to students’ question. |
Learning Outcome 2: Critique community and labor organizing strategies, across time and place.
|
Category |
Percentage of Students |
Rubric |
|---|---|---|
|
Exceeds Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a sophisticated understanding effective community and labor organizing strategies, across either time or place. Demonstrates a nuanced and comparative understanding of the possible opportunities and limitations associated with different organizing strategies. |
|
Meets Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a solid understanding of effective community and labor organizing strategies, but lacks evidence of a sophisticated ability to compare the benefits and limitations of different strategies, across either time or place. |
|
Below Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a limited understanding of effective community and labor organizing strategies, and lacks evidence of ability to effectively compare the benefits and limitations of different strategies, across either time or place. |
Learning Outcome 3: Analyze how local labor challenges are connected to global dynamics
|
Category |
Percentage of Students |
Rubric |
|---|---|---|
|
Exceeds Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of how local labor challenges and opportunities are connected to the dynamics of the global political economy
|
|
Meets Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a solid understanding of how local labor challenges and opportunities are connected to the dynamics of the global political economy. Student may not have demonstrated deep or sophisticated understanding of global political-economic dynamics, or of local manifestations of those dynamics, or both. |
|
Below Expectations |
|
Demonstrates no more than a basic understanding of how local labor challenges and opportunities are connected to the dynamics of the global political economy. Student did not demonstrate deep or sophisticated understanding of either global political-economic dynamics, or of local manifestations of those dynamics. |
Learning Outcome 4: Describe “social economy” and worker cooperative pathways to labor empowerment
|
Category |
Percentage of Students |
Rubric |
|---|---|---|
|
Exceeds Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the theoretical foundations of the “social economy” and worker cooperatives, and of the successes and challenges of practical efforts to pursue these theoretical principals through ground-level economic innovations. |
|
Meets Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a solid understanding of the theoretical foundations of the “social economy” and worker cooperatives. Student work lacks comprehensiveness or depth in analyzing either the theoretical foundations of social economy/worker cooperative efforts or the real-world applications of the theory. |
|
Below Expectations |
|
Student work demonstrates only limited understanding and lacks comprehensiveness or depth in analyzing both the theoretical foundations of social economy/worker cooperative efforts or the real-world applications of the theory. |
Learning Outcome 5: Effectively communicate findings and recommendations to specific audiences
|
Category |
Percentage |
Rubric |
|---|---|---|
|
Exceeds Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a sophisticated ability to conceive of and execute well-organized, polished, and exceptionally effective written and oral presentations. Presentations are mostly free of grammar and style errors, demonstrate evidence of careful review and practice before submission or delivery, and are properly aimed at the audience in question for any given presentation. |
|
Meets Expectations |
|
Demonstrates a solid ability to conceive of and execute organized, polished, and effective written and oral presentations. Presentations are generally free of grammar and style errors, but there may be enough errors to undermine the professional appearance of the product. Though final product is solid, there is evidence that more careful review and practice of final product before submission/presentation would have substantially improved product. Though well-written or delivered, class products may not be well-tailored to the audience in question (whether academic, professional, or community-based). |
|
Below Expectations |
|
Struggles to conceive or execute organized and polished presentations, whether written or oral. Presentations may suffer from multiple grammar and style errors. Final products may lack evidence of careful review or practice before submission/delivery. Class products may not be poorly tailored to the audience in question (whether academic, professional, or community-based). |
Schedule for Learning Outcomes Assessment
Achievement of learning outcomes for each student will be assessed at the conclusion of any of the required certificate courses. Data will be reported upon the completion of the certificate by five or more students. Responsibility for the assessment process will be with the Certificate Coordinator and Department Chair.