New Degree Program Prepares Graduates to Analyze Behavior in the Workplace

Oral Roberts University announced a new degree program titled Industrial and Organizational Psychology (I-O psychology). The new degree program will be offered through the College of Science and Engineering and will begin accepting students in fall 2014.

“We are thrilled to offer this practical degree program to students interested in behavioral sciences,” said Associate Professor of Psychology Connie Sjoberg. “I-O psychology will allow students to apply psychological principles to their daily lives in the business world.”

The I-O psychology major prepares students for graduate programs and professional careers that apply principles of psychology to a variety of business concerns including human resources, administration, management, sales, and organizational development.  I-O psychology primarily focuses on the analysis of workplace behavior through the study of employees, workplaces, and organizations.

I-O psychologists follow a diversity of career paths and are often involved with organizational clients in addressing significant issues similar to the following:

• Identifying individual strengths and abilities required of personnel to excel in increasingly technical jobs
• Developing employment opportunities to match the skill levels of the locally available workforce
• Assisting supervisors in the management of an ethnically and culturally diverse workforce
• Assessing the effectiveness of training programs
• Developing strategies to retain workers affected by changing global economic, technological, and political forces
• Assisting organizations to enhance competitiveness in the global marketplace

Students interested in enrolling for the new I-O psychology degree program are eligible for nomination to the Quest Whole Person Scholarship, which offers up to $20,000 a year in tuition. For additional information on the Quest Whole Person Scholarship Program, visit www.quest.oru.edu.

For more information about the I-O psychology degree program, attend ORU College Weekend March 6-8, 2014, or contact the ORU admissions office at 800-678-8876 ext. 1 or admissions@oru.edu.