Courses

38:578:500 Introductory Seminar in Labor and Employment Relations (3) Critical challenges facing workers, employers, labor organizations, and the public with regard to work and employee representation.

38:578:501 Research Methods in Labor and Employment Relations (3) Overview of basic research methods useful for analyzing unions, corporations, and related institutions.

38:578:506 Theories of Labor and Employment Relations (3) Historical evolution and current state of employment relations theory. Workplace democracy, the source of workplace conflict, alienation, the evolution of class, collective bargaining, and other issues discussed from a variety of perspectives.

38:578:509 American Workers and Politics (3) Democratization of politics and the emergence of workers as citizens. The political role of workers in contemporary U.S. society. Political ideology of American labor and its impact on electoral politics, voting patterns, and political participation.

38:578:515 Conflict Resolution in the Workplace (3) Theories of workplace conflict. Critical review and analysis of a wide range of dispute-resolution techniques in union and nonunion workplaces.

38:578:525 Public Sector Employment Issues (3) Scope and nature of public employment; organizations of public employees; problems and issues of federal, state, county, and municipal employees; special problems of particular groups; and emerging patterns of future development.

38:578:526 Immigration, Public Policy, and Worker Rights (3) The role of immigrant labor in contemporary society and accompanying public policy debates. Theories of migration, history of migration and immigration policy in the United States; labor market dynamics in immigrant-dominated industries. Existing employment and labor rights of immigrant workers. Community, labor, and immigrant organizations' efforts to improve wages, working conditions, and immigration policy.

38:587:530 Globalization, Corporate Restructuring, and Employment (3) Study of the impact of globalization and corporate restructuring on individuals, communities, jobs, work systems, organizations, and the economy.

38:578:538 Financial Analysis and Corporate Governance (3) Corporate governance issues; financial statement analysis; and cost accounting for collective bargaining and workplace management.

38:578:541 Women and Work (3) Analysis of women's experiences and status in a range of work settings; evaluation of legal, institutional, and public policy responses to such issues as the segregation of work by race and gender, pay equity, the feminization of poverty, sexual harassment, and the restructuring of work and family roles.

38:578:550 Labor Law (3) Statutes and case law that create the framework for private sector labor-management relations, with special attention to current workplace developments and the public policy debates that continue to reshape American labor law.

38:578:551 Seminar in Minorities and Work (3) Relationship among race, gender, work, employment outcomes, and labor representation, with particular focus on the historical and contemporary issues facing African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, other ethnic groups, and women.

38:578:555 Globalization and the Future of Employment (3) Changes in the global economy and how these changes affect living standards, job opportunities, and the bargaining power of American workers and their unions. Role of international labor organizations, transnational corporations, and global financial institutions in global economic change. Strategies for dealing with globalization.

38:578:556 Employee Involvement and New Work Organization (3) Considers diverse modes of involving employees in decision making and reorganizing work for flexibility, service, and better use of advanced technology. Assesses options, consequences, and responses of organized workers.

38:578:557 Trends and Problems in the Nonunion Workplace (3) Overview of the nonunion workplace encompassing both research and practice; covers surveys of employee attitudes, key issues, alternative vehicles of employee voice, conflict, and the use of new workplace practices.

38:578:558 Seminar in Workplace Democratization (3) Diverse models of workplace democratization on the job and at the strategic policy level, including joint governance, employee involvement, collective bargaining, employee ownership, worker cooperatives, and self-management.

38:578:560 Collective Bargaining (3) Role of unions and collective bargaining in the United States. Provides an overview of membership in labor organizations, labor law, negotiations, grievance arbitration, and alternative futures for organized labor.

38:578:562 Seminar in International/Comparative Labor and Employment Relations (3) Comparative analysis of labor, social, and economic policies with focus on how labor movements in different parts of the world marshal political and economic resources to represent workers' interests.

38:578:563 New Directions in Collective Bargaining (3) Departures from traditional patterns of collective bargaining and labor-management relationships. Causal factors that are giving rise to innovative practices. The current debate over the future of collective bargaining. Models for expanding the scope of bargainable issues.

38:578:565 Public Sector Collective Bargaining (3) Development of public sector bargaining rights and the role of unions in the public sector. Analyzes state and federal laws, dispute resolution procedures, and political initiatives, with a special emphasis on New Jersey.

38:578:566 Work and Social Change (3) Changes in the workforce, how economic and social changes are reshaping categories of employees, their organizations and movements, and their needs and desires. Uses both class and social movement perspectives to examine many types of employees.

38:578:570 Interest Dispute Settlement (3) Practice and policy implications of fact-finding, mediation, and interest arbitration in the public sector.

38:578:575 Grievance Processes and Arbitration (3) Practice and legal foundation of grievance handling and grievance arbitration with represented employees.

38:578:581 Structure and Government of American Unions (3) Patterns of union administration on local, intermediate, and national levels; effect of structure on the collective bargaining process; issues of internal democracy; and membership participation in union affairs.

38:578:598,599 Individual Studies in Labor and Employment Relations (BA,BA)

38:578:610,611,613 Topics (3,3,3) Selected timely topics in employment relations; particular topics to be announced.

38:578:612 Labor/Employment History (3) The changing nature of work and its organization; history of labor organizations and labor movements; historical situation of major groups of nonrepresented employees; and the impact of changing government policies on employees, employers, and labor relations.

38:578:615-617 Issues in Labor and Employment Relations (1,1,1) Brief overview of issues in labor and employment relations; particular topics to be announced.

38:578:650-655 Selected Issues in Labor and Employment Relations (1,1,1,1,1,1) Contemporary issues in labor and employment relations; particular topics to be announced.

38:578:690 Internship in Labor and Employment Relations (BA) Internship in a labor or community organization addressing employment issues; internship in a public or private sector management position dealing with labor and employment issues; or other supervised work experience related to the field.

38:578:694 Practicum in Organization Change (BA) Research or practice in a real work setting undergoing restructuring or organization change, with particular attention to the consequences for employees and the ways in which their interests can be represented.

38:578:695 Practicum in Adult Noncredit Education or Training (BA) Research or practice in labor education, management education, or joint extension programming; research or practice in workplace training or continuous learning programs.

38:578:701,702 Research in Labor and Employment Relations (BA,BA)

M.L.E.R. Courses Offered through the HRM Department


The following courses in the M.L.E.R. program are offered through the Department of Human Resource Management:

38:533:540 HR Decision Making: Financial Decisions (3) Financial analysis in the human resources (HR) context. Cost analysis of HR and HR programs. Cost/benefit analysis, organizational finance issues, and HRM.

38:533:541 HR Decision Making: Accessing Data for Decisions (3) Data sources relevant to HR decisions. Acquiring data from human resource information systems (HRIS), the internet, surveys, consultants, and focus groups. Characteristics of information; research methods that ensure reliable, unbiased, and valid data.

38:533:565 Economics and Demographics of Labor Markets (3) Covers the changing nature of the workforce, including diversity characteristics and attitudinal shifts. Focus on HRM tracking and gaining competitive advantage through judicious use of change.

38:533:566 Employment Law (3) Principles of law covering the employment relationship. Some legal issues also may be covered in HR application courses.