Academic Catalog

2024-2025

Bachelor of Science Interdisciplinary Studies with a Major in Leadership (BS)

Karen Sanzo, Program Coordinator (ksanzo@odu.edu)
Michele Mitchell, Program Advisor (mmitchel@odu.edu)

The major in Leadership is a flexible, interdisciplinary academic degree that focuses on characteristics and skills necessary to lead in organizational and social contexts, and will emphasize ethical leadership, legal issues, and written and oral communication skills.  A goal of this program is to facilitate adult students to complete their degree and as such, there is inherent flexibility in transferring existing credit.  A hybrid of on-line and traditional on-campus classes results in a very flexible curriculum.  Seventy five percent of courses in this major are offered on-line. 

Graduates of this undergraduate major will possess the core liberal arts skills and knowledge such as reasoning, communications and analysis that are crucial to the challenges employers, organizations and governments face. The academic and critical thinking skills taught through the Leadership curriculum are valuable on the job as well as navigating modern changes and challenges. 

This Leadership major is offered through the College of Arts & Letters and coordinated with the School of Continuing Education. The program provides opportunities for students to integrate education and training with the application of problem-solving skills through a senior interdisciplinary project. Courses are drawn from the disciplines of communication, criminal justice, engineering management, environmental health, finance, human services, management, public administration, and philosophy to examine the multi-faceted nature of leadership. Students admitted to the program have a variety of credit options including portfolio review, CLEP, DANTES, and departmental exams.

Topics courses, such as ENGL 395/ENGL 495, COMM 395/COMM 396, etc., must be approved by the student's advisor to ensure that the topic is appropriate for the major.  No more than two classes, or six credits, may be counted for both the major and a minor.