Having emerged from decades of violent conflict, Cambodia has achieved stability and is rapidly developing and changing.  With economic expansion and the presence of numerous development partners and investors, there is an urgent need to increase the knowledge and skills of Cambodian nationals to provide a sustainable source of leadership to government, business, and civil society.  This program will provide to current and emerging leaders a broad understanding of the interrelationships between personal actions, social dynamics, and community and organizational health.  It will build the practical skills that are needed to inspire and motivate teams; use communication to achieve positive results; foster creativity, innovation and learning in organizations; and use research-based forms of inquiry to plan, implement, and evaluate programs.

The MAEL program combines theories and concepts in leadership with a focus on practical application and skill-building.  It will emphasize the accountability of leaders to achieve high levels of personal ethics and integrity.  It explores the interconnections between mind, body, and action in the world. Having emerged from decades of violent conflict, Cambodia has achieved stability and is rapidly developing and changing.  With economic expansion, the presence of numerous development partners, and the development of the higher education sector, there is an urgent need to increase the knowledge and skills of Cambodian nationals to provide a sustainable source of leadership to government, business, civil society; conduct original research; and educate a  future generations of leaders.  This program will provide in-depth knowledge of research skills; ethical approaches to leadership; and organizational theory, dynamics, and change.   It will impart to students both theoretical knowledge and practical skills that can be directly applied to educational and practice settings.

Course Description

(ENGL 500)               Writing for Graduate Studies

Students enrolled in this class will acquire skills in writing scientific research papers.  Applying research skills and methodology into practice can help students experience and master the process involved in research writing.  Students in the course will be required to create and maintain their individual online journals or logs.

(NATS 502)                Global Environmental Awareness (NATS 502)

Attention will be focused on patterns of resource availability, human impacts on natural resources, and the individual perception of the world (inscape) that results in a highly discriminating way of modeling the environment (landscape) to match the inner vision.

(MGT 505)                 Fundamentals of Management

This course provides students an overview of the fundamental skills needed in the field of management.  It considers management theory, the history of management organization culture, planning, decision-making and practical applications for managers who work in small and large organizations.

 (ECON 510)              Fundamentals of Economics

This course provides an overview of principles of economics that extensively employs applications.  Micro and macroeconomics are taught together in this course as the tools of analysis.  This is accomplished by first raising certain problems or issues, teaching the tools necessary for analysis, and finally, applying these tools to analyze specific cases.

(STAT 550)                Fundamentals of Statistics

This course is designed for students who have never taken statistics before. It begins with elementary concepts, continues to descriptive statistics and ends with inferential statistics.  Students will learn how to present qualitative and quantitative data by using graphs and summary values. They also will learn basic probability theory in order to understand the concept of inferential statistics.

RESR 525                  Research Methodology

This course targets at offering skills and techniques in research to the course followers. The major themes with regard to the course include problem statement development, hypothesis formulation and the practical aspects of research methods to attain the intended and desired research outcomes. It, of course, looks into research proposal, a research scheme and literature review. Essentially, it discusses the citation of documents or the ways to tell the sources of information, surveys, interviews and questionnaires. Moreover, it introduces a comparative aspect of research methods from social discipline to science and business on the basis of the use of the distinctive use of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Ultimately, the course members are expected to be able to develop their own themes and conduct the research for the class, together with the presentation of the written report from research findings.

(MGT 583)                 Governance, Advanced Management, and Leadership Dynamics

This course is a study about advanced management & leadership application in 4 levels: individual, corporate, state and spiritual. Also, the course explores business ethics, morality and character building as an integral part of a good leader with social responsibility.

(LEAD 500)               Survey of World Peacemakers

This course uses a case study approach to understand the orientations, actions, and outcomes of contemporary world leaders, with an emphasis on the roles of purpose, moral courage, peace-building, and forgiveness in fostering social change.  Each student will complete a case study on a leader of his/her choice.

(LEAD 501)               Moral and Social Leadership Philosophy in the Modern World

This course provides an overview of leadership concepts and practices from the perspective of moral and social philosophy and introduces reflective practices including insight meditation to promote self-understanding, personal development and well-being.  A second objective is to create a learning community that will encourage and sustain students in their study and practice of leadership.

(LEAD 600)               Organization Development, Institution Building, Change, and Innovation

This course provides students with an overview of organization development and acquaints them with key theories, principles, practices, and values of organizational development.  It explores the process of managing change, including organizational assessment, motivating others, change strategies, change communications, and understanding one’s personal spheres of influences.

 (LEAD 601)               Organization Communications

This course reviews communication within organizations with emphasis on fostering constructive conflict, managing difficult conversations, improving knowledge-creation and sharing, strengthening stakeholder relationships, nurturing employee and customer satisfaction, and enhancing team performance. 

(LEAD 602)               Leadership in Organizations

Leaders do not operate in isolation; they understand how to inspire and motivate individuals and teams to achieve great things.  This course focuses on five research-based practices of exemplary leaders:  modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart.

(LEAD 603)               Citizenship and Civil Society Laboratory: 

This laboratory class reviews the definition and cultural heritages of citizenship. It looks at the role of citizens in serving the common good and develops the skills to be an effective participant in building and supporting strong societal institutions. Students will track and report their own transformation as citizen leaders.

MAEL 697                 Comprehensive Exam

                                    Complete two courses prior to written and oral comprehensive exams

MAEL 698                 Master Project Report in Buddhist Studies

Students will perform a research project related to leadership. Under the supervision of a major professor, the student will select a topic, plan and conduct the research, and write a final report of approximately 20 pages that includes: introduction, literature review, research methods, data presentation and discussion, conclusions and recommendations, references, and relevant appendices. Proper formatting for the paper can be found in the Handbook for Graduate Studies, which is available at the PUC Bookstore. References and in-text citations should follow the APA Manual, 6^th edition. The written report and oral defense will be evaluated by an advisory committee chaired by the Vice President for Academic Affairs and including the major professor and two additional evaluators.

MAEL699