Human Resource Management (Applied)

This Pace+ Human Resource Management (Applied) Associate of Science degree program leverages the existing human resource management and general business knowledge, skills, and abilities each student brings into the program as it prepares students to progress in their careers and educational paths. The pre-planned pathway of coursework and competencies builds on prior learning, ensuring students are best prepared to succeed as they move through the program. For students with work experience, this program will provide them with the knowledge and skills to move up the career ladder into a professional role or to progress further along a human resource management career path.

Coursework explores the various aspects of the human resource management function, as well as business law, and how human resource management fits into business operations at large. Topics also include business communication, organization and planning, business ethics, problem solving, decision-making, presentation skills, and influence. Coursework in this degree further emphasizes communication and technical skills, including commonly used workplace tools and applications. Potential careers include Human Resource Assistants and Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks, or progressing towards the roles of a Human Resources Generalist or Specialist.

The existing degree has a history of 20 completions annually. Because this new Pace+ modality provides access to a population for whom a traditional online or in-person classroom setting does not meet their needs, we expect that a different population of learners will enroll in this degree program, so perhaps 15 to 20 completions.

“A primary mission of the California Community Colleges is to advance California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to continuous workforce improvement.” (Ed Code 66010.4, item 3). This Human Resource Management (Applied) Associate in Science supports this mission by assisting students in obtaining positions such as Human Resource Assistants and Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks, or in progressing towards the roles of a Human Resources Generalist or Specialist.

This Human Resources Management (Applied) Associate of Science is taught in the direct assessment (DA), competency-based education (CBE) modality as part of the Coastline College Pace+ program. It will provide each learner with a survey of business and management functions. It also includes applied learning in the specific field of human resources (HR), including the functions of job design, recruitment, hiring, onboarding, compensation management, training, and other HR functions. The study of business law and cultural and demographic awareness is included. Curricula in this certificate further emphasize communication and technical skills, including commonly used workplace tools and applications. Competencies mastered in the program include: Talent Development, Business Thinking, Organization and Planning, Presentation Skills, Financial Acumen I and II, Technology Savvy, Sensitivity, and Communicativeness.

A degree in Human Resources Management signals to employers that recipients have acquired knowledge, practiced skills, and demonstrated abilities in planning and executing the functions of human resources, including job design, recruitment, hiring, onboarding, compensation management, training, and other HR functions. There are projected to be almost 1,300 annual job openings in these human resources occupations just in Orange County, related to this certificate (OC COE, “Human Resource Management (Applied) Endorsement”, 2025).

This DA CBE program builds on the learner’s pre-existing skills, knowledge, abilities, and competencies. For those currently working in human resource management, this program will provide them with the knowledge and skills to advance their careers to a more professional HR role or to transition to another HR-related role within a company.

The college has licensed the Polaris® Leadership Model from Organization Systems International (OSI). A subset (16) of the 41 competencies in this model was selected as the basis for this direct assessment (DA) competency-based education (CBE) degree, which supports early-career employees. As the competencies were mapped to courses, a multi-disciplinary Human Resource Management (Applied) degree was developed. In response to employer and Advisory Board feedback, the program contains four (4) courses from the Communication Studies (CMST) discipline, three (3) from the Computer Information Systems (CIS) discipline, and eight (8) from the Business (BUS) and Management (MGMT) disciplines. Specific general education courses were selected to complement this Human Resource Management degree.

For the AS degree:

For the Certificate of Achievement:

• Do any active inventory records need to be made inactive or changed in connection with the approval of the proposed program? If yes, please specify.

No.

• Does the program replace any existing program(s) on the college’s inventory? Provide relevant details if this program is related to the termination or scaling down of another program(s).

No.

• What related programs are offered by the college?

A traditional Human Resource Management pathway exists at the college, along with traditional Business, Management, and Marketing programs.

A few other colleges in the county provide some form of Human Resource Management degree. However, Coastline College will be the only college in the region offering this Human Resource Management (Applied) degree in a direct-assessment, CBE modality, therefore not competing with the online, hybrid, and in-person offerings of the degrees below:

These degrees seem similar, which helps employers know that the same core set of human resource management skills and exposure to human resource functions and business operations are incorporated into the degree programs, giving employers confidence that candidates with these degrees are prepared to work in a human resource management or related department.

We expect 20 to 30 enrollments per year.