Streamlined MHRIR Curriculum to Debut in Fall 2023

Following a comprehensive program review, the Carlson School’s Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations (MHRIR) program has made extensive changes to its curriculum and degree requirements to better reflect the current environment for human resources practice. The changes to the curriculum come after extensive stakeholder feedback from alumni, employers, students, Carlson School program leadership, and Work and Organization faculty.

The foundational core curriculum will remain the same, but the program will change in a few ways beginning in Fall 2023. Some of the changes include:

• A streamlined degree program that maintains the core curriculum while permitting students to graduate with a lower number of required credits.
• A shorter timeline for all students, with full-time students able to graduate in as little as three semesters and part-time students in approximately three years, on average.
• An extended experiential learning emphasis, including more practicum opportunities and an experiential capstone course in which students take on human resources challenges in collaboration with prominent business and nonprofit organizations.

“We are very proud of the changes we’ve made to the curriculum,” says John Kammeyer-Mueller, MHRIR program director and the Curtis L. Carlson Professor of Industrial Relations. “The educational experience throughout the MHRIR program will be just as rigorous, inclusive, and effective as it always has been while introducing options to better reflect the current environment.”

For 75 years, the MHRIR program has prepared students for successful careers in HR. These updates to the program build on that foundation. By making the program more contemporary and streamlined, students can finish the program quicker while ensuring that through engaging coursework, world-renowned faculty, and a robust network of alumni that spans the globe, MHRIR graduates become leaders in the dynamic field of human resources.

The program has a continued requirement for electives both in HR and in disciplines such as business administration (in the Carlson School), public health, or human resources development to ensure students have a well-rounded education. Students can curate their program with options that include pursuing a graduate minor in topics such as business or law or taking part in unique study abroad opportunities.