MSCM (Church Management)

Villanova's Leadership Challenge; behavioral dimension of managerial action and decision making; ethical responsibilities of managers; making the connection between one's faith and one's job; theology of administration; role of the laity; Catholic Social Thought.

Civil law issues (e.g., labor law, liability law, contract law); Church law, including Catholic Church canon law and a variety of other denominational legal documents.

Systematic and analytic study of Communication process for churches and religious institutions; understanding identification and connection with both existing Church members as well as unaffiliated community members; framework to evaluate, describe, and design communication activities; decision-oriented overview of communication management.

Presenting the stewardship message; factors affecting individuals' decision to contribute time or money to their church; volunteer recruitment, training, performance appraisal, and retention.

Financial and managerial accounting; understanding financial statements; controls over accounting and financial reporting processes; budgeting, performance measurement, and relevant cost analysis.

Roles and functions within the structure of the organization employee compensation and benefits; developing job descriptions; establishing performance goals; evaluating and rewarding performance; employee recruitment and training; background checks; human resource policies regarding grievances and appeals.

Parish as a system; group processes; organizational processes; shared problem solving and decision-making; change management; team building; conflict management; utilizing advisory councils; roles of communication and social skills; conducting meetings; communication networks.

Spreadsheets and databases; information ethics and security; managing information technology; information systems development; managing IT-related organizational change; use of local area networks; evaluating computer hardware and software; creating and maintaining web sites.

Ecclesiology; Scripture; Church documents; liturgy and sacraments; Christology; ecumenism/inter-faith relations.

Security, loss prevention and threat management for safeguarding people, property and assets; proactive loss prevention methods for loss issues such as protecting finances; why and how people steal and embezzle; threat assessment, workplace violence prevention; physical security protection.

Identifying complex problems; organizing, structuring, analyzing pertinent information; formulating and evaluating alternative actions and prescribing specific programs; vision and mission statements; goals and objectives; appreciative inquiry; program and project planning.

Application of themes developed in curriculum to analyze contemporary management issues faced by churches.

Students with specific interests work on a tutorial basis with faculty. A Graduate Business independent Research Proposal form must be approved by the directing faculty member and the MSCM faculty director prior to registration.