Organization Development Program

Psychology Department

This Psychology MA in Organization Development provides professional preparation for developing organizations and communities that are more sane and effective.

In four semesters participants gain the practical skills, conceptual knowledge, and field-tested experience to successfully lead organization and community improvement efforts.

Cohort groups of 15 students participate in seminar discussions, skill-building activities, and extensive field projects under the guidance and supervision of experienced OD practitioner faculty.

This program has a strong commitment to the principle of diversity. We seek a broad spectrum of students, including members of under-represented groups.

Request application materials or download them here in pdf format. (Get Acrobat Reader)

Meet Dr. Gisela Wendling at an Information Meeting to learn more about this program:

Friday, October 10
1:00 to 3:00 PM
Stevenson Hall, Room 3095
Sonoma State U. campus
(see a map and directions)

To reserve your space contact the Graduate Administrative Specialist , (707) 664-2682.

The cohort that will start this fall is now full, and we are now accepting applications for the cohort that will begin in the fall of 2009.

Gisela Wendling, Ph.D. is the Coordinator of the Pychology MA in OD at Sonoma State. In her work as an organization development practitioner and facilitator of learning, Gisela's goal is to support the design of organizational conditions that enable individuals to thrive and to support them in developing their capacity to initiate, engage in, and lead change.

Gisela brings 10 years of working with organizations as an internal OD consultant, director of learning and development, and independent OD consultant. She has expertise in organizational assessment and strategy, organization-wide culture change, leadership development, training design and delivery, executive coaching, and using coaching as an integrated supervisory approach. She is an experienced facilitator of a variety of small-group and large-group methodologies. Her work is guided by dialogic approaches to evoke the innate wisdom at all levels of human systems.

"The OD program at Sonoma State University was a life-changing experience for me. I learned that OD practice is a constant opportunity for personal and professional growth. I had the opportunity to work with clients almost right away, which made it easy for me to understand the concepts, look for ways to apply them, and assimilate the reading material. Since I was coming from another culture, the cohort concept was very significant for me because it offered a safe learning environment that promotes self-awareness. Now in my practice, I apply OD in almost every aspect of my work and even in my personal life."

Nubia Padilla (Class of 2002)
Project Development Specialist
Sonoma State University - California Institute on Human Services
California First 5, Special Needs Project

Co-President Elect
ASTD North Bay Chapter

Catherine Curtis Has a New Job!

In March of 2008, Catherine (Class of '92) began a new position with the City and County of San Francisco at the Public Utilities Commission. Her responsibilities include training, coordinating, and coaching Stationary Engineers to advance to meet the goals of the succession plan in the water department. Catherine is also a member of the Workforce Planning Committee, designing and implementing a mentoring program, managing a vocational training program, and delivering computer training and other training depending on the needs of the programs. There is an organizational change under way and Catherine is hired to help manage the change in the organization as they move through the succession plan.

Congratulations, Catherine!

"What I like about Sonoma State's OD Program is that it emphasizes learning by doing. The learning environment is less like academia and more like today's constantly changing workplace: one day we'd write a proposal with our project teams, the next day we would clarify expectations with our client, and another day we'd actually facilitate a meeting. Stimulated by our hands-on learning, we then knew what to look for in our reading."

Jon Pappas, M.A. (Class of 1999)
Organization Development Consultant
Results-First Consulting

SSU OD Program Receives Recognition at National Conference

Elissa Berrol and Saul Eisen were honored award recipients at the 2006 conference of the OD Network, which took place in San Francisco in October. Saul received the OD Network's Life-Time Achievement Award.

Elissa was one of three winners in the nation-wide Graduate Student Paper competition. Her paper is entitled "Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt--Self-Doubt and the Development of Self-As-Instrument: Implications for OD Practice."

At Nonprofits in the Green 2006, the annual conference sponsored by the Resource Center for Nonprofits of Sonoma County, David Tracy (Class of 2007) shows off his display of the decision-making model developed originally by Bob Tannenbaum and Warren Schmidt.

This framework identifies a range of leadership and group options available for making decisions. At one end, the manager tells or sells the decision that has already been made. At the other end, the group comes to a decision based on full discussion, and reflecting the priorities of all members of the group. In the middle, there are several decision-making methods, involving both managerial leadership and group involvement.

Also at this conference, Ruthe Browning, M.A. and David Warner, M.A. -- both OD Program alumni -- presented a well-attended workshop on how to lead successful strategic planning processes in organizations by developing a greater readiness on the part of participants, based on their identified shared values.

The Organization Development Blog is up and running!

• Learn about how OD got its name
• How self-managing teams were developed
• The perils of a superficial implementation process
• The easy and hard parts about facilitating groups toward their goals

Future Search in Windsor

Nine alumni of the Psychology MA in Organization Development recently worked with Saul Eisen to facilitate a Future Search conference for the community of Windsor. The conference, co-sponsored by the Windsor Town Council and the Windsor Unified School District, developed a shared vision for a better future for young people in that community.

Eight groups of stakeholders participated in this three-day conference, including educators, administrators, government officials, youth service providers, and young people attending middle schools, high schools, and Santa Rosa Junior College. A follow-up meeting took place two months later, at which action groups formed to develop concrete goals for improvement in five prioritized areas: education, family support, community collaboration, youth activities and inclusiveness in the Windsor community.

Strategic Planning with the SSU School of Science and Technology

Joseph McIntyre and Shelly Anderson (class of 2005) assisted Saul Eisen in guiding a strategic planning process for the School of Science and Technology at SSU (see the Web site for this planning process). Two members from each of nine departments in the school, as well as administrative and technical staff, joined Dean Saeid Rahimi in this planning process. They produced a new mission statement, a vision statement, and prioritized strategic goals for the school.

Future OD Practices and Practitioner Competencies

As our world continues to change, what intervention strategies will be required by organizations and communities in the coming decade? And what practitioner competencies will be needed in order to implement these new approaches? See the results of a year-long Delphi study on these questions.

The OD Program is Administered by the
Psychology Department and the
School of Extended Education-- Special Sessions
Sonoma State University

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Updated 8/7/08