As a discipline, labor studies deals with work, the workplace, and workers and their organizations. It advances a body of knowledge that reflects the concerns of modern labor organizations. As a program, labor studies is designed to enable participants to serve more effectively as members and leaders in their organizations.
Participants can also gain a sense of the past and present contexts of work and unionism.
Because union leaders need to be familiar with economics, communications, and other subjects, labor studies can assist them in mastering a broad range of learning. An important goal of the program is to enable participants to make socially useful choices in carrying out the many responsibilities of union membership, union leadership, and community citizenship. Labor Studies Certificate and Degree Requirements Courses from three groupings are used by students to complete certificate and degree requirements. These groupings are labor studies courses, major areas of learning, and electives. The accompanying chart shows the credit hour distribution required for each certificate and degree in labor studies.