Become a human resource management professional with Touro College Graduate School of Business

NYC Fleet, America’s largest municipal fleet under New York City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), is a much more efficient organisation thanks to Nathaniel Koszer’s excellent training supervision skills, and he owes it all to Touro College Graduate School of Business (GSB).

“Team management, presentation skills, managing and motivating people, and vital leadership skills I learned at GSB have helped me every single day of my career,” Koszer says.

At the time of his undergraduate degree graduation, the US was going through the Great Recession. With employment prospects growing worse every day, Koszer had to decide whether to pursue an advanced qualification. Not wanting to commit to a full-time degree that would entail even more financial costs and a busier schedule, he scouted graduate programme options and found the shorter Advanced Certificate in Human Resource Management a perfect fit.

Nathaniel Koszer in blue shirt kneeling down on the floor, after finishing the Vision Zero presentation. Source: Touro College Graduate School of Business

“It gave me the chance to see if grad school was the right choice for me. I loved what I learned while pursuing this certificate,” Koszer enthuses.

Indeed, in this programme, Touro students are taught to quickly identify and maximise the talent and capabilities of employees, and Koszer is doing exactly that at NYC Fleet, training “thousands of city drivers in key defensive driving techniques to make NYC a safer place” and “leading the charge in adopting new and emerging technologies to study these collisions caused by third parties.”

The certificate has also been designed to meet the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)’s highest international standards for human resource management practices; students train to become highly marketable and independent consultants and educators. That is why during the COVID-19 pandemic, Koszer, as the Fleet Safety Supervisor, helped ensure the lessons could be accessed remotely and even developed the script writing, narration, and accessibility functionality on top of updating the content for NYC Fleet’s Vision Zero presentation for training.

“More than 2,000 staff work full-time in fleet repair and garage operations for the Big Apple and in total, nearly US$1 billion is spent annually on fleet repair, fueling, and procurement,” Koszer explains. However, he is happy to be involved in many exciting and unique projects there.

Since 15 credits from the Advance Certificate can be transferred to the Master of Science (MS) in Human Resource Management course, and 12 credits to the MBA in Human Resource Management, Koszer re-enrolled in GSB for his MS degree once he finished the certificate course, took the civil service examination,  and got hired by DCAS.

Over four semesters, the 33-credit practitioner-oriented MS programme allows students to gain a deeper knowledge of best practices in human resource management as well as human resource concepts about productivity, profitability, and sustainability. They also have to complete a capstone course and four electives; the core sequence includes topics such as ethics, multicultural human resource management issues and employment law. With leadership competency skills built up during this programme, which meets SHRM’s standards, MS graduates can expect to work as organisational leaders.

There is also the option of doing an MBA with a specialisation in human resource management. This part-time course requires 42 credits to complete within two to three years and provides you with practical leadership skills and essential knowledge to deal with challenges like new technologies, products and markets.

“Touro showed me what the US market is about, which prepared me well for the job market in terms of resources, knowledge and skills. Its international environment and diversity was enriching,” Jiri Valasek, an MBA Human Resource Management 2018 graduate, shares.

For those wanting to be SHRM-certified through the Professional Exam, you can take up the SHRM-certification preparatory course at Touro. Using the 2021 SHRM Learning System — featuring access to over 2,000 practice questions — the interactive course will allow you to be a relevant, exceptional human resource professional through 13 weeks of virtual classes. The SHRM-certified expert master instructor will impart in-depth and current human resource knowledge.

Dynamic business programmes

GSB offers other programmes, including the Master of Science and Advanced Certificate in Healthcare Management, plus an MBA with an option in Healthcare Management for medical professionals or those who want to venture into this field.

The Advanced Certificate in Real Estate Entrepreneurship offers extensive industry contacts, world-class and highly seasoned professors, and an excellent support and resource system. Students can also pursue the Master of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in International Business Finance.

New Advanced Certificates in not-for-profit management and business creation entrepreneurship are also in the pipeline.

Touro, as America’s largest not-for-profit private institution of higher and professional education, has over 19,000 students of various backgrounds studying in its 35 schools located in four countries. Touro students benefit from affordable tuition, small classes, and highly knowledgeable professors.

The result? Graduates with in-depth knowledge, advanced practical skills, and confidence to thrive, wherever their careers take them.

Follow Touro College Graduate School of Business on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn