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Graduate Degree Programs

For more information about the MILR Degree Program, view the ILR Graduate Policy Handbook.

Master of Industrial and Labor Relations (MILR)

Dean Harry C. Katz (left), Prof. Bradford S. Bell (middle), Prof. John Hausknecht (right) The two-year Master of Industrial and Labor Relations (MILR) degree program provides a broad-based foundation with a specific, intense focus on the interaction between people and organizations in the workplace. The MILR is the top degree program in the area of human resources and labor relations. There's a strong general business component to courses, but the emphasis is on the interrelationship between people and the workplace, whether that's a small service business, a not-for-profit museum, a large and influential labor union, or a Fortune 200 corporation.

MILR Degree Requirements

The MILR Degree requires a minimum of 48 credit hours (2 Registration Units), encompassing at least 16 full semester courses comprised of 6 core courses, 6 concentration courses and 4 electives. All MILR students will choose a Graduate Field Faculty member as their Special Committee Chairperson, to advise them on course selection and other academic matters.

MILR students choose from one of the following 5 areas of concentration and select a Special Committee Chairperson (advisor) in their area:

Students have a great deal of flexibility in choosing their courses in addition to the required core courses. Courses offered by the ILR School and the 13 other colleges at Cornell provide opportunity for cross-disciplinary work. With four thousand courses to select from at the university, classes in accounting; communication; computing; decision science; economics; entrepreneurship; human resources; international business; law, regulation, and ethics; management; manufacturing; marketing; organizational behavior; political economy; quantitative decisions; real estate; small business management; transportation as well as a host of other areas are easy to find.

Substitutions for one or more of these required courses may be petitioned with demonstrated competence in the area of study.

6 core courses

ILRCB500 Collective Bargaining - A comprehensive introduction to the industrial relations system of the United States. The negotiation, scope, and day-to-day administration of contracts; union and employer bargaining structures; implications of industrial relations issues for U.S. competitiveness and public policy; industrial conflict; and U.S. industrial relations in international and comparative perspective.
ILRCB501 Labor Relations Law and Legislation - A survey and analysis of the law governing labor relations and employee rights in the workplace. The first half of the course examines the legal framework in which collective bargaining takes place, including union organizational campaigns, negotiations for and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements, and the use of economic pressure. The second half of the course surveys additional issues of rights in employment, including such topics as employment discrimination, the developing law of "unjust dismissal," and union democracy. Also serves as an introduction to judicial and administrative systems.
ILRST511 Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences - A second course in statistics that emphasizes applications to the social sciences. Topics include: simple linear regression; multiple linear regression (theory, model building, and model diagnostics); and the analysis of variance. Computer packages are used extensively.
ILROB520 Organizational Behavior Analysis - Survey of concepts, theories, and research from the fields of organizational and social psychology as these relate to the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations. Job attitudes, motivation, performance, leadership and power, group formation, perception, and organizational climate. A preliminary course for advanced work in organizational behavior.
ILRLE540 Labor Economics - A course in labor market economics for prospective managers in the corporate, union, and governmental sectors. The course begins with demand and supply in labor markets, presenting the tools of decision analysis for workers and firms. It then goes on to consider various topics for managers including deciding on the optimal mix of capital and labor to employ; attracting and retaining talent; pay and productivity; hiring and training investments; and pensions and retirement. The final section of the course covers other important labor market issues including unemployment, discrimination, poverty and inequality, and analysis of public policies.
ILRHR560 Human Resource Management - A survey course covering the major areas of the management of human behavior in work organizations. Consideration is given to aspects of strategic human resource management such as staffing, training and development, performance management, compensation, and employee relations. Emphasis is on exploring these issues from both strategic and tactical levels to increase organizational effectiveness.

6 elective courses from one of the following concentrations

Human Resources and Organizations
Labor Market Policy
Collective Representation
Dispute Resolution
International and Comparative Labor

4 electives

Click here to view the tentative ILR Curriculum plan through Spring 2009

1 Year MILR Option

Some graduates with a JD or MBA degree may apply to complete the MILR degree program in one year. Not all applicants will be approved, but each application will be evaluated individually. 30 credit hours including the six MILR core-courses are required. Students in the one-year MILR program must

Complete a total of thirty credits (2 Registration Units);
Complete or waive all six of the regular required core MILR courses;
Complete or waive four of the six concentration courses;
Complete as many additional electives as needed to fulfill the 30 credit requirement.