College of Humanities and Social & Behavioral Sciences

Department of 
English Language and Literature

Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Department of History

Department of
Military Science

Department of Philosophy and Religion

Department of Political Science

Department of Psychology

Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work

Undergraduate Programs of Study

Military Science (MSL) 

For information, please contact Gregg A. Mays, Chairperson,
774-3049, Finch 111

College of Humanities and Social & Behavioral Sciences Website
Department Website

Why Study Military Science?
Military Science at CMU
Admission/Retention/Termination Standards
Career Options
Academic Programs
Army ROTC Scholarships
Military Science Minor
The Faculty
MSL Course Descriptions

Why Study Military Science and Leadership?
The Department of Military Science is home to "America’s best leadership development program" – Army Reserved Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Our curriculum and faculty are completely focused on the student, and his/her development as a world-class leader. Our curriculum is fun, challenging, exciting and relevant. Through completing our curriculum, the student qualifies him/herself to become an Army Officer, and lead in one of America’s most respected professions.

• Military Science academic programs are open to all students, without any obligation for military service.

• The program helps students to acquire leadership and management skills that make them a sought after commodity in the civilian job market.

• The department has integrated its efforts with the CMU Leadership Institute, contributing to the CMU Board of Trustees’ goal to make CMU the "premier center for leadership development in the Mid-America Conference, and among the best in the nation."

• Students learn to model the values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. Students develop their mental, physical and emotional capabilities. They also develop their conceptual and interpersonal skills. Finally, they learn how to communicate effectively; make good decisions; motivate others; plan, execute and assess operations; develop and build teams; and improve themselves and the organizations they lead.

• There is simply not a more comprehensive leadership development program in the nation.
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Military Science at CMU 
The Military Science/ROTC program is one of the best and fastest growing programs in the nation, committed to holding a national ranking in the top five percent. Since the focus of the program is leadership development, the curriculum supports all degree programs at CMU. All organizations, in all career fields, are looking for proven leaders.

• Our curriculum is fun, challenging, exciting and relevant. Classroom instruction moves quickly from lecture to group discussions, practical exercises, and hands-on experiences that support learning.

• All classes include student-led Leadership Labs, which are hands-on and consist of training such as: rappelling, rock-climbing, high-ropes course, marksmanship, water survival, orienteering, map reading, first aid, weapons, drill, squad tactics, patrolling, and team-building exercises.

• Upper level courses include a leadership practicum where students apply the leadership lessons they learned in the classroom to real life, by filling leadership positions within the Corps of Cadets.

• The Military Science program offers leadership internships both in-state and around the world; basic and advanced leadership camps; leadership development training at the United States Military Academy and in the United Kingdom; leadership training at the Army’s most challenging schools, such as airborne, air assault, SCUBA, northern warfare, and mountain warfare.

The majority of the program’s activities are planned, organized, prepared, executed and assessed by student leaders of the Corps of Cadets. The leadership potential of a student is developed through formal leadership assessments and feedback, mentorship, and whole-student counseling.
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Admission/Retention/Termination Standards

• To sign for a Minor in Military Science, students must meet with a departmental advisor.

• Students must earn an overall cumulative GPA of 2.0 in Military Science Minor courses in order to receive credit for the minor.

• Students who are pursuing a commission as an Army Officer must earn an undergraduate degree, meeting all of the requirements for their signed academic major and minor if a minor is required. They must also meet all the requirements of their Army ROTC contract.
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Career Options
A student’s experience in the Military Science program provides him/her with the skills that Fortune 500 companies aggressively seek – proven leadership. Besides a student’s unmatched development as a leader, if he/she also chooses to become an officer, he/she will expand his/her breadth and depth of acquired skills, opening up myriad opportunities for future employment.

• Junior military officers are scouted by employment head-hunters. Officers have priority for hiring for government jobs, and many organizations and universities give preference to military officers.

• Nation-wide, graduates of ROTC fill high positions in all branches of government (administrative, judicial and legislative), businesses, non-profit organizations, universities, and professional sports.

• The CMU program has produced numerous presidents/CEOs, vice-presidents of Dow Chemical and Merrill Lynch, justices, professors, general officers, and leaders in national security organizations.

• The Army has 16 exciting and high tech career fields to choose from that directly relate to the civilian sector, some of which are aviation, medical service, engineering, intelligence, security, law enforcement, information technology, human resources, finance and distribution management.

• The program supports lateral entry into America’s most elite organizations, like the State Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Secret Service.

• Students who choose to serve as officers in the active Army can rejoin the civilian sector after four years of service. Students who choose to serve in the National Guard or Reserves have the ability to work anywhere they want, in whatever civilian profession they chose, or to pursue a graduate degree.
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Academic Programs
The Department of Military Science is academically excellent. Instructors are committed to excellence in teaching and learning, and our department was recognized as one of the top four programs at CMU last year in the area of assessment. Students receive credits for each Military Science course, and our advanced courses have the added advantage of applying toward the minor in Military Science. The Military Science department offers two programs:

• The Officer Leadership Development Program is designed to be taken in parallel with the curriculum of your academic major. Students who desire to become army officers receive their commission upon completing both their degree requirements and the military science curriculum. The military science curriculum consists of one class and Leadership Lab each semester for eight semesters in progressive order. Latecomers and graduate students may make-up the first four semesters of the curriculum by attending the month-long Leadership Training Camp during the summer, or in a variety of other ways. All students seeking commissions as officers attend the month-long National Advanced Leadership Camp—normally completed during the summer prior to a student’s last year of school.

• The Minor in Military Science is designed to provide an interdisciplinary education in military science and leadership. The foundations for this minor are the advanced military science courses and a course in military history. This foundation is supplemented by elective studies in cultures, politics, geography, constitutional history and law, public relations, international relations, foreign policy and religion.
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Army ROTC Scholarships
Student scholarships and other financial aid packages range from $8,500 to $15,000 dollars per year. These financial benefits will allow you to focus on excellence in the classroom, as well as engage in extracurricular activities that are an important part of your overall college experience.

• Incoming freshmen may compete for four-year scholarships worth $8,500 per year, which provide tuition, fees, book allowance and monthly spending money, by applying on-line at armyrotc.com, and then following up with an on-campus interview. Four-year scholarship students may also receive a matching room and board scholarship from CMU worth an additional $5,500 per year (see below).
   

• Students already on campus may compete for two-, three-, and four-year scholarships worth $10,020 per year, which provide tuition, fees, book allowance and monthly spending money, by applying at our office in Finch 111.
   

• Students may simultaneously enroll in both our program, and the Army National Guard or Army Reserves. There are substantial benefits to participating in this program, including Leadership Internships, obtaining training in one of 212 marketable job skills, the most lucrative financial aid packages worth $17,000 per year, and guaranteed duty in the Reserves.
   

• Students may also compete for non-Army scholarships worth $1,000–$2000 each, made available through supporters of CMU’s Army ROTC program.
   

• There are numerous other national-level scholarships made available through corporations and endowments available exclusively to participants of Army ROTC programs.

Additional ROTC scholarship information may be obtained by contacting personnel of the Military Science Department at 774–7440/3049.

Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Scholarship
Established in 1993 by CMU to provide six room and board awards on an annual basis to high school seniors winning three-year Advance Designee or four-year ROTC Scholarships.

Minor

Military Science Minor 
The Military Science Minor is designed to provide students with an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the United States Military. Coursework includes a foundation in Military Science, Leadership, and Military History with electives concentrating on constitutional, international, and other issues. The Minor is open to all students; there is no military obligation.

Required Courses (19 hours):
MSL 301 (4) Leadership and Problem Solving
MSL 302 (4) Leadership and Ethics
MSL 401 (4) Leadership and Management
MSL 402 (4) Officership
HST 312 (3) American Military Experience 
OR, with permission of the advisor, one of the following:
HST 315 (3) The Vietnam War
HST 515 (3) Civil War and Reconstruction

Electives (9 hours): Nine hours selected from the following courses in consultation with minor advisor. Other electives may be substituted with advisor’s approval.
GEO 121 (3) Cultures of the World
GEO 345 (3) Political Geography
GEO 346 (3) Geography of the Developing World
HST 330 (3) U.S. Constitutional History
JRN 350 (3) Public Relations Principles and Practices
PSC 105 (3) Introduction to American Government and Politics
PSC 151 (3) The U.S. and the World
PSC 351 (3) International Relations
PSC 421 (3) Constitutional Law: Powers of Government
PSC 453 (3) American Foreign Policy
REL 101 (3) World Religions: An Introduction to the Study of Religion
REL 130 (3) Religion in America

TOTAL: 28 semester hours
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The faculty: James P. Blick, William R. Humes, Daniel M. Maloney, Edgardo Ramos, David N. Worley
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