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Work-Life Balance Certification

Develop an understanding of work-life balance and receive a certification from the International Society of Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), a globally-recognized academic and professional association, with its own publications, journals, conferences, and identity. ISQOLS is collaborating with the Management Institute for Quality-of-Life Studies (MIQOLS) in the administration of this certification program.

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certificate

Learn about the Proliferating Research Related to Work-Life Balance

This course on work-life balance (WLB) provides a systematic review of the research literature related to the effectiveness of certain organizational policies and programs (organizational practices related to work-load management, flextime, flexplace, alternative job arrangements, and family care). The course contains 11 learning modules.

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The certification course includes:

  • 11 major content-rich learning modules capturing content from the book Organizational Strategies for Work-Life Balance (published by Springer, in press).
  • 11 learning modules that include 48 instructional videos designed with flexibility and remote-learning in mind
  • Support from a renowned quality-of-life/well-being scientist
  • An official certification on successful completion of the course work and examination

Course Modules

Introduction

The introductory module lays the philosophical and academic foundation of much of the research on wellbeing and positive mental health, showing the beneficial effects of happy people at work, in terms of health, and to society at large.

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This certification program is aimed at:

  • Professionals interested in understanding the psychology of work-life balance and how it can be achieved through programs and policies of their own organization;
  • Executive managers and directors in medium and large organizations interested to helping their employees achieve a better work-life balance;
  • Directors of personnel departments in medium and large organizations;
  • Human resource management consultants;
  • University/college instructors teaching courses in Human Resource Management;
  • Graduate students interested in learning about work-life balance as a possible research topic for their master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation; and
  • Researchers who wish to be initiated to issues dealing with policies and programs of work-life balance.
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The Instructor’s Biography

M. Joseph Sirgy is a management psychologist (Ph.D., U/Massachusetts, 1979) and the Virginia Tech Real Estate Professor Emeritus of Marketing at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (USA) and Extraordinary Professor at the WorkWell Research Unit at North West University – Potchefstroom Campus (South Africa). He has published extensively in business ethics and quality of life (QOL). His awards include International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies’ (ISQOLS’) Distinguished Fellow Award, ISQOLS’ Distinguished QOL Researcher, Academy of Marketing Science’s (AMS) Distinguished Fellow Award, AMS’ Harold Berkman Service Award, Virginia Tech’s Pamplin Teaching Excellence Award/Holtzman Outstanding Educator Award and University Certificate of Teaching Excellence, the EuroMed Management Research Award, and the Macromarketing Society’s Robert W. Nason Award. Best paper awards include articles published in the Journal of Happiness Studies, the Journal of Travel Research, and Applied Research in Quality of Life. His editorial responsibilities include co-founding editor of Applied Research in Quality of Life, editor of the QOL section in the Journal of Macromarketing, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Macromarketing, editor of ISQOLS’/Springer’s book series on International Handbooks in QOL, Community QOL Indicators--Best Cases, Applied Research in QOL--Best Practices, and co-editor of the Springer book series on Human Well-Being and Policy Making.

M. Joseph Sirgy

Frequently Asked Questions

The course is administered through a self-paced program of instruction. The program includes:

  • Readings from the textbook Organizational Strategies for Work-Life Balance (in press at Springer);
  • Video lectures for each module;
  • One-to-one Interaction with the course instructor through e-mail and video conference; and
  • Certification given successful performance on a set of exams involving essay questions.

Certification

  • ISQOLS members can take the course for certification for $700.
  • Non-ISQOLS members can take the course for certification for $900.
  • Benefits include:
    • Access to the lecture slides
    • Access to the lecture videos
    • Discount from Springer to purchase the textbook that supports the course
    • Direct communication with the instructor by e-mail and/or video conferencing
    • Certification upon demonstrated learning (evaluated through successful completion of several exams)

Audit

  • ISQOLS members can audit the course for $50.
  • Non-ISQOLS members can audit the course for $200.
  • Benefits include:
    • Access to the lecture slides
    • Access to the lecture videos
    • Discount from Springer to purchase the textbook that supports the course

No. However, to make the most out of the material provided in this course, it is recommended that the applicants have at least some background in social sciences.

After completing each learning module (there are 11 modules in total) the course participant alerts the course instructor about his/her readiness to take a quiz related to the completed module. The instructor in turn prepares and sends the course participant the quiz (by e-mail) related to the completed module. The student then completes the quiz and returns it to the course instructor who in turn grades it and provides feedback. This process is repeated until all 11 learning modules are completed. Each quiz may involve case analysis, essay exam, and/or project development.

To pass the course and receive an official certification, the course participant must receive an average grade of C- or above across all 11 quizzes. Each quiz will be graded using the traditional academic scale, namely A-F. Participants who do not receive a passing grade (i.e., C- or above) can repeat the course.

ISQOLS can provide educational credit in terms of Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for the Work-Life Balance Certification Program. 1 CEU is equivalent to 10 contact hours. The Work-Life Balance Certification Program involves and estimated 20 contact hours total. This translates into 2 CEUs.

Those interested in receiving the CEUs should provide enough information to their own educational institution about the ISQOLS certification program and their own institution would determine if they would accept these CEUs.

Many occupations require CEUs to stay licensed in their profession (counselors, life coaches, teachers, etc.). Those who wish to use the certification program for CEUs in meet continuing education requirements of their profession should contact their state/country licensing board and submit information about the course.

This certification is provided by the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS), a global organization with a mission to promote and encourage research in the field of quality-of-life (QOL), happiness, and wellbeing studies. ISQOLS has members all throughout positioned in academic institutions as well as stakeholder groups, and are well-respected for their contributions to QoL. As such, an official certification would be beneficial to anyone who wants to apply work-life balance to guide academic research projects, policy making, managerial decision-making, population statistics, and/or coaching and counseling.

Course participants should be able to answer the following questions when completing the course:

  • How do social scientists and human resource researchers define and measure the concept of work-life balance?
  • What are work-life balance practices commonly found in medium and large organizations?
  • Is there evidence about the impact of work-life balance policies and programs on employee behavioral responses? If so, what kind of evidence?
  • What is the impact of workload management policies and programs on employee behavioral responses?
  • What is the impact of schedule flexibility policies and programs on employee behavioral responses?
  • What is the impact of flexible workplace policies and programs on employee behavioral responses?
  • What is the impact of policies and programs related to alternative work arrangements on employee behavioral responses?
  • What is the impact of family care policies and programs on employee behavioral responses?
  • What does the evidence suggest concerning conditions governing the effectiveness of work-life balance practices?
  • What recommendations can we deduce from the research to implement effective work-life balance policies and programs?

This course is administered by a seasoned QoL researcher, Prof. Dr. M. Joseph (Joe) Sirgy. Course instruction is supported by access to video lectures, readings from the assigned book (Organizational Strategies for Work-Life Balance; published by Springer), exams, feedback on the exam questions, and private communication with the course instructor through e-mail and video conferencing.

International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS)


Address:
P.O. BOX 118
Gilbert, AZ 85233
U.S.A. 

Email:
office@isqols.org

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