Donald Kunkel ePortfolio
Lifelong Learning
Outcome V: Demonstrate the ability to build and develop continuous learning opportunities in key areas of business administration.
My Reflection on Meeting this Outcome:
The artifacts presented show my educational journey, and my commitment to lifelong learning. I’ve dedicated most of my adult life bettering myself through military and academic education, while applying it to my work experiences. Furthermore, I have learned a great deal of organizational leadership and management skills in my Air Force career during intensive Professional Military Education (PME) while attending Airman Leadership School (ALS), Non-Commissioned Officer Academy (NCOA), Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy (SNCOA), and the First Sergeant Academy (FSA). These courses provided me with lecture and hands on experience that directly correlate to many of the concepts needed for effective business administration.
ALS taught me very valuable lessons during the 169-hour curriculum. For example, subjects like diversity, communication, personal and professional development, group dynamics, and problem solving were taught, and I had to apply them to improve organizational effectiveness as a newly promoted manager. Additionally, NCOA was a 200-hour professional school for mid-level supervisors geared teach frameworks and processes to improve organizational performance. Furthermore, I completed NCOA in 2017 and educated with my peers on ways to access and apply actions necessary to strengthen organizational culture, examine leadership and management actions to achieve team goals while collaborating with key leadership to analyze problems and implement solutions (Noncommissioned, n.d.).
SNCOA is the highest level of PME, which is an in-resident program that consist of 200-hours of curriculum and is affiliated with the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) and Air University; furthermore, this advanced course “educates SNCOs to become adaptable senior enlisted leaders able to operate critically, strategically and jointly in complex and ambiguous environments through the application of four learning outcomes: Leadership, Problem Solving, Mission, and Culture” (Air, para 5, n.d.). Furthermore, SNCOA taught me how to lead an organization by learning and applying concepts that improve an organization’s effectiveness. For instance, I learned change management concepts, organizational innovation and agility methods, ethics, root cause analysis, and problem-solving frameworks (Senior, 2021).
My latest PME was attending the FSA in Alabama, which is a very selective school that is required for SNCOs selected to be First Sergeants. There are only an estimated 1150 First Sergeants in the US Air Force, which consists of over 322,000 service members. Furthermore, I attended the FSA in-residence in 2020, which allowed me to grow as a leader and manager, and it placed me in one of the key leadership positions working in what is called the leadership “triad”. The triad consists of the squadron commander, the senior enlisted leader, and the First Sergeant. FSA was a rigorous 190-hour course that awards nine college credit hours towards a Human Resource Management degree, and this course allowed me to work with other Air University schools and industry experts (First, n.d). The FSA taught me ways to enhance and optimize organizations by focusing on health, morale, discipline, welfare, quality of life, unit readiness, and quality force indicators; additionally, I learned how to lead the unit effort in developing, nurturing, and cultivating a professional culture by ensuring personnel adhere to policies, goals, and objectives (First, n.d.).
Along with my PME, I have made academia and continuous education a top priority. I earned an Associate in Applied Science in Intelligence Studies and Technology from the CCAF. In addition, I have a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Management from the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), with a minor in Leadership Studies. These two degrees have provided me with incredible knowledge that has aided me in both my military and civilian careers and opened many opportunities that have led to my success. In addition, I hold a Security + certification from CompTIA, which requires me to complete 50 continuing education credit hours every 3-years. This certification is audited for authenticity to uphold the Security + industry standards. This ensures I continue to learn and stay current on industry security standards that address potential threats, attacks, and vulnerabilities while using risk management, risk mitigation, threat management, and intrusion detection techniques to help protect critical information systems. Lastly, I took a seven-week course from the University of South Florida Muma College of Business and received a certificate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace; moreover, this class taught me essential practices and tools to increase employee diversity and create a business model that embraces equity and inclusion that can be incorporated into any work setting. These are just a few examples of my commitment to lifelong learning.
As I finish this educational chapter by completing my Master of Business Administration, I learned that I’ve been enthralled with all the aspects from the business classes I’ve completed. Furthermore, I spend time reading business journals and magazines like the Harvard Business Review, Economist, Forbes, and Fortune to see the latest business trends to continue to learn and educate myself. Additionally, I look for any reason to attend training or events that help me with organizational improvement opportunities like continuous improvement and organizational leadership and development.
My Future Learning Goals Related to this Outcome:
My reflections and artifacts are the cornerstone of my professional career and highlight my commitment of being a lifelong learner. I don’t intend to stop growing and learning; consequently, I plan on continuing my eagerness to learn and enhance my business administration knowledge. My future learning goals include the following:
Finish two classes I need to complete my Associate in Applied Science in Human Resource Management from CCAF.
Complete Southwestern Professional Studies Graduate Certificate in Executive Quality Management. I’ve completed two of five required courses to date. Here is the link to the certificate: https://ps.sckans.edu/degrees-and-certificates/certificates/executive-quality-management/
Complete a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) with a specialization in Organizational Leadership and Development. I’ve begun the process of evaluating a few universities and spoken to Capella University’s admission counselor.
Garner a college professor position to provide tutelage on key business administration areas that I’m passionate about. This will ensure I continue to grow professionally, hone my skills, and keep abreast of new business concepts while simultaneously using my experience to teach business students.