St. Ambrose University

Experiential Learning


Sample Portfolio

Portfolio Manual  |  Sample Portfolio  |  Sample Letter to Employers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Chronological record of significant life experiences 
  2. General essay
  3. Experiences and accompanying learning outcomes
  4. Credit request
  5. Documentation
    6.

CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD OF SIGNIFICANT LIFE EXPERIENCES

1962 Graduated from AlWood High School, Woodhull, IL
1962-63 Attended and completed accounting program at M.I.C. in Moline and worked at Peoria Cartage nights as a billing clerk.
1963 Was hired at John Deere Plow Works in Moline as a Parts Warehouse Clerk.
1963 Married.
1964 Was promoted to the Product Engineering Department and worked in the Specifications Department writing preliminary specifications on prototype machines.
1964 Took over the administration of the inch series Service Hardware program which serviced the entire corporation.
1965 Enrolled at Black Hawk College and took Psychology courses.
1966 Was called for pre-induction physical for Vietnam War. 
1968 Was drafted into the Army and went to Fort Polk, Louisiana for Basic Training on April Fool's Day!
1969 Went to Germany with unit for Reforger War Games.  Spent six weeks in the hospital in Nuerenburg with pneumonia due to 29 degrees below zero weather.
1970 Was released from the Army to go back to school.  Enrolled at Black Hawk College for one semester full-time.  Continued for three years at night and graduate with an AA in Business and Economics in 1973.
1970 Went back to work at the John Deere Plow Works in the same job I held before going into the Army.
1971 Went through merger of the Plow Works and the Planter Works.
1972 Transferred from the Product Engineering Department to the Whole Goods Department of the Sales Division.  Was responsible for releasing all whole goods orders to all depots.
1973-77 Worked several jobs in the Sales Division.  Part of that time was spent on special assignment working with the inch Service Hardware Program.
1977-83 Transferred to the Parts Distribution Center as Supervisor of their Pertetual Inventory Department.  Responsible for fifteen union employees that counted parts constantly since this center could not be shut down for general inventory.
1983-85 Transferred to the Engineering Division working in the Methods Engineering Department.  My job responsibilities were working on projects to bring new packaging equipment and processing into the facility.  This involved putting a package of information together recommending the type of machine or equipment for a new or updated process.  At that point, I was responsible for presenting this package to the unit manager and his staff for approval and ultimately the procurement of the equipment.
1985 Took over the Work Simplification and Employee Suggestion Programs.  The Work Simplification Program was for salaried employees.  They worked in teams and found projects that could save the unit money.  When they were able to implement these products, the team could get gift certificates from local restaurants and stores.  This made me responsible for creating team training and leading the training sessions.  The Suggestion Program was for low labor grade salaried personnel and all of the wage or union employees.  This program was investigating suggestions employees submitted and if approved, implementing them.  The reward for implementing the idea was fifty percent of the first year's savings.  I also became a supervisor to one salaried employee.
1985 Lost my father to cancer.
1985 Started leading training sessions called Group Problem Solving Skills and Facilitator Skills.  Usually had four to six sessions a month.  This training included everyone from our Director and his staff right through every wage employee.
1986 Facilitated first team.  This was a fantastic experience.  Team worked for about four or five months.  As a result of this team, they saved our unit between three and four million dollars annually.
1986 Continued to facilitate whenever possible and keep my own job going.  Inherited three more employees to supervise.  Decided to develop my department into a "self-directed" work team.
1986-93 Continued to supervise my department and facilitate and lead classes.
1994 Took training program called Foundations from an outside consultant and went further into training to be a coach within the company.
1994 Went through the Committed Partnership training and started coaching people within Deere Corporation.  Also, started attending monthly Mastery Coaching training.
1995 Started co-leading the Committed Partnership training with Director of Affirmative Action of Corporate. 
1995 Flew back and forth with the Director to our Waterloo facilities to maintain the newly trained coaches until the next Mastery training started in the fall.
1996 Fall of this year started attending St. Ambrose University at night taking Analysis of Financial Statements.
1996 Was part of a six member team that developed a new training session called Listen....Really Listen.  This was basically started by the outside consultant who had been supporting this type of training.  We helped revise this class and then observed it being taught and then helped to revise it again.  Each of us took turns leading the new class.
1997 In spring of this year, I transferred to the ACCEL Program and enrolled in Principles of Marketing, International Business, and Consumer Behavior for that semester.  Was on the Dean's list for courses completed.
1997 Accepted a new job moving from the Parts Distribution Center to a job at Deere & Company working with a new system developing the training for the workers in all units that adopt to the new corporate system.  Many changes and will have to do some traveling to put on training sessions at the Deere units.
1997 to present Enrolled in the ACCEL Program for fall session and taking Business Ethics, Diversity in the Workplace, and Human Resource Management.

EXPERIENCES AND ACCOMPANYING LEARNING OUTCOMES

Experience Accompanying Learning Outcomes
Deere and Company Management Development Programs Deere and Company Employee Training & Development Programs, all aimed at increasing individual management capabilities.  All are highly professional and many are conducted for companies outside of John Deere.
*Managerial Skills, 3 day seminar (See attached seminar description, Appendix A) In addition, from 1977-1997, I have held two different Supervisory positions: Supervisor, Perpetual Inventory; Supervisor, Work Simplification and Employee Suggestions.
*Employee Involvement 1/2 day seminar.  (See attached seminar description, Appendix A) The training received in these Employee training and Development Programs and the practical application of this training in my actual work experiences have taught me:
*Leadership Skills, 3 day seminar (See attached seminar description, Appendix B) The primary role of Management today is that of Decision Making, Planning, Organizing and Leading
  DECISION MAKING
*Staff Supervisory Skills, 5 day live in seminar (See attached seminar description, Appendix B) Decision making is really a three part process, problem identification, development of alternative courses of action and the selection of the best course of action.  In order to make decisions, certain conditions must exist:

 - must identify the existing need, that is the discrepancy between what "should be" and what "is"

 - The decision maker must be aware of the discrepancy

 - The decision maker must have a reason to become involved, to act on the discrepancy

 - The decision maker must be able to act, possess the power, money, ability, etc.
*Appraisal Skills 2 day seminar, (See attached seminar description, Appendix C)  
*Group Problem Solving Skills, 2 day seminar, (See attached seminar description, Appendix C) Several of the Deere classes I have taken dealt with the "A+B+C Decision Making Process":
*Effective Time Management, 1 day seminar (See attached seminar description, Appendix D) *A=Analyze the alternatives in terms of: people, money, time, materials and space

*B=Balance the benefits of each against its drawbacks, its cost, tangible and intangible difficulties and risks

*C=Calculate Contingencies.  Consider the consequences and costs of each alternative course, if it should go wrong, a way out in case of failure.
Miscellaneous Deere Training Programs -

*In addition to the programs listed above, I have been trained in the following:

 - Basic Affirmative Action

 - EEO

 - Substance Abuse

 - Right to Know Laws

 - Hazardous Materials

 - Awareness

 Several of the classes have also covered the Systematic Approach to Problem Solving.  This is an eight (8) step circular module consisting of:

* Problem Describing

* Problem Identifying

* Fact Finding

* Problem Analyzing

* Idea Finding

* Solution Finding

* Action Planning

* Action Evaluating
All of these Employee Training and Development Programs utilized a combination of learning techniques, including lecture, question-answer discussions, case studies, small team activities, text reading and role playing.  
  PLANNING
My work experience over the past 20 years includes: Mar 1977-Sep 1983 John Deere Parts Distribution Center, Supervisor, Perpetual Inventory Department - Supervisor of fourteen wage employees.  Responsible for the accuracy of the warehouse's inventory.  Initially we had three years to count all of the parts in the facility.  We had to count all the parts considered as being "high volume."  This meant much planning to establish weekend special inventories.  The planning came into view since it was needed to have a hundred or more people in doing the counting.  This was in addition to the supervision needed to oversee this group of people. In my present position of Supervisor, Work Simplification and Employee Suggestion Programs, I have spent over a thousand hours in the classroom leading the seminars on Group Problem Solving Skills and Facilitators Skills.  Consequently, the Systematic Approach is my outline for problem solving and decision making.

The Systematic Approach is also a tool I have learned that others can use.  It is a very simple technique that anyone can use whenever and wherever they need to make decisions.  This is the planning tool that I was using for people that were working in newly formed teams or just within their own departments.  The learning from this tool is that people need a simple tool that can be used mentally to handle an involved problem taking a team to solve or a mental process that one person can use for a very personal decision.
  ORGANIZING
I have learned that an effective organizational structure consists of: *Defining individual tasks, assigning responsibility and authority, determining resources needed and providing them.

*Defining how these tasks interface with the rest of the organization to achieve the overall objectives.

In my last Supervisory assignment, I was required to establish and maintain departmental organization that would satisfy the needs of material movement of parts either to the warehouse for storage or to one of the offsite packagers.  Additionally, in the effort of business integration, I have been facilitating numerous project teams in order to maintain some type of organization for them and the unit to achieve the outcomes desired.
  LEADING
Deere and Company Affirmative Action Diversification Training -

Foundations - 3 day seminar (See attached seminar description, Appendix E)

 I have spent the last five years participating in training that started with the seminar Foundations.  The outcome of this training for me, started me looking at life in many different ways.  The most important outcome for me was learning to be "in development".  There was also other learning that came from this training.  Such as learning to listen in a way I have never listened before.  More will be mentioned about the listening training.  Another idea that was solidified in this seminar was that of "asking for what I want".  I have learned if you do not ask for what you want, then you should be willing to take what you get.  Taking what you get is no longer satisfactory for me at this point in my life.  Along with the idea above, I believe very strongly in the concept of "commit, act, learn".  I would not be back in school after 23 years if I didn't believe in this concept and that of being in development.
Committed Partnership, 2 day seminar (See attached seminar description, Appendix E) Out of this two day seminar, I have learned how to coach another person by not knowing anything about their work or being experienced in the project they are completing.  This type of coaching has taught me to utilize the training and ability to listen with nothing added, create an atmosphere that makes for a good relationship and supporting people so they may be able to elevate their working level to a much higher degree.
Listen...Really Listen, 1 day seminar (See attached seminar description, Appendix E) I have learned from this seminar to listen with nothing added, nothing changed even if I don't like the person.  Learning to listen in this manner is the key to all of our communications skills.  If this is the way I make sure I am perceived by others, it is a way of leading that makes people thing about what is different when they talk to you.

CREDIT REQUEST

I believe that my experience and non-college learning, as documented in the portfolio, is generally equivalent to the following courses offered at St. Ambrose University.  I am, therefore, requesting equivalency credits to be awarded for these courses:

Courses    
BUS 310 wi Principles of Management 3 credits
BUS 325 wi Leadership and Corporate Culture 3 credits
BUS 332 Organizational Theory, Communications, and Behavior 3 credits