Reflections

University Studies Program

Final Thoughts

Working on this capstone project has sharpened my research and writing skills, and helped me keep current with technology and trends in a way that is very beneficial in my day-to-day work. I’ve received valuable feedback from Dr. Preston and Dr. Hudgins and my classmates. I didn’t anticipate how much the interviews would help me focus and shape the training program I developed. I’m proud of this website and the opportunity to highlight all the work I’ve done as a student and to be able use the capstone project to tie my education in with my career.

Through the UVST program, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to enhance my Business Management core with sociology, behavioral science and psychology classes that are already helping me in the workplace. As a human resource professional I’m constantly interacting with people and I’m a much better listener, mentor and coach because of my education at UVU.

I’ve been working toward a Bachelor’s degree for more years than I’d like to admit. It may have taken longer than I originally planned, but the pace has been right for me and with each new semester I’ve added to my skill set and expanded my knowledge. As I look back, there’s not a single class that I didn’t enjoy and didn’t benefit from greatly.

I’ve learned to work effectively in teams and communicate well with many diverse age groups and backgrounds. I’ve become more analytical and better at finding solutions. Through weekend college I've been able to choose to take all but four of my courses in the classroom rather than online. I've enjoyed engaging in discussions with classmates, seeing things from different perspectives, and constantly developing and defending my own ideology and opinions. Mostly, I’ve benefitted from the discussions that connect the principles from the classroom to real and current local, national and global issues.

What Worked?

I'm thrilled that I was able to tie my capstone project into my real-life work experience.

One of my goals at work has been to improve retention, for that reason, I zeroed in on developing a training program for newly promoted supervisors.

I feel that I've met my goal to improve new supervisor competencies, which in turn will improve communication and engagement levels across the organization.

What Changed?

I learned the importance of planning work and the Trello Board helped me as far as planning ahead to meet deadlines.

I had to scale back the scope of my project in order to finish it within the class timeframe. However, I plan to continue to add training units throughout the next year.

At the beginning of the semester, I didn't have much confidence in my ability to use technology and the thought of creating a website was daunting.

I'm now comfortable using Google Docs, Microsoft Sway, Wix.com, Trello and other resources, and anticipate using these tools more in my everyday work.

What's Next?

My next step is to present my project to the City Manager. I've already told him what I've been working on and I'm looking forward to rolling out this training program within the next month.

All current Directors and Managers will go through the training and provide me with additional feedback to refine the training units.

One of the important messages of the training is actually to remind city staff of their role in being a resource and support to the community in which we serve.