V. The learner demonstrates that she has been and will continue to be a life-long learner.

My artifacts demonstrating this outcome.

The fact that I chose to further my education by pursing a master's degree, 20 years after I had received my bachelor's degree, is one demonstration that I am a life-long learner.  I started the Southwestern College Master of Science in Leadership program in July of 2008 and have been taking a class every other session for the past two and a half years, with my anticipated graduation in May of 2011.  My nearly three-year commitment to this program is another demonstration that I have been and continue to be a life-long learner.  Other demonstrations of this outcome include:

1.  My Leadership Style - LEAD 515 Leadership Communication and Conflict Resolution

2.  Leadership Development Plan - LEAD 520 Leadership Coaching

3.  Leading the Admissions Team at Butler To Be the Best We Can Be - LEAD 520 Leadership Coaching

4.  Personal Leadership Development Plan - LEAD 580 Practical Problem Solving for Today's Organizations

5.  Personal-Best Leadership Project: Online Application for Admission - LEAD 590 Leadership Project 

My reflection on meeting this outcome.

1.  Learning more about conflict resolution has always been something I needed to do, but bringing up the subject of conflict made me cringe, prior to taking this class of course.  I learned many forms and aspects of conflict resolution, as well as some tips that I have put to use so that I can cringe a little less at the subject of conflict.  Those tips include:

• Conflict spirals are unproductive.  Actually, I knew that but I did not know how to handle them.  I learned that it is o.k. to stop the spiraling conflict conversation and tell the other person that we will continue this conversation when we can have a rational discussion.  You can allow for cooling-off time if the two parties get into a struggle.  Or, if one of the parties is not able to negotiate because of their emotions are too high, discontinue the meeting until a later time.
• It is o.k. to vent with a safe friend.  “Venting does nothing to help the conflict process.  If you need to vent, do it with a safe friend, counselor, or third party, not the person you are having the struggle with" (Wilmot & Hocker, 2007, p. 215).  I vent with a safe friend or third party as a form of preventing conflict.  I have also shared this information with my staff.  I felt as though we already did this—vent to each other about concerns—but I wanted to reiterate that I had learned that it is o.k. and can help prevent conflict.
• Manage conflict to be viewed as positive.  For example, rather than avoiding conflict during a staff meeting, take the time necessary to talk through an issue in an attempt to increase cohesion, innovation, and creativity.
• Control the process, not the person.  I do this by including everyone involved in the process and allow each of them to share their thoughts while others listen actively.

In addition to these great tips, I learned that I manage conflict in a collaborative style.  “Collaboration demands the most constructive engagement of any of the conflict styles.  Collaboration shows a high level of concern for one’s own goals, the goals of others, the successful solution of the problem, and the enhancement of the relationship.  Note that collaboration, unlike compromise, involves not a moderate level or concern for goals but a high level or concern for them” (Wilmot & Hocker, 2007, p. 162).   I am collaborative but at times I am satisfied to compromise when the stakes are not as high.  I believe I have demonstrated through these tips and my conflict management style that I have conquered one of my life-long learning needs.

2.  This leadership development plan that I completed as a requirement for LEAD 520 Leadership Coaching includes my two-year plan for education and/or training which demonstrates my plan for continued life-long learning.  My two-year plan for education and/or training includes:

• Since I started the Master of Science in Leadership program at Southwestern College July 2008, in two years I will be just over two thirds of the way finished with the program.
• I attend the Kansas Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Officers (KACRAO) Conference each year and I am currently serving on the 2009 Local Arrangements Committee.  I also attend the Great Plains Association for College Admissions Counseling (GPACAC) Conference every other year.  These conferences provide me a chance to get to know my counterparts at colleges across the state and region who I can call upon throughout the year.  They also provide a chance to develop professionally by volunteering to be on committees.
• I attend Butler Community College’s Institutional Development Day, twice a year, once in the fall semester and once in the spring semester.
• The Enrollment Management Leadership Team that I am a part of holds an annual retreat.  This is in addition to our every-other-week regular meetings.
• I participate in cross-training with academic advising by attending advisor training sessions twice each semester.

3.  The conclusion of this portfolio paper reviews my commitment to being a life-long learner.
     "For me to be able to lead the admissions team by example I must stay educated on the latest trends in admissions and be able to implement ideas.  I must also be provided challenges and support from my supervisor, and also be confident in my professional behavior.  With these ingredients, along with additional years of experience, I hope to continue my journey through the ranks of the organizational structure of higher education.
     One of the most important of these ingredients is education, as I work toward earning a Master of Science Degree in Leadership from Southwestern College.  This continues to be a part of my professional development plan, and encouragement and support from my supervisor is essential.  The feedback that I receive from him is very valuable to me, as I respect his work and years of service to the field of college student services.  Also, the material that I am learning from the leadership program is helping me to develop professionally and personally.
     While I develop as a leader, I have followers who are counting on me and my past experiences.  With only a few months under my belt, I am striving to coach our admissions team so that we can all win."
From keeping up with the latest trends in admissions to earning my master's degree, I am continually learning as I strive to lead the admissions team at Butler to be the best we can be.

4.  One of the questions asked for this paper was, "What do I need to do to improve my abilities to move the organization forward?"  I responded with, "Working on my master’s degree is helping me improve my abilities, which will in turn help me move the organization forward.  I also need to continue to look for projects that will help me improve my abilities so that I can become more knowledgeable in other areas of enrollment management."  I know that volunteering for projects in other areas of enrollment management is a great life-long learning tool for me to become more knowledgeable.  Within this personal leadership development plan I found two areas I feel demonstrate that I have been and will continue to be a life-long learner.

1. I wrote, "Challenging the process is about experimenting and taking risks, in an attempt to improve processes, products, and services.  Leaders search for opportunities to challenge the process by listening to those people who are doing the work, as well as listening to customers.  As the text states, “Innovation requires more listening and communication than does routine work.  Leaders guiding a change must establish more relationships, connect with more sources of information and get out and walk around more frequently” (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 177)."  I think this shows that I believe learning comes from others, by listening to team members, as well as customers.
2. I wrote, "To encourage the hearts of others, leaders must recognize contributions by showing their appreciation.  Leaders must be involved and know their constituents to be able to personalize recognition...The text notes, “Everyone benefits when leaders hold the belief the people can change and people can develop new skills and abilities” (Kouzes & Posner, 2007, p. 292)."  I think this shows that I not only believe I should be a life-long learner, but I also believe others should be life-long learners too by developing new skills and abilities.

5.  In one of my Spring 2010 classes we were notified that we would be doing a personal-best leadership project for LEAD 590 Leadership Project and that we should begin thinking about what project we would choose.  The timing of finding out this information was absolutely perfect.  I had been talking with my supervisor about my goals for the upcoming year during my annual evaluation and we discussed one of my goals being to develop a new online application for admission.  We talked about how this goal would be quite an undertaking and several months of work.  Without further ado we added it to my evaluation goals and in June our team began building the new online application for admission.  This project is one of the largest, in terms of responsibility and time, that I have ever been a part of and the leader of.  Taking on this goal demonstrates my commitment to being a life-long learner in my professional setting by wanting to lead the team that builds, tests, and implements a new online application for admission.  This commitment, takes leadership skills, organizational skills, technology skills, and the ability to learn new information within each of these areas.  Taking on this goal as my personal-best leadership project demonstrates my commitment to being a life-long learner in my educational setting by truly selecting a project that is worthy of the title "personal-best leadership project".  In this paper you will see the steps I have taken to lead this project, such as modeling the way.  I achieved this step by communicating clear expectations of the well-organized project to our team.  I believe my organization of the project was my most significant leadership action because it allowed each team member to know what was expected of them, including myself.  You will also see my recognized strengths, as well as the leadership areas I can continue to improve upon.  My strengths as a leader are my organizational and communication skills.  To improve my leadership skills I need to continue to practice encompassing all I have learned throughout this leadership program.  This project's anticipated implementation date is January 31, 2011.  It is moving along right on track because I am applying many of the aspects of leadership I have learned throughout this program.  From modeling the way and encouraging the heart, to knowing which leadership style best suits each team member.  I believe this also demonstrates that I have been and continue to be a life-long learner. 

My future learning goals related to this outcome.

I definitely plan to continue to practice my new-found conflict management skills when needed.  And, now that I no longer cringe at the subject of conflict management, I also plan to continue to learn about this subject through seminars, webinars, conferences, etc.  Another area that I will continue to learn about is my admissions profession, by attending the annual conferences of two organizations, and occasionally attending a national conference.  However, I not only want to continue to learn about my admissions profession, but I also want to learn more about all of the departments within enrollment management.  That is why I will volunteer for projects in other enrollment management areas to become more knowledgeable.  Last but certainly not least, my most important future learning goal is to continue to learn from this leadership program.  I have learned a great deal of information over the past two and a half years, and by periodically reviewing each class I will be able to practice the information until it becomes routine.

Kouzes, J.M. & Posner B.Z. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Wilmot, W. W. & Hocker, J. L. (2007). Interpersonal conflict. New York: McGraw-Hill.