Date of Award

3-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering Management

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Tay Johannes, PhD

Abstract

The importance of continuing education for professionals cannot be understated. This importance is doubly true for Air Force Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers who are members of not only the profession of engineering, but also the profession of arms. Air Force senior leaders understand this importance and required an update to the existing developmental education model, with a paradigm shift toward competency-based education and credentialing. Unfortunately, the Air Force Civil Engineer career field does not currently possess the required information to create a model in compliance with the senior leader directives. This research aims at establishing the required characteristics of a competency-based education model for Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers, including: an enumerated list of competencies, a development timeline, and appropriate proficiency types for each competency. The research was guided by four research questions: 1) What are the required capabilities/competencies for Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers? 2) When should Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers achieve competence in the identified areas? 3) What are the temporal influences on the Civil Engineer Company Grade Officer’s career? 4) How would a Civil Engineer Company Grade Officer educational model incorporate Civil Engineer competencies? The methodology used to collect and analyze data was divided into four components. The first component was an Educational Working Group aimed at identifying a preliminary list of performance characteristics expected of Civil Engineer Company Grade Officers. The second component was a position analysis using position allocation data and published research to identify commonly advertised capabilities. The third component was a career field survey which operated as a stakeholder analysis. The fourth and final method was a Delphi Study, in which 18 experts were asked open ended questions to refine and validate acquired data, perform gap analysis, and ensure the model encompassed future developments for the career field. The end model was comprised of eighteen Civil Engineer Company Grade Officer competencies, development timelines, and types of proficiency for each.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENV-MS-20-M-207

DTIC Accession Number

AD1102224

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