Learning and Development Manager
My name is Jake Connley and I live with my beautiful wife, three young boys, and dog Murphy in Meridian, ID just outside of Boise. I am currently the Learning and Development Manager for a locally-based manufacturing company.
I have worked in employee development for several years now but have lacked formal education in this subject. I was introduced to the organizational performance and workplace learning (OPWL) program while working for my current employer as a Technical Trainer by one of my colleagues. She knew how passionate I was about training and human performance and was the first to tell me about OPWL, she herself being a graduate. Excited about what I heard, I applied and was accepted into the program and began my journey of enlightenment in January of 2020.
Within the first semester, I discovered how valuable it was. The research and service-learning-based coursework gave me tools and experiences that I could apply immediately in my career, and because of this, I was promoted to the Learning and Development Manager for my company. The flexibility of the online format has enabled me to complete the program in two short years, during a global pandemic, while working a full-time professional job, and helping to raise a family (our third son was born during my sixth semester).
The faculty and staff have been amazing and vehemently supportive in my pursuit of this degree. Their enthusiasm for the subject matter is infectious and their kindness and generosity with their time is something to be admired. My tenure in the OPWL program has been tremendous and I have been inspired to further dive into the world of human performance improvement (HPI) by pursuing my PhD in the field. I aspire to contribute original research to the community of practice and eventually teach at the university level.
I will be thrilled to call myself a Boise State and OPWL alum when I graduate with a Master of Science in Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning and a certificate in Workplace Performance Improvement in December 2021!