Navy Assistance Programs for College Study

Navy Assistance Programs for College StudyNavy Assistance Programs for College StudyThe U.S. Navy offers financial assistance programs to help you pay for college.Some require officer training as a midshipman or cadet, while others do not. Keep in mind Any scholarship or other assistance offered by the Navy requires service time to pay it back. Pre-Service Programs The following educational assistance programs are available to you before you join the Navy. Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps The NROTC is an undergraduate college scholarship program that leads to an appointment as an officer of the Navy or Marine Corps (with the NROTC Marine Option). The NROTC program is maintained to educate and train well-qualified men and women for careers as commissioned officers, and graduates will receive the rank of ensign or second lieutenant. Civil Engineer Collegiate Program If you are interested in working on civil engineering projects around the world, consider the CECP. It provides up to $139,000 while finishing your degree, a regular monthly income ranging from $2,900 to $5,800, and food and housing allowances. After graduation, you will become a Naval Civil Engineering Officer. Nurse Candidate Program The Navy needs nurses, and theyre considered to be commissioned officers.The NCP offers up to $34,000 to help pay your way through nursing school, including an initial grant of $10,000, plus a monthly stipend of $1,000 for up to 24 months while earning your degree. Medical Corps The Navy will pay for medical school at certain accredited medical schools as well as the governments own medical school Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, Maryland. Medical students are commissioned as junior officers in their chosen service Navy, Army, Air Force, or U.S. Public Health Service. They are on active duty throughout their education and are compensated as such. Tuition is paid for by the government. Upon completion of their education, graduates must serve in their b ranch of the military for seven years. More than 60 percent of USU graduates serve 20 years or longer and retire with a government pension and benefits. Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program The Navy also needs smart STEM-oriented professionals, especially in its Nuclear Power program. If you are interested in being part of one of the top nuclear programs in the world, look into NUPOC. Nuclear power salaries are among the highest in the Navy. You can earn up to $168,300 while finishing your degree as well as a regular monthly income beginning up to 30 months prior to graduation. You can also get a food and housing allowance. There are no service obligations until after you graduate and begin the process of being commissioned as a Navy Nuclear Officer. Once commissioned, you will be able to serve as a Submarine Officer, Surface Warfare Officer on a nuclear-powered ship, Naval Reactors Engineer, Naval Nuclear Power School Instructor, Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit Instructor , or even a professor at the Naval Academy and other Navy ROTC programs. POST-ENLISTMENT PROGRAMS You can also earn a college degree while in the Navy. There are two options for doing so. Navy College Program The NCP enables you to receive academic credit for training you receive and work you perform while serving on active duty. While serving, you can also do online coursework that will count as college credits. You can transfer those credits to colleges and universities when you decide to leave or retire from the Navy. Tuition Assistance When on shore duty, many sailors attend college at night.The TA program will pay for any coursework you are doing on your own time. Typically, the program is for enlisted sailors who dont yet have a college degree, but some officers use it to get a masters degree as well. The Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program (BDCP) has been phased out and replaced by the above programs. LOAN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM If you incurred significant college deb t before you decided to join the Navy, you can apply through your recruiter for the Navys Loan Repayment Program. The LRP is one of several Navy enlistment education incentive programs designed to pay federally guaranteed student loans (up to $65,000) through three annual payments during a sailors first three years of service.

5 Steps to Developing Critical Thinking Skills

5 Steps to Developing Critical Thinking Skills 5 Steps to Developing Critical Thinking Skills Article by Sam MilamDo you react to situations based on your emotions or personal biases? Are you looking for ways to improve communicationwith those around you? Do you want to achieve more in your career?By adopting critical thinking skills, you can improve your ability to make objective, effective choices and arguments. Without these skills, your arguments can often be one-sided. Criticism can feel like a personal attack on your character rather than an opportunity to open up dialogue and communicate productively.Lets take a look at how to develop critical thinking skills so that you can walk into any situation with the tools needed to set intense emotions aside and makesmart decisions1. Become a Self-CriticThe very first and most important step in developing critical thinking skills is becoming a critic of your own thoughts and actions. Without self-reflection, you cannotgrow.You can br eak down your own thoughts by asking yourself why you believe something. When you do this, you need to clarify your thoughts by assessingyour response objectively and finding a solid logic supporting what you believe. When you self-reflect, you are able to step back and observe how you respond to situations.Important questions to ask during self-reflection include Why do I believe this? Can I think of examples in my life when this proved true or false? Am I attached to this idea emotionally? Why?Another aspect of becoming a self-critic is acknowledging your strengths, weaknesses, personal preferences, and biases. When you know this information, you can understand why you approach certain situations with certain perspectives. When you are aware of your viewpoint, you can step beyond it when necessary.2.Listen ActivelyThinking and listening are nearly impossible to do at the same time. To become a critical thinker, you need to be able to listen to others ideas, arguments, and criticis ms without thinking about your response while they are speaking. You cant properly absorb the information someone is trying to convey if you dont take the time to truly listen.Listening allows you to feel empathy. When you hear someone elses perspective, you canunderstand their stories, their struggles, their passions, and their ideas. Actively listening allows you tounderstand what someone is trying to tell you because it pushes the conversation until all parties can reiterate what the other is trying to say.3. Analyze InformationNo one thinks critically at all times. Sometimes your joy, anger, sadness, or other emotions are too great. Other times, you struggle to focus on the central issue at hand.Critical thinking requires you to carefully analyze the information before you, whether it is information in your mind or information shared by others. To analyze information, first assess what is being said and ensure you clearly understand it. Then, you can dissect and appraise all arg uments, including your own.4. Communicate NonviolentlyCritical thinking isnt much help if you cant communicate in a nonviolent, productive way. When listening to and analyzing arguments, you first need to recognize valid logic. Then, you need to communicate withthe other people involved in a productive way.The basis of nonviolent communication is compassion, observation, and collaboration. When you approach a scenario with compassion, you approach witha peaceful mindsetrather than a defensive one. When you observe, you can observe your arguments and others without judgment or emotional attachment. Collaboration naturally happens when everyone enters the process with a compassionate, open mind focused on solving theproblem at hand.5. Develop ForesightForesight is theability to predict the future impact of a decision, whichis critical for success in all aspects of your life. For example, when you move somewhere, you plan ahead to see what your job outlook is and what the neighborhood is like.Similarly, if you are moving a business, it is wise to examine the impact of that decision. Will it be too far for some of your talented employees to commute? Will you lose customers? What will you gain?Every decision should be weighed carefully, its potential impacts considered closely, before it is made.A version of this article originally appeared onSUCCESS.com.Sam Milam is a freelance writer hailing from the Pacific Northwest. Her focus is on discovering passions, developing skill sets, and honing the best, most productive versions of ourselves. She loves to travel, meet new people, and do yoga.

Tips for Motivating Both Employees and Managers

Tips for Motivating Both Employees and ManagersTips for Motivating Both Employees and ManagersEmployee motivation describes an employees intrinsic enthusiasm about what drives them to accomplish work. Every employee is motivated about something in his or her life. Your goal as a manager- or boss- is to help employees and other managers find the job factors and work environment that will help motivate them to work harder and contribute more in the workplace. How to Motivate Your Workforce Some strategies work better than others. The tips below highlight the fastest, and often easiest, ways to understand and implement employee motivation. Realize that every person is motivated Whether that motivation revolves around work, a hobby, the family, the spiritual side of life, or food, each person has some items or issues about which he or she feels motivated to take action in his or her life. Realize that motivating your workforce does not have to be expensive. In fact, it does not have to cost money at all You do not need to involve company financed events or company-sponsored parties, gifts, or monetary awards. Activities and recognition that cost money are welcomed by employees as part of the motivation and recognition mix, but their impact on motivating employees is short term and will not over-ride the consequences of how people feel treated every day in the workplace. Realize that much of the workplace environment that encourages employee motivation involves the time commitment of upper management Genuine interest, care, employee-oriented policies and procedures, and attention from both senior managers and line managers are all appreciated and valued. This might landseem like it only motivates lower-level employees, but the satisfaction of motivating others is often motivating in itself, which propels management to higher productivity and happiness. Realize that motivation is prevalent in workplaces where people are treated as valued human beings. Trust, resp ect, civil conversation, and listening prevail in a workplace that fosters employee motivation. Gone are the days when negative reinforcement drove results. With many employees only staying with a company for a few years, it is vital to keep them happy. This ensures they are motivated to work, but also to come back if their new situation is not what they thought it was. Realize the power of offering clear, concise direction When polls are conducted about what supervisory behavior makes a manager a bad boss, the lack of clear direction consistently ranks first. Employees want to know exactly what you expect from them. When they have the reassurance of clear direction, motivating employees becomes easier because you and they have created a framework for their expected performance. Realize that oftentimes, your workforce will follow your example, which means you need to be at the top of your game Supervisors can create an environment in which employees choose motivation. So, the right answer is that, generally, you know what you should do you know what motivates you. You just do not consistently, in a disciplined manner, adhere to what you already know is effective in motivating employees.? Realize employee motivation is an individual challenge What motivates one employee is not motivating for another. Research indicates that while treating employees nicely is a factor in motivation and happy employees are also a factor in employee motivation, more is needed for a successful organization. After all, a workplace of happy employees is great, but it does not guarantee quality products delivered on time, delighted customers, or profitability. These are all essential to providing those happy employees with jobs. Factors such as demanding goals, success measurements, and critical feedback ensure the organizations success. Realize you cant motivate another person directly You can only provide an environment at work that is conducive to and supportive of employees choos ing to become motivated about issues related to work. Your actions in the workplace either encourage motivated behavior or they discourage employee motivation. In some workplaces, company policies and management behavior actually squelch motivation. Realize that you need to actively solicit information from the employees who report to you, and from your co-workers about what motivates them Employees know what they find motivating and they can tell you if you ask. Following through on the information you are given is key as employees test you constantly to see if your word is good. If asked, people expect to see something changed as a result of their response. If it does not change, and you do not tell them why- you risk wasting your efforts in motivating employees. Responding to employee needs and complaints is key in motivating employees.