Friday, December 16, 2011

PDP: Update

Form 5 contacts in South Africa or around the world for possible animal care jobs: 
I found this site to be a great source!!
http://www.pherkad.com/jobs.html
wildlife@cradleoflife.co.za - Charles Jones @Craddle of Life- Animal Rehabilitation
http://www.aza.org/joblistings/ offer jobs in zoo keeping in the US
http://www.conservationafrica.net/projects/rehabilitation
http://aazk.org/job-listings/ the American Zookeepers Association offers jobs in the us and occasionally has international opportunities :)

Entrepreneurship

Choose a focus of either your final project topic or your career plan to develop an entrepreneurial assessment of yourself. This should be about a "1-page" activity. Some of these questions may help guide your thoughts: Do you want to be a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" What traits and/or strengths do you see in your PDP that aligns with your thought? What weaknesses or opportunities for improvement do you notice that you would like to address to become a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" Is entrepreneurship just about starting a business? Or is it much deeper and holistic than that? As the world quickly changes, which type of folks do you feel will be more on their "toes" and less on their "heels." Who do you think will achieve and live the happinesses that they seek in life?

 I see myself as a businessperson/entrepreneur...I would like to utilize both aspects into one. In working at a zoo you are a group but work independently. And if I decide to go into more vet work down the road I would need to be a entrepreneur with great business women skills. I would need to know how to manage and keep a business organized. I believe everyone can achieve and live the happiness that they seek because at one point in life what you think will make you happy you might find later on isn't really what makes you happy. Happiness and the overall goal is all in the eyes of the beholder what me see that looks like unfulfilled happiness to that person could be sweet and utter bliss. For instance, there are many people who when going to school seek being a high powered business person who once they have a family and kids decide that being a stay at home parent actually makes then happier then the business field ever did.


Implementing a Lean Process

Based on our discussion in class today, implement and document a quality improvement process to the project/situation in which you performed a 5S process. This implementation must be based on the muda listed on the lean manufacturing wiki site. (note: there are several additional more modern types that you could utilize if need be)

For the documentation, list/describe the waste you have identified and explain the process change you have implemented. Either collect some data that demonstrate your improvement, or realistically estimate the effect that your improvement will have on your process.

 I discovered I waste more time later trying to organize all the mess that accumulates, if I sort and put away my clothes right after they are washed and dried then no mess seems to build. Also when I got home and come back I need to take the time as soon as I get home to put my things back where they belong or they will sit where I put them until I eventually have enough time to get to putting them away. I estimate doing this will eliminate time lost spending organizing later on or time I spend going through my belongings trying to find the intended article of clothing. Overall this has eliminated some waste and will save me more time in the long run. 

Criterian for Evaluation: Group Rnaking

Here are the Criteria discussed in class. Use these to shape the final criteria that will be used by your group. Post the final criteria and the process you will use to evaluate and rank the members of your team related to the final project.

-Attendance/Participation
-Tasks Accomplished
-Professionalism
-Communication
-Contribution

I don't feel this evaluation is fair or just seeing that my group is having to work so much as a team to tackle each part. Ranking us wouldn't be right. But I think for redoing our project so many times after the main topic got changed my group did an awesome job!!! :)

5S Process


Tackling cleaning my room....
1st-I sorted through my clothes, divided them into what needed to be hangup or put in the drawers and bags that needed to be hung in my other closet. 
2nd-I straightened up and put everything in its proper place, I like to keep my clothes and closet color coordinated. 
3rd- I'm trying to maintain cleaning up after myself so that it stays clean!! 
4rd-I now make sure that once I do laundry or come home from vacation to put everything away once its clean and washed otherwise it will just turn into a massive pile once again on my futon. 
5th-Sustain clean room!! This requires me to put things away when I'm done using them and not expecting to come back later and deal with it because then it just turns into a bigger pile with everyday that goes by.

Quality Management

Association of Zoos and Aquariums 

Animal Management

More than 175 million people visit AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums annually. Exceptional management of the animals within, and cooperatively between these institutions, is vital for ensuring that healthy, genetically diverse populations are sustained.  Information, protocols, and tools have been developed for animal record keeping, collection planning, and population management that serve to facilitate exceptional animal management techniques.

Animal Data and Record Keeping

Animal data and records must be expertly documented in an effective and efficient manner. The AZA Animal Data Information Systems Committee and Institutional Data Management Advisory Group focus on advancing and providing the latest technology in this field of expertise. A variety of reference materials and animal record keeping software programs including ARKS4, MedARKS, and SPARKS, have been developed to meet these objectives. 

Collection Planning

Extensive collection planning processes are required to meet not only the needs of each AZA-accredited institution, but also to secure the well-being of the species as a whole between these institutions. Several tools and mechanisms are provided to facilitate the development of superior Institutional and Regional Collection Plans including an online Animal Exchange Database. 

Population Management and Related Centers

AZA-accredited institutions must work cooperatively to ensure that the species they care for are managed in a way that assures appropriate population sizes, demography, genetic diversity, and sustainability. The AZA Population Management and Wildlife Contraception Centers play integral roles in meeting this purpose. Group population management strategies and a variety of population management software programs including MateRX, Outbreak, PopLink, PM2000, SPARKS, VORTEX, and ZooRisk have also been developed to further cooperative management techniques.
http://www.aza.org/animal-management/

General Ethics

Code Statements:
AZA Code= http://www.aza.org/Ethics/
USA-Example from the Buffalo Zoo Keeper Manual: http://www.buffalozoo.org/Keeper_Manual__Auckland_Zoo_.pdf 
Australia-http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/about-us/faq/general-zoo-questions/guidelines-and-ethics/
India-http://cza.nic.in/
Thailand-http://www.seaza.org/CommitteeWelfare.html
Saudi Arabia-http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/special_report/section/174.pdf (women's right to work in zoo)
Isreal-http://www.jerusalemzoo.org.il/
Canada- http://www.zoocheck.com/Reportpdfs/Indianreport1.pdf