As a core concept of education, management, and psychology, competence has been dissected, diagramed, defined, described, debated, and even rejected. In short, it is a big word with an even bigger history. Bay University has developed this window to provide a picture of our understanding of the concept of competency and to crystallize this understanding as the foundation for building our professional education programs. When we consider its interesting history, it is easy to see how one may become confused over the meaning of competency. To eliminate any chance of confusion, we recommend that students and potential students think about their own experience.
Competence occurs in persons at any level in an organization and throughout any period of life.
Each person has different kinds of responsibilities which at their own level require competence. Obviously, being a surgeon requires a high level of competency different from that of a CEO in most cases. But the CEO and surgeon are both operating at a high level of competency in their respective job levels. Interestingly, the surgeon wishing to embark on a business career leading to the position of CEO faces a similar challenge as the CEO above. Competence reveals one's commitment to growth throughout life - not growth just for a job, only for an organization, or merely for a promotion, but for life, and for yourself.