MyUMUC Military Story

First Class Petty Officer Donald Todorowski’s Quest to Preserve the U.S. Navy’s Exceptional Reputation

By Cheryl M. Balassone

In many ways, today’s U.S. military functions like a corporation. Faced with tight budget constraints and a reduction in force, running cost-effective, efficient operations and improving business practices has a direct, tangible impact on defense and homeland security initiatives. First Class Petty Officer Donald Todorowski, a graduate student at UMUC in the MBA/Master of Science in Management, Human Resource Management (MSM-HRM) dual degree program, anticipates that a strong business education will help him to excel in his career. He feels he'll be able to reevaluate existing practices and help bring about necessary change to ensure that the U.S. Navy remains among the world’s elite military organizations.

Also applying for officer candidacy school, Petty Officer Todorowski seeks to acquire the essential business acumen to secure a leadership position. Having enrolled in Spring 2007, he expects to complete his MSM-HRM next summer and to obtain his MBA the following spring. When asked why he chose UMUC, Petty Officer Todorowski replied, “UMUC has one of the best online MBA programs around. I am stationed in a very remote corner of West Virginia, so that was a necessity for me.” He also credits his good friend Tom Chism, a Machinist Mate 1st Class stationed on the USS George H. Bush, with encouraging him to pursue his master's at UMUC. “We completed our bachelor’s degrees together, and now we’re finishing our master’s degrees. The best part about online classes is that Tom and I can work through our classes together, even though he is in Norfolk, Virginia, and I am in Sugar Grove, West Virginia.”

Petty Officer Todorowski maintains a busy schedule. Aside from his challenging military career and ongoing educational pursuits, this married father of two recently took the Project Management Professional (PMP) accreditation exam from the Project Management Institute, another key element in his plan to improve the Navy’s operational efficiency. “Project management is a program that can be utilized in the military just as effectively as in the business world. Project management doesn’t necessarily focus on turning a profit, it is also used to ensure that a project is successfully completed, thereby reducing financial waste,” says Petty Officer Todorowski. “The military is always coming up with new projects and programs. It’s my goal to introduce the PMP credential and project management training to the military as a vital competency to anyone with the responsibility and authority to oversee those projects.”

Process improvement is something that seems to come naturally to Petty Officer Todorowski. “I love a job that allows me to take a look at how business is done, then allows me to improve it,” he says. Currently the Leading Petty Officer of Naval Branch Health Clinic Sugar Grove, he says he knew little about clinical health care when he first reported there in October 2006. Working with the clinic’s doctor, Petty Officer Todorowski soon realized that they were missing a health promotions department to educate sailors about the clinic and to increase preventative health awareness. Petty Officer Todorowski compiled data and identified areas for improvement in order to bring the clinic into health promotion standards. “Before we knew it, we had one of the top-rated health promotions programs in the Navy,” he says. Through his efforts, the Health Promotions Program at Naval Branch Health Clinic Sugar Grove was awarded the Naval Environmental Health Center's 2007 Command Health and Wellness Excellence Award (Gold Star) in its first year running. Petty Officer Todorowski was also named Bethesda's Branch Health Clinic Directorate Sailor of the Year for 2007.

Despite his many military accolades, Petty Officer Todorowski says he is most proud of his educational accomplishments. “I am the first in my family to have earned a bachelor’s degree…and to go on and have the opportunity to complete a master’s degree is far beyond anything I could have dreamed of.” And, he adds, UMUC was an excellent match for him. “The school has found a way to deliver top-quality education without the stigma that is often associated with an online degree. The online classes and the professors have far exceeded my expectations of what it means to be flexible. Being in the military, my schedule can be chaotic at best.”

Would Petty Officer Todorowski recommend UMUC to others? “Without a doubt,” he says. “I only wish that I had heard about UMUC before I started my undergraduate degree.”