Projects in Progress

Student Health Working Groups – The CQI&P Office is facilitating seven working groups that bring together faculty, Student Affairs staff, and community members to address student health issues related to alcohol and drug use, healthy sexual relationships, eating disorders, nutrition, finance and debt management, mental health, and tobacco use.  Recommendations from all seven working groups were reviewed by the Provost and the Vice-President for Student Affairs in the spring of 2006 and action plans are in place for implementing a wide range of improvements in policies and practices.

Creative Campus Survey – The CQI&P Office conducted a survey of UA faculty during the spring of 2006 regarding their views about the arts and other aspects of living in the Tuscaloosa community.  The data from the survey will provide a base line for evaluating the results of the University’s Creative Campus initiative in the coming years. The survey results are now being organized into a report.

Experiential Quality Survey – During the spring semester of 2006, the CQI&P Office conducted its fourth campus-wide student survey to collect information on what Harley-Davidson calls “experiential quality.”  The data are not being analyzed and will be reported out during the summer of 2006.

Leadership Academy – The University completed its second cohort of the Leadership Academy in April 2006 with 11 graduates.  Participants for the third cohort, which will begin in the fall of 2006, have been selected and include 11 faculty members and 5 staff members. Information about the academy can be found at www.leadershipacademy.ua.edu.

Crimson Sigma – Staff in the College of Continuing Studies are participating in six sigma green belt training and working on projects.  This activity, along with a similar program at the University of Minnesota, are the first six sigma programs being utilized in a university setting.

Institutional Effectiveness Committee – The IE Committee is focusing on conducting an assessment of The University of Alabama using the Alabama Quality Award criteria (a flow-down from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award).  The University use the Alabama Quality Award as an assessment instrument in 2001 and identified several follow-up actions that positioned the University very well for its subsequent accreditation re-affirmation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Quality Forums – The University conducted Quality Forum 8 in October of 2005 with Ms. Molly Nearing, from Binghamton University (SUNY) as the speaker.  Ms. Nearing Provided discussed the history and structure of the quality improvement program at Binghamton and engaged the participants in discussion around examples of improvement projects on her campus.  Plans are under way for Quality Forum 9, to be conducted in October 2006.

Exploring Excellence in Teaching Week – The CQI&P staff facilitated the Scholarship of Teaching Team’s Exploring Excellence in Teaching Week program in February 2006.  This year’s program included 11 presentations by faculty members on innovative teaching practices.  CQI&P is working with the Provost to establish an Office of Teaching Excellence over the summer of 2006.  This office will provide avariety of services to faculty to assist them in assessing and improving classroom teaching.

Environmental Management Council - CQI&P is facilitating the University’s Environmental Management Council, which brings together faculty, student leaders, and facilities staff to work on campus environmental issues. In its first year the EMC implemented a student-led recycling effort and then expanded the program to most campus residence halls. This year the EMC has decided to focus on protection and analysis of a historic pond on the campus, and to develop a long-term plan for recycling the tons of leaves that will soon cover the campus.

Strategic Planning – The University of Alabama’s approach to strategic planning in colleges and academic departments, based on the future search methodology, was the subject of a paper and presentation at the World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Milwaukee, WI in May of 2006.  A presentation is being given at the upcoming National Consortium for Continuous Improvement conference in July 2 jointly with Cornell University on the use of future search methods at Cornell and The University ofAlabama.

Process Improvements - CQI&P just completed facilitation of a team from Construction Management, Facilities Planning, Auxiliary Resources, and Financial Management that analyzed and re-designed the process for approval of capital projects and preparation of information for Board of Trustees review of capital projects.

Focus groups are being conducted with University Libraries to obtain faculty input regarding collections in specific academic disciplines.

Focus groups are being conducted in Student Affairs for the re-design of the parent’s component of new student summer orientation sessions.

Academic Affairs - CQI&P staff are preparing a survey for faculty members to better understand their views and practices regarding teaching. The survey was developed by UA’s Scholarship of Teaching team, which is facilitated by the CQI&P office. The team sponsors the spring Exploring Excellence in Teaching Week activities, and is enhancing its web site at www.teaching.ua.edu.

Leadership Academy - The CQI&P office is coordinating two cohorts in the University’s ten-day Leadership Academy. Information about the academy can be found at www.leadershipacademy.ua.edu. In addition to this program, UA conducted eight sessions in its New Department Chairs Orientation program this fall.

Student Affairs - The CQI&P office sponsored a workshop with Dr. Robert McKenzie, with the Kettering Foundation, on deliberative decision-making with staff from Student Affairs in support of the leadership initiative in the University’s new strategic plan. UA is exploring the possibility of developing a student leadership development program around the Kettering Foundation’s program, which is consistent with decision-making methods encouraged by the CQI&P initiative.

Community Outreach – The CQI&P Office supported the College of Continuing Studies’ successful proposal to provide leadership development activities for the Delta Regional Authority.  This activity will provide leadership development activities to community leaders in the eight states served by the DRA.  Additional facilitation support was provided to the Alabama Blues Project to assist with their planning activities.

TRIZ – One of the most exciting developments in the quality community is the growing understanding and use of TRIZ – the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.  TRIZ was developed by a team of Russian researchers led by Geinrich Altshuller.  An article on TRIZ by Dr. John Dew was published in the January 2006 edition of Quality Progress Magazine.

Please direct questions or comments to Dr. John Dew
jdew@aalan.ua.edu
CQI&P: Immersing UA in QUALITY