Achieving Excellence in HIgher Education in the United States with the Baldrige Criteria Robert Sedlak, Provost University of Wisconsin-Stout Achieving Excellence in Education Conference Gebze, Turkey September 6, 2002

Excellence in Higher Education Improving Overall Performance

Fewer than 50 Organizations have Received the Award Since 1989 –Selected Recipients Include: Motorola, Inc Xerox Corp, Business Products 1989 Cadillac Motor Car Division 1990 IBM Rochester 1990 Zytec Corp 1991 The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co Eastman Chemical Co Corning Telecommunications Product Division 1995 Merrill Lynch Credit Corp STMicroelectronics 1999 Los Alamos National Bank 2000 University of Wisconsin-Stout 2001

Facts About UW-Stout  27 undergraduate and 16 graduate degree programs  $95M budget  8,000 students with 1,200 faculty and staff UW-Stout (11) 4-year campuses (13) 2-year campuses (2) Doctoral campuses Chicago Madison Minneapolis St. Paul

Baldrige Core Values  Systems Perspective  Visionary Leadership  Learning-Centered Education  Organizational Learning  Valuing Employees & Partners  Agility  Future Focus  Managing for Innovation  Management by Fact  Public Responsibility  Focus on Results

Baldrige Categories  Leadership  Strategic Planning  Market, Student and Stakeholder Focus  Faculty and Staff Focus  Information and Analysis  Process Management  Performance Results

The Setting  UW System and Board of Regents adopted Baldrige criteria  Extensive campus training on TQM tools  Cross-functional TQM teams operating in over 20 areas  Historically data-driven organization but planning was decentralized and fragmented Between 1990 to 1996 UW-Stout developed quality tools

The Setting  Budget cuts  Need to fund new technology infrastructure  Pressure to be efficient  Pressure to continually improve  Pressure to be accountable UW-Stout environment in the mid-1990’s

Perceptions And Realities  High levels of stress  Poor faculty morale  Lack of communication  Declining levels of trust  Lose-Lose; Win-Lose; but no Win-Win decision-making  Suspicion

What We Did  Realized we had serious problems and resolved to address them  Listened to the faculty and staff on what needed to be fixed  Addressed areas of their concern first to achieve buy-in  Committed time

Changes We Made Revolutionary Changes  Created a new leadership system  Created budget, planning, and analysis unit  Revamped annual budget and planning processes  Initiated team building with senior leaders  Improved communication

Leadership Systems: An Environment for Transformational Change Change To An Inclusive Decision-Making Process Provide all internal stakeholder groups with a voice in policy discussions and budget recommendations -Faculty Senate -Senate of Academic Staff -Stout Student Association -Classified Staff Unions -Senior Administration “Shared Governance = Shared Responsibility”

 Flattens the traditional hierarchy  Makes recommendations to Chancellor, sets direction, and deploys resources  Budget, Planning and Analysis unit formed  Prepares, interprets, and provides information needed to make effective decisions Leadership Systems: Chancellor’s Advisory Council

Chancellor’s Advisory Council Allows Us To:  Enable campus-wide involvement and participation in strategy development and decision-making  Plan and review performance  Guide alignment and integration of short- and long-term actions  Aid in assessment of results and improve performance  Enhance organizational performance through team building

Strategic Planning Intended Outcomes:  Facilitate planning and discussion  Encourage participation  Improve the quality of decisions and buy-in  Build a trusting climate  Increase understanding of plan and budget  Strategically focus on campus Planning Budget Budgetary And Financial Planning

Strategic Planning Strategic Budgetary And Financial Planning  The strategic plan includes five-year goals and shorter-term action plans  Broad-based participatory planning is used to identify, set, and fund campus priorities  Review of progress at all levels  The strategic plan aligns resources and actions leading to desired results levels of the campus Planning Budget

Chancellor’s Advisory Council Summer Retreats Fall Focus Groups Fall/Winter Chancellor’s Advisory Council Budget Planning Winter Budget Planning at Division/College Level Chancellor Communicates Final Plan Institution-Wide Strategic Planning Developing Annual Budget Priorities Chancellor’s Advisory Council Summer Retreats Fall Focus Groups Fall/Winter Chancellor’s Advisory Council Budget Planning Winter Budget Planning at Division/College Level Chancellor Communicates Final Plan Institution-Wide

Strategic Planning Annual Budget Priorities  Branding and Marketing  Digital Campus  Equality for Women  Graduate Education  Distance Education  Applied Research

Creating a Quality Culture: Keys to Success Teamwork Communication Information Morale

Keys To Success: Communication WEB GOVERNANCE & DEPARTMENTAL MEETINGS CAMPUS-WIDE MAILINGS LISTENING POSTS NEWSLETTERS OPEN FORUMS

A traditional hierarchy, complemented by set of established committees and other cross-functional structures  Chancellor’s Advisory Council  Faculty Senate committees  Senate of Academic Staff committees  University-wide committees Keys To Success: Teamwork

Keys To Success: Information  Access to data  Analysis by BPA  Computing power  Networking  Internet  Training

Full survey every three years One-minute survey on alternate years Keys to Success: Faculty and Staff Satisfaction Lead To Morale SurveysChanges Faculty teaching workload Communication Gender equity

Academic Program Review Process Educational Support Unit Review Process Process for Process Improvement Process Management

Process Management: The Digital Campus Initiative  Upgraded technology: state-of-the-art network  University computer cost-share program  Implementation of laptop environment  Hired instructional web designers

Next Steps – The Journey Continues  Face new challenges optimistically  Remember we are excellent but not perfect  Help others in the journey