Quality Issues Forum

Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson speaks at Quality Issues Forum

On May 1, 2009, Louise Sandmeyer, Executive Director of the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment, made welcoming remarks and introduced the Quality Issues Forum speaker, Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson. She concluded the luncheon by recognizing the contributions Gary Schultz has made to continuous quality improvement.

Executive Vice President and Provost Rodney Erickson spoke before 250 people about the importance of continuous quality improvement in Penn State’s new strategic plan, “Priorities for Excellence”. At a time of rising costs, declining public financial support, and increasing student expectations, strategic planning and continuous quality improvement are vital in moving Penn State forward, according to Provost Erickson. Within the seven broad goals in the plan, one of which is to control costs and generate additional efficiencies, the University has identified “strategies that will meet the challenges facing the University while still guaranteeing a quality institution”. The vision of CQI is to create a community where everyone takes ownership for advancing the University, where high value is placed on teamwork, collaboration, communication, and meeting the needs of the people we serve. CQI is about improvement and innovation, improving institutional performance by identifying processes that are central to the mission, identifying stakeholder expectations, and using data to improve them. It’s about excellence – in performance, people, and processes.

Rodney Erickson
Executive Vice President and ProvostSince 1991, when CQI was formalized at Penn State, the work of continuous quality improvement teams has resulted in better service, increased quality, streamlined processes, and greater costs savings.

The Quality Issues Forum is held each year to honor the work of improvement and innovation teams. This year, 59 teams with 509 members, representing nine campuses, five colleges, and eight support units, were honored.

For a video of Provost Erickson’s remarks, visit (Quicktime) http://podcasts.wpsu.org/Qualit05012009150000.mov or (Windows) http://win.wpsu.org/Streams/Qualit05012009150000.wmv. For the full text, visit http://live.psu.edu/story/39546.

Gary Schultz, Senior Vice President for Finance and Business and University Treasurer, was also honored at the Quality Issues Forum for his leadership and commitment to building a culture for continuous improvement in Finance and Business and Penn State. Gary was one of the early members of the University Council for Continuous Improvement and was its chair during the 1998-1999 academic year. There have been at least 141 CQI teams in Finance and Business. The first team was the Office of Physical Plant general stores team charged in 1992 to improve store operations and procedures, including minimizing inventory and determining space needs. The most recent team charged this April is the data asset management improvement team. It will digitize all pertinent data in the Office of Investment Management and then create an internal, digital, web-based data system. Gary Schultz will be retiring this June after 37 years of service.

A listing of the teams being recognized in 2009.

A Gallery of Photos

Since 1991, more than 850 continuous quality improvement teams and other quality initiatives have registered on the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment's database. New teams may register in the OPIA database. Members of teams formed between May 2009 and March 2010 will be invited to next year's Quality Issues Forum to be held in the Nittany Lion Inn in 2010.

guests