In an effort to improve the educational experience for students in large classroom environments, the Innovation in Large Class Sections CQI Team in the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching has discussed the issue during luncheons held for faculty who face this teaching challenge. Follow-up surveys of instructors and students concluded that 80 percent to 90 percent of the instructors have used new techniques learned at the luncheons. This in turn affected at least 11,000 students with new ways to overcome the obstacles faced in large classroom settings. The team sponsor is John Cahir; Diane Enerson is the team leader and Neill Johnson and Kathryn Plank are team members.
Parents whose children attend a University Child Care Center now receive more comprehensive statements about billing information as a result of the recommendations made by the Work/Life Billing Process CQI Team. Mailing statements once a month rather than weekly allowed the Office of Human Resources to save approximately $14,000 annually. Team members are Linda Pierce, Janine Andrews, Cathy Kanour, Patricia Maines, Kim Swistock and Roseann Sieminski.
A new team has formed in Development and Alumni Relations to improve the process for tracking and managing the addresses of Penn State's international alumni. The team is sponsored by Peter Weiler, led by George Moellenbrock and facilitated by Jim Hoy. Team members include Barbara Rayman, Mark Holman, Philip Bolda, Cindy Janesch, Deb Hill, Elizabeth Wilson, Jane Childs, James Fong and Marilyn Engle.
For more information about Continuous Quality Improvement, please contact Louise Sandmeyer, executive director of the Center for Quality and Planning, at (814) 863-8721, LES1@PSU.EDU or see the center's Web site at http://www.psu.edu/president/cqi.