A Six Sigma Student Success Program

1
A Six Sigma Student Success Program

• Presented to
• Dr. Horace Fleming Executive Vice President and
  Provost
• Dr. Peggy Dubose Provost and Director of
  Graduate Programs
• Dr. Dayne Aldridge Dean, School of Engineering
• July 1, 2003

2
The Six Sigma Business Approach

• Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system
  for achieving, sustaining and maximizing business
  success.
• It is uniquely driven by
• a close understanding of customer needs,
• disciplined use of facts, data, and statistical
  analysis, and
• diligent attention to managing, improving, and
  reinventing the business process.

3
Six Sigma Aplicability

• Six Sigma has been successfully applied in
  manufacturing environment (eg Motorola).
• Six Sigma has been successfully applied in the
  service sector (eg GE Capital).
• More recently, Six Sigma has shown to be
  exceptionally effective in educational settings.
• Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
• two school districts in 2001

4
Benefits of the Six Sigma Approach

• cost reduction
• productivity improvement
• market-share growth
• customer retention
• cycle-time reduction
• defect reduction
• culture change
• product/service development

5
The Six Sigma Philosophy

• Designed to foster data-driven management
  decisions
• The Three Cs
• common metrics
• constant communication
• culture change
• The Big Picture

6
Six Sigma Approach to Student Success

• Genuine Focus on the Customer
• Data- and Fact-Driven Management
• Process Focus
• Proactive Management
• Boundaryless Collaboration
• Pursue Success Tolerate Failure

7
Six Sigma from a Business Perspective

• Six Sigma is a comprehensive and flexible system
  for achieving, sustaining and maximizing business
  success. Six Sigma is uniquely driven by close
  understanding of customer needs, disciplined use
  of facts, data, and statistical analysis, and
  diligent attention to managing, improving, and
  reinventing business process.
• Pande. P.S., Neuman, R.P., Cavanagh, R.R.
  ((2000). The Six Sigma Way How GE, Motorola, and
  Other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance.
  New York McGraw-Hill. p. xi

8
Six Sigma System Inputs

• External
• Voice of the Customer
• Voice of the Market
• Comparison with Competitors
•  
• Internal
• Voice of the Process
• Voice of the Employee

9
Guidelines for Determining Metrics

• Consider ways to measure Service as well as
  Output factors.
• Practice continuous improvement of your
  measurement.
• Set measurement priorities that match your
  resources (Prioritize for maximum potential
  gain.)
• Stop measurements that are not needed or useful.

10
Qualifications for Six Sigma Improvement Projects

• There is a gap between current and desired/needed
  performance.
• The cause of the problem is not clearly
  understood.
• The solution isnt predetermined, nor is the
  optimal solution apparent.

11
General Guidelines for Implementation of Six
Sigma Improvement Projects

• Start small dont go for large scale changes at
  first
• Select several well-defined projects
• Expand projects after early successes are
  accomplished

12
Implementation in the School of Engineering

• Focus on freshman/sophomore year success
• Seek to identify factors that are Critical to
  Quality (CTQ)
• Culture change students are simultaneously the
  customers and the product
• Both quantitative and qualitative methodology
• Six Sigma Team
• Two faculty
• One administrator
• One staff member
• Two students

13
Pilot Projects

• Voice of the Past Customer
• Voice of the Current Customer
• Others as determined by Six Sigma Team

14
Student Success Voice of the Current Customer

• Begin with Voice of the Current Customer
• Freshman/Sophomore Focus Groups
• Stayers
• Leavers
• Metrics
• Confidence in math and science abilities
• Commitment to major/career
• Work ethic
• Financial considerations
• Calling
• Expectations/satisfaction

15
Student Success Voice of Past Customers

• Voice of Past Customers (Fall 2000 Freshman
  Class)
• Design of Experiments
• Stayers engineering seniors
• Leavers non-engineering seniors

16
Student Success Voice of Past Customers

• Potential Critical to Quality Factors
• Pittsburgh Freshman Engineering Attitudes Survey
  results
• Confidence in math and science abilities
• Reasons for choosing engineering
• Threshhold courses
• Commitment to major/career
• GPA in math/science courses
• Pre-entry factors SAT, HSGPA
• CIRP/YFCY data if available

17
Continuous Improvement Coordinated Data
Collection

• Currently available customer satisfaction data
• CIRP
• YFCY
• NSSE
• Pre-entry characteristics (SAT, GPA)
• Longitudinal performance
• Course selection
• Migration in/out major
• Financial considerations
• Aid
• Employment

18
Six Sigma Student Success Project Timeline

• Year 1
• Implementation of pilot projects
• Development of plan for constant metrics
• Year 2
• Continuation of pilot projects
• Preliminary feedback to administrators
• Implementation of new metrics as needed
• Year 3
• Evaluation of pilot projects
• Final feedback to administrators
• Initiation of additional Six Sigma projects