Pull v Push:Aha’s and Oh No’s from 20 years

of “Quality Improvement” in Higher Education

Maury CotterDirector Emeritus, OQI

Showcase 2019

THE SEEDS @ UW-MADISON

• Donna Shalala saw a line of students on the front page

• John Wiley was bored on an airplane and read a book he didn’t

want to read

• The city of Madison had demonstrated QI was not just for the

private sector

• Industry was prodding higher ed

• Pioneers were experimenting quietly in pockets across campus

TODAY

• High-level Timeline – UW and National

• Principles for Change in Our Culture

• Stories

• Moving forward

JOINING ME TODAY…

John Wiley Chancellor Emeritus

David Ward Chancellor Emeritus and President Emeritus of American

Council on Education – in contribution

Joanne Berg Vice Provost Emeritus-Enrollment Management

Darin Harris Consultant Office of Strategic Consulting

Jenny Faust AVP for Strategic Initiatives and Director of

Strategic Consulting

TIMELINE

Academic engagement

APR formed

Self-study & SP – 6000 engaged

OQI and launch

Industry Partners: P&G, IBM

First Strategic Plan

Many U’s started TQM

TQ Forum: Industry/Higher Ed

Decline of “TQM”

1950’s Industry adopted QI

1990’s

UW National

1999 Self-study & Strategic Plan

First Showcase

NCCI formed

More peers engaged

Lean Six Sigma

Administrative cost saving efforts

Academic engagement

2000’s

2010’s Campus-wide initiatives

OSC formed: OQI & APR

NCCI – 20th 100+ institutions2019 Showcase – 20th

PUSH V PULL

PULL V. PUSH

“In the martial arts, the most effective way to move

people is to:

first make contact with them,

then join with their direction of movement;

and finally,

to steer them to the desired course.”

- Robert Pater, Leading from Within

PULL V. PUSH

Culture eats strategy for breakfast

If I had a hammer

Off the shelf

Peer force

Crossing boundaries

Viral growth

Scale

Edge of Chaos

Execute! Make it happen.

CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR BREAKFAST

1 2

3 4

FIRST PROJECT: GRADUATE ADMISSIONS

• John Wiley and Joanne Berg

• Ideal first project

• Important to every academic unit; highly visible

• Credible leaders

• Dramatic, measurable improvement: 99 days to under 5

• Published article, and national award

• Set the tone

IF I HAD A HAMMER

Fads and Jargon

V. Good Questions

OFF THE SHELF

“The most radical thing I did was to pick up a

plan off the shelf and implement it.”

David Ward, Chancellor Emeritus and

President Emeritus of American Council on Education

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND ACCREDITATION –INTEGRATED

PLAN

DOCHECK

1989 – Future Directions/Accreditation

1992 – Updated Directions

1995 – Vision/Priorities

1999 – Targeting Tomorrow/Accreditation

2001 – Strategic Plan

2005 – Operational Plan

2009 - Accreditation

· Progress Reports

· Inventory, Status, Results

· Feedback:

Town Meetings

Surveys

Advisory Councils

· Communicate the Plan internally and

externally

· Provost manages the whole, Points

coordinate across

· Deans lead s/c efforts

· Campus-wide initiatives

2011 - Strategic Plan

2015 - Strategic Plan Update

PEER FORCE

PEER FORCE

UW-Madison

Connections and Venues:

• Deans

• Chairs

• Directors

• Campus-wide initiatives

• Complex world problems

• Showcase

National

• TQ Forum

• NCCI

• Big Ten Academic Alliance

Michigan StateProcess Improvement Campus-Wide

UC San DiegoBusiness Processes and Collaboration

Ontario CollegeQuality Assurance

University of QatarStrategy in Liberal Arts

Carleton University Performance Excellence

University of MiamiBold Vision

U of Maryland - Baltimore Bold Strategy

IUPUIAssessment

University of AlabamaLeadership Academy

University of AlaskaStrategy and Leadership Transitions

Texas StateMembership Management

Wheaton CollegeInterinstitutional Collaboration

U of MarylandEfficiency and Effectiveness

Sheffield, UKCommunities of Practice

University of LeedsStrategy and Culture

Miami of OhioApplication in Business and Facilities

StanfordApplication in Facilities

U Mass AmherstStrategy with New Leadership

CICCollaboration across Institutions

TennesseeBusiness Practices

KentuckyLeadership Engagement in Quality

ACELeadership Roles in Quality

NACUBOQ in Business and Administration

ASURevenue generation and Mission

Transformation

PurdueNational Networking

Fort Hays StateInternational Revenue Generating

Enterprises

Georgia StateMarketing and Planning

Governors StateTransforming Learning and Student

Success

Notre DameAdministrative Unit Reviews

EmoryPrivate Sector Consulting Practices for

Higher Ed

BelmontStudent Focus

UW StoutBaldrige National Award

University of WashingtonLean

UW Eau ClaireCampus Engagement in Strategy

University of IllinoisMetrics Campus-Wide led from the top

NorthwesternQuality office structure and approaches

MinnesotaJuran Institute

MichiganLiberating Structures and Business

Intelligence

VirginiaAdministrative Unit Reviews

PENN STATEQUALITY EXPO

RUTGERSEXCELLENCE IN HIGHER

EDUCATION –A BALDRIGE APPROACH

BERKELEYBALANCED SCORECARD AND

MARINE CORPS LEADERSHIP

MITBEHAVIORAL COMPETENCIES

AND CORPORATE APPROACHES

Just a Few Gems of Learning

from NCCI Colleagues….

ACADEMIC UNITS

Applying Q to our core mission

Pioneers: History Zoology

Scaling: Over 200, every School/College, by request

Services:Strategic planning

Process improvement

Project management

Restructuring

Change management

Coaching

CROSSING BOUNDARIES

CROSSING BOUNDARIES

Interdisciplinary:

• Cluster hires

• Global Health

• Sustainability

Cross-Campus

• Educational Innovation

• Discovery to Product (D2P)

VIRAL GROWTH

SCALING CHANGE

“In higher education, we know how to innovate. We have

pockets of excellence everywhere. But we struggle

with scaling change.”

David Ward, Chancellor Emeritus and

President Emeritus of American Council on Education

150 projects/year. 200 academic units over time. Campus-wide projects…

SCALING

Administrative Process Redesign – APR

Some examples:

• Financial Internal Controls

• Employee Communication

• Strategic Purchasing

• Research Award Set Up and Close Out

• Travel Reimbursement

Now: Administrative Transformation – a broader approach

National Trend – Adopting Lean Six Sigma for administrative processes.

SHOWCASE – 20 YEARS

Adopted from Penn State’s Quality Expo

Over 20 years, nearly 700 posters:

• 250 academic

• 445 administrative

• Plus featured topics and keynotes each year

Attendance from all corners of campus and beyond.

Showcase PULLs change:

Peer Force, Viral Change, Scale, Crossing Boundaries

EDGE OF CHAOS –A CREATIVE SPACE

PULL V. PUSH

Culture eats strategy for breakfast

If I had a hammer

Off the shelf

Peer force

Crossing boundaries

Viral growth

Scale

Edge of Chaos

Execute! Make it Happen.

FORWARD…

Office of Strategic ConsultingPartnering with the Campus Community to Enhance

Organizational Effectiveness

Jenny FaustAssociate Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives and

Director, Office of Strategic Consulting

LEVERAGING DISTINCT STRENGTHS

Office of Quality

Improvement

Administrative Process Redesign

Off

ice

Of

Stra

tegi

c C

on

sult

ing

PRESENT … FUTURE

Office Of Strategic

ConsultingCapacity

Building

Organizational

Design

Project and

Portfolio

Management

Process

Improvement

Enhancing

Department

Culture and

Climate

Strategic

Planning

WHAT’S NEXT?

Proof of concept (ROI, success measures, accountability)

Scale still a challenge – how to leverage “wins” in one unit

and apply to others (while preserving confidentiality,

recognizing complexity, unique features of new cases)

Innovation – “More ideas than time!” How do we continue to

seize on good ideas, without burnout and also allowing time

for new ideas to “stick”?

Change management – how much is too much, too fast?

and …

RESOURCES

Office of Strategic Consulting - OSC

https://strategicconsulting.wisc.edu/

4th floor of 445 Henry Mall. We’re right between the Stovall Building (Wisconsin State

Laboratory of Hygiene) and the Genetics-Biotechnology Center.

Network for Change and Continuous Improvement in Higher Education – NCCI

www.ncci-cu.org