TQM for Professors and Students.

This paper offers suggestions on how individual faculty can apply Total Quality Management (TQM) practices to their teaching. In particular the paper describes the experiences and lessons learned by two business school faculty members who took to heart the "Galvin Challenge," Bob Galvin's challenge to professors at the Xerox Quality Forum of 1989 to effect major improvement in higher education for greater efficiency and effectiveness. A section on professorial freedom and students as customers argues that faculty need much more data in a timely fashion than they usually get. A discussion of course evaluations concludes that these improve teaching. The next section describes the development and work of a laboratory course, Business 712, at the Chicago Business School (Illinois) in which faculty and students work together using TQM principles to develop new and improve ongoing courses. Specific experiences and suggestions for course improvement and fast feedback (includes some sample questionnaires) are then offered. Responses to criticisms of fast feedback are then considered. It is noted that research coming out of Business 712 has resulted in suggestions for course strategy, curriculum design, and research. A final section offers some personal reflections on the Galvin Challenge. (JB) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. *********************************************************************** PROFTAU.MSS NOVEMBER, 1993 "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Harry V. Roberts TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." Graduate School of Business University of Chicago 1101 East 58th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 312/702-7301 FAX: 312/702-0458 TQM FOR PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS George R. Bateman and Harry V. Roberts U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Re9441Ch and improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) his document has been reproduced as received from the parson or wonization originMingd O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality a Points of vie* or opinions Stated in ti..s document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy 1. Total Quality Management (TQM) and Higher Education We begin with a 21-word definition that, for us, catches the essence of Total Quality Management (TQM): "Continually serve customers better and more economically, using scientific method and teamwork, and concentrating on removal of all forms of waste." Total Quality Management has not bypassed universities, colleges, and community colleges. Many colleges are now exploring the potential of TQM, and some have begun to attempt its implementation. In most initial efforts, the major emphasis has been on improvement of administrative rather than academic functioning. Protessors are not felt to be receptive to improvement ideas coming from the business world. But three important points need to be noted: Administrative improvement is not necessarily a soft target. NI College administrators are often in much the same position Nr) as politically appointed heads of government agencies who have great difficulty when they try to change rigid bureaucracies. l\, Myron Tribus has argued that many administrative processes n1 are actually counterproductive for the central academic