The Adaptation of Six Sigma Methodology to the Engineering Education Enterprise

Six Sigma is a proven methodology for improving business processes by using statistical methods to identify and reduce process variation. The Six Sigma program popularized by Motorola in the early 1980s extended the quality tools that were part of the Total Quality Management movement by adding an emphasis on financial accountability. Six Sigma quality improvement techniques have also been successfully applied in the service sector and, very recently, in the education enterprise. This paper describes a proposal to adapt the Six Sigma process improvement methods that have been shown to be successful in the business enterprise to the engineering education enterprise at Mercer University. Our implementation of Six Sigma will involve a systems approach to problem solving and emphasizes the three C’s: common metrics, constant communication, and culture change. One of the proposed projects was recently funded by the Engineering Information Foundation and is currently underway.