Peer-graded Assignment: Six Sigma Project -

Control Phase – Executive Summary

Project Title: Analysis of Program Learning Outcomes attainment levels

PROJECT: Program Learning Outcomes mapped to ABET outcomes in the Program Specifications
File DO NOT match Course file submissions mapping.

Executive Summary - You will provide responses for the overarching questions.

A) Do the aims of the project charter align with the end-result of the project? The aim of exposing any
over-mapping opportunities or inflated grades was achieved as non-compliance observation, between
program specifications mapping of courses to ABET learning outcomes and the mapping reported in
the course files submitted across the span of 2 years (4 academic semesters were included in the
project), was significant. Over-mapping in PLOs to CLOs as well as tools assessment over-mapping
tendency were both noted. Following the discovery of the ailment, a proposal of standard is offered as
an improvement path.

1) What are the differences financially and in terms of the objectives of the project? The financial strain
from such ailment which our project is trying to resolve is mainly is loss of manpower. In the field of
academia, manpower is translated to high dollars of around $115.00. To rework unacceptable data is
translated to the loss of millions of dollars a year.

2) How have these changes impacted the overall perceived value of the project? The project is at a very
young stage to get a financial gain, however, the value of the project is focused on some external and
internal aspects.

Overall Perceived Value of the Project

External Value Internal Value
Stakeholder/Entity Value Stakeholder/Entity Value
Government Compliance to Ministry of Faculty Better understanding of
Education eligibility results to offer
requirements improvement
Ministry of Compliance to Education Department Chairs More comprehensive
Education Evaluation Commission reporting
Education Partner/Contributor Students Better representation of
Evaluation strong/weak points
Commission
Local Accreditation Compliance to College Dean More comprehensive
Commissions accreditation requirements reporting
International Compliance to Other Pilot study could be
Accreditation accreditation requirements Colleges/University deployed in other
Commissions colleges

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B) Were there any best practices uncovered during the project?

The best practices include:

• Quality Assurance Manuals are needed in different media

• A comprehensive and automated system for quality management is being requested and offers
are examined.
• Workshops in relation to Program Learning Outcomes need to be at both the university and the
college levels
• A sense of quality assurance awareness is developed and respected
• Creation of video material for FAQ in relation to QA academic issues

1) In what ways and what areas could these best practices be deployed in other areas of the business?

The university at large is noticing the best practices and working more toward similar analytical
approaches to other departments or sectors in the business. The practice of a six-sigma black belt
examining a sector to highlight excellences and areas for improvement is hopefully to be a cult at my
work.

C) Please describe any lessons learned based on elements of the project that did not go as planned.

The project suffered multi imaginary closing phases as some stakeholders got delayed in following up
the processes due to heavy work challenges. The project was on hold for a period of time, and is slowly
pulling pace and leaving an imprint. However, from earlier lessons learned, this is common in the
academic field where change could take from a semester to a year to fully complete.

D) What were the limitations and delimitations of the project? Provide a rationale and set of consequences
for each limitation and delimitation identified. The project did not have physical limitations apart from
the time consuming work effort needed to analyze hundreds of course files submissions across the 6
programs. Identified challenges went as deep as compliance to the study plan in pre-requisites and
credit hours information. A mitigating solution was offered due to time constraints. The solution was to
create all course specifications files at the quality assurance office to ensure compliance with all these
small items. The files were then shared with the departments for review, modifications and approvals.
Similar effort will be conducted for the fall and summer courses.

However, this mitigating solution is not sustainable, faculty need to create their own files and do all the
review of mappings, and all the necessary information matching before authorization of the course
specifications file.

Another limitation was due to the over-loaded work schedule of department chairs which delayed the
work or made one-to-one meetings quite a challenge. As a solution for this, QA offered virtual sessions
at flexible hours which proved to resolve some of the busy schedule issues.

E) What recommendations for future projects can you offer based on your investigation?

The project shows that the flexibility of an ad hoc committee was essential in the speedy progress of the
project. It is a more suited arrangement for issues concerning the overall structure of the program.
Awareness and involvement from the beginning is essential for the success of all efforts.

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