Continuous Quality Improvement in Higher Education

Dew (U. of Alabama) and Nearing (State U. of New York, Binghamton) provide leaders in the higher education community with a framework for understanding and applying continuous improvement (CI) theory and methods in a widely diverse range of higher education institutions. The text also presents a wide variety of examples of effective practices that campuses can employ in strategic planning, self-assessments, benchmarking, building a collaborative campus culture, engaging faculty and staff in team activities, using measurement and feedback systems, and applying CI concepts to improving teaching and learning in the classroom. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

JOHN ROBERT DEW is Director for Continuous Quality Improvement at the University of Alabama, responsible for strategic planning, performance measurement, and process improvement activities across the campus. He is also a member of the graduate school faulty in engineering and business. Dew was formerly Manager for Mission Success at Lockheed Martin Corporation, responsible for management quality improvement initiative and strategic planning activities at the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear facility.
MOLLY MCGOWAN NEARING is Senior Quality Facilitator at the Center for Quality at the State University of New York, Binghamton. She is a charter member of the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education (NCCI) and has served on NCCI's National Conference Planning Committee, the Learning Systems Committee, and currently is the NCCI Program Chair.