The document discusses using Six Sigma as a quality improvement tool for academic programs. It aims to design and improve an Internal System Quality Assurance for a university to comply with accreditation standards. The authors extend the Six Sigma methodology, which uses the DMAIC strategy of Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control to industrial quality processes, to academic processes. They develop a catalog of process typologies and apply Six Sigma to examples like defining quality policies and student selection. The goal is to systematically identify variations and continuously improve procedures.

1. Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement
Tool for Academic Programs
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza,
A. Redchuk
8th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning
Technologies - EDULEARN16 - Barcelona (Spain)
4th - 6th of July, 2016
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

2. Introduction
Objective
Design and improvement of an Internal System
Quality Assurance (ISQA)
Compliance with the Spanish National Agency for
Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA)
Based on the Six Sigma methodology
Contributions
Extend and adapt an industrial quality improvement
methodology to the academic environment
Development of a typologies catalogue of processes
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

3. Six Sigma and the DMAIC Strategy
Phases: Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and
Control
Requires: well defined processes, project, and
team
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

4. Six Sigma and the Scientific Method
The key to success: speaking the business language
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

5. Quality within academic programs
Different methodologies to create and/or
improve quality control systems
Seldom practical applications at higher
education centers and their related services
Homogenization and implementation of new
university degrees in Europe
Guidelines set by ENQA and ANECA to be met
at European and national level
Six Sigma anticipates problems and errors can
be detected and corrected in the output before
they occur
Six Sigma transforms threats (detected errors)
into opportunities
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

6. General Framework
Strategic, Operational, and crosswise procedures.
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

7. Process Typologies
Cyclical Procedures
Linear Procedures
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

8. Example 1: Definition of the quality policy
and complaints
Defined under a DMAIC approach
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

9. Example 2: Selection, admission and
registration of students
DMAIC approach
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

10. Concusions
Six Sigma applied throughout the development
of the ISQA
Identify the sources of variation within the
procedures
Evolving procedures constantly being improved
In this work we only present two typologies from
a catalogue listing a whole set of structures
New procedures are associated to one of the
typologies in the catalogue
New typologies can be incorporated in a
systematic manner
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

11. Acknowledgements
This work is partially funded by projects GROMA (MTM2015-63710-P),
PPI (RTC-2015-3580-7), and UNIKO (RTC-2015-3521-7).
Images credits: all diagrams authors’ own work.
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs

12. Questions?
Thank you
emilio.lopez@urjc.es
E.L. Cano, M. González-de-Lena, J.M. Moguerza, A. Redchuk Six Sigma as a Quality Improvement Tool for Academic Programs