American Society for Quality, Philadelphia Section 0505

Our next event in February

Friday, February 24, 2012, Ball Park Tour and Presentation on Quality in Sports at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

Click here for registration and more information.

Looking for employment? Select Opportunities then Jobs for information on local jobs in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Initiatives and Updates from the Education Chair

from Bob Wittendorf

Dear ASQ Members and Interested Quality Professionals:

Courses
The Spring schedule of classroom-based, instructor-led courses is now posted on our web site. There are a few new courses for the Spring session, for example FMEA, Initiating and Facilitating Continuous Improvement, the CQA and CQE Prep/Refreshers, and both an evening and daytime Process Improvement-Statistical Tools course, and two dates for the one day course on Root Cause Analysis. Continuing this Spring are half-day Executive Overviews on the topics of Six Sigma/Lean and Baldrige specifically for the Healthcare industry and Educational organizations.

Not shown on the Spring schedule are the ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100C Understanding’ and Internal Auditor Training courses. If there is sufficient interest in holding these, I will put them on the training schedule between April and June. Email me with the course(s) you are interested in and how many from your company would probably attend.

There are some new courses that are in the planning stage (see the Spring Schedule). If there are at least six registrants then we can hold the course. Also, the Education Committee is researching how to deliver the courses as a Webinar that can be delivered through our new web site.

On Site Courses Available
As always, almost all of the courses and all the ISO/AS courses are available on site at your company, with some degree of customization, and by your schedule with considerable savings from the classroom-based fee. To hold a course at your facility, there must be at least six attendees (outsiders may be included at your discretion) and you need to provide a suitable room and food service.
Only one course is provided as an on-site course only, ES 401 Six Sigma/Lean Green Belt Training. This course is not a certification preparation course but rather offers team-based ‘hands-on’ training with company-specific financial deliverables derived from eight classroom sessions. This is a total of 56 hours of instructor-led training given in three modules. For details, see the Spring Schedule for information.

New Training Education and Instructors Needed
If you provided a ‘wish-list’ of new courses on one of our program meeting surveys, know that the Education Committee got the message and is striving to offer CBA, CMQ/OE, CPGP, CQI, HAACP, and SSGB preparation/refresher courses. At this time, I cannot schedule these but I am seeking qualified instructors. If you have the qualifications (hold the certification and comply with the ASQ Instructor Certification process) to be one of our instructors for these courses, please contact me immediately.

Fees and Cancellation Policy
The course fees have not significantly changed this year to help you get training and education closer to home or work at a reasonable cost. The Section Leadership continues to support the free tuition (pay for materials and food service) for all Certification Preparation /Refresher courses if you are an active ASQ member (any Section) who is unemployed or underemployed (part-time).
I am aware of the consequences that are caused by canceling a Certification Prep/Refresher course after you have registered for the exam and paid the fee to sit for the exam. So, this year, if the Section cancels a Certification Preparation course after the ASQ registration withdrawal deadline of April 13th for the June 2nd exam, you will receive the $50 credit that can be applied to the course fee for the next scheduled Certification Preparation course.

Remember; your fee will always be refunded if the course must be cancelled within seven working days. Please use Eventbrite for all courses to avoid error and unnecessary cancellation. Contact me or the Education Registrar, Kay Croll, with your concerns.

Attendance and Registration Guidelines
All courses must have a minimum of 6 registered and paid students for the course to be held. To ensure an accurate ‘Go/No Go’ decision for a course, please register at least one week before the registration closing date. There are several payment options on the Eventbrite Registration page. Click on ‘Show other payment options’ for the list.

Please Provide Us More Feedback
We are always trying to improve the education offerings to our members. Email me  to let me know:

Whether you would consider attending courses in July and/or August or in Center City Philadelphia or even at the Pennsylvania State University-Great Valley (Malvern PA)?
If you are you eligible for Federal or State Training Tuition Assistance?
Is public transportation to the site where courses are held a factor in attending a course?