College of Extended and International Education: Ensuring Organizational Excellence in Local Companies

On Oct.11, the College of Extended and International Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills hosted “Organizational Excellence through Quality,” an eight-hour training event organized by the Los Angeles Section 700 and San Gabriel Valley Section 702 of the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Over 60 attendees attended a variety of educational sessions on current quality-related topics, such as Six Sigma, ICH/Pharmaceuticals, Roundtable ROI, Quality Tools and Statistics, Metrics, Software Quality, and Kaizen Events. Session facilitators were subject matter experts with a practical experience in the areas of discussion.

Milton Krivokuca, program coordinator for the bachelor's and master's degrees in quality assurance, and member of the ASQ Section and Division Leadership Teams was the host and master of ceremonies for the day’s presentations.

The morning keynote presentation featured Boeing employee Ronald Gill, who shared Boeing’s journey to success in winning the California Team Excellence Gold Medal award, as well as ASQ’s International Team Excellence Gold Medal. The lunch keynote speaker was Chris Christensen, a published authority and management consultant who is recognized for his insight into international quality issues. He spoke on the challenges organizations must address in the New Global World Quality environment.

To present this amount of information in a one-day format required very precise scheduling from the planning team, as well as the presenters. The program’s commitment to quality was evident by having all of the day’s activities proceeded as scheduled. The collaborative effort between the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Sections, with the support of CSUDH, provided another example of the benefits of teamwork when faced with solving a complex project.

Attendees expressed their appreciation for the subjects of the sessions and professional organization of the event. One attendee commented that events such as this one reflected how ASQ reaches out to meet the needs of its members. Overall, the consensus was very positive regarding the seminar.

CSUDH is a national leader in quality assurance education, offering masters and bachelor’s degrees and certificates and certification training completely online. CSUDH graduates work in such diverse fields as aerospace, medical manufacturing, biotech manufacturing, construction, petrochemical, non-profits, transportation, and traditional heavy manufacturing industries. For further information, visit www.csudh.edu/msqa.

- Keith Otterberg