Quality Assurance M.S. (Online)

Quality Assurance

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The Quality Assurance Programs

The online CSUDH Master of Science in Quality Assurance (MSQA) is designed to prepare professionals in quality, engineering science, and/or management for career advancement. Quality professionals are members of teams in any profession where their specialized skills promote performance excellence, reduce waste, and improve existing processes. The term “quality” is not commonly found in the job description or job title.

Topics covered include: Process Improvement, Process Problem Solving, Risk Assessment, Six Sigma, Quality Management Systems, Measurement System Analysis, Statistical Process Control, Human Factors Ergonomics, Quality Focused Project Management, Quality 4.0, Change Management, and Plan Do Check Act

Program Goals and Objectives

The MSQA program curriculum is designed to develop skills which can be applied to most any organizational function where products and services are developed through structured processes. MSQA graduates are process analysis and performance improvement specialists.

The business world today is seeking the job resilient employee who demonstrates:

  • Flexibility, agility, and adaptability
  • Good time management skills
  • Collaborative and efficient team participation
  • Effective communications
  • Detailed fact-based analytics acumen
  • Imaginative problem-solving

The program of study provides theoretical knowledge and analytical techniques that apply quality improvement tools and methodologies related to each of these current business needs.

MSQA Program Level Student-Centered Objectives — June 2023

  1. Apply advanced principles and tools from quality and measurement sciences to problem solving, improvement and performance in production, healthcare, government, and service industries
  2. Reflect the ability to communicate problems, processes, and improvement solutions to decision makers and external audiences, including customers and end users using technical and business communications
  3. Evaluate complex, integrated organizational systems and processes to recognize and quantify system failures and improvement opportunities through the application of practical statistics, data analysis, measurement, and quality concepts
  4. Formulate independent research using primary quality theory references, industry recognized and credible contemporary sources, to analyze and interpret data, draw conclusions, and report results
  5. Integrate the roles and responsibilities of a Quality professional, including staying abreast the Quality Body of Knowledge and the parameters of Quality Management Systems, including physical, human, environmental, social, and economic parameters
    Design a quality system, component, experiment, or process to conform with industry standards

A unique feature of the MSQA program is that it gives students the ability to customize their program of study to include their areas of interest. Students will acquire knowledge and skills in the following areas:

  • Managing a Quality/Organizational Excellence Program
  • Planning and implementing a quality management system
  • Facilitating new process development for organizational program such as environmental and social governance
  • Root cause analysis and process improvement
  • Developing and analyzing statistical process control charts
  • Applying Design of Experiments
  • Directing process capability studies
  • Performing quality cost analyses
  • Evaluating the human element in an organization from perspectives such as ergonomics, cultural, and generational
  • Assessing development and alignment of the human and technological organizational environment

Options include a concentration in traditional quality-focused manufacturing concepts, as well as a concentration in applications specific to Healthcare and Service industries. Many of the MSQA courses are included in a digitized micro-learning format in subject specific areas. This enables students to build a “digital backpack” in their personal e-learning portfolio expanding their final degree diploma credentials to make them more marketable to employers.

The degree is administered through an online modality in a 12-week semester format to serve working adults. The program offers three innovative degree completion options: 1) Thesis 2) Real World Project 3) Comprehensive Essay Exam. Instructors are recognized subject matter experts in their area of expertise. They provide a practical perspective to the theoretical concepts in the MSQA curriculum. The degree program is supported by local sections of ASQ-Excellence Through Quality.

The MSQA Program has been developed by experienced and dedicated professionals who have coordinated the curriculum to ensure course offerings meet the changing requirements for improved organizational competitiveness.

The MSQA is available entirely online or at your place of business. For information about setting up classes at your place of business, call 310-243-3880 or e-mail at msqa@csudh.edu.

 

Certificates and Professional Certification

Participating in MSQA course work will help prepare professionals to take the examinations leading to the Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), Certified Quality Engineer, (CQE), Certified Quality Manager (CQM), and Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) certifications.

Students who hold a Certified Quality Auditor, Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence, and/or Certified Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society for Quality may be able to qualify for three units for each certification earned. For further information, visit the Courses or Degree Requirements pages.

In addition, students who have completed their degree or who are not pursuing a degree may take these courses, which include the Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt programs, the Accreditation, Standardization, & Conformity Assessment program, the Soft Skills of Quality 4.0 certificate and other certificates and certificates. Further information is available on our Certificates and Certifications pages.

MSQA Mission Statement | CSUDH Catalog


California State University Dominguez Hills provides the following information for its online and distance learning students in compliance with State Authorization information & Consumer Complaints federal Title IV regulation. Federal law [Section668.43(b)] requires all institutions must disclose to all students or prospective students the complaint agency in all states where students reside.  If a student has a complaint or concern, information on how to contact a state agency and register a complaint, can be found at the following website: http://www.calstate.edu/AcadAff/state-regulatory-authorizations/index.shtml.

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Student Testimonials

Ernestine Miller, MSQA - CSUDH Class of 2002 Ernestine T. Miller

Program Product Quality Lead (Retired) and Masters of Science, Quality Assurance (Class of 2002)

I am a proud Class of 2002 graduate of the CSU Dominquez Hill’s Master of Science Quality Assurance program. My experience of the MSQA program was challenging, fulfilling, rewarding and fun.

When I attended the MSQA program, I was married with two young children. I was also a full time employee at an aerospace company working in the quality profession. I enjoyed working in quality which influenced the desire to take my career to the next level. Even though I had a broad choice of schools to attend, I chose Dominguez because of the MSQA program which was directly related to my field of employment.

The MSQA curriculum provided a wealth of theoretical knowledge and industrial applications that I was able to apply throughout my career. The MSQA program offered classes on-line, evenings and Saturday which was accommodating for working adults. Their instructors (i.e. Dr. Eugene Watson, Dr. Ralph Abramovich) were knowledgeable, resourceful and understanding to everyday life situations that we, as working students, were facing. Some of us had to bring our kids to class with us occasionally and that was never a problem. The MSQA program drew challenging, competitive and smart students from other aerospace companies which often lead to friendly competition among us students.

My decision to obtain my Masters degree through the MSQA program paid off tremendously. After completing my degree I received a promotion and responsibilities that enabled me to reach goals that were once unobtainable.

After thirty five (35) years in the aerospace industry, thirty (30) of those years are dedicated to quality, I retired in 2018.

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to partner with Dominguez Hills and the QA program to shape my career. My academia journey, knowledge, accomplishments, recognition will always be one of the best decisions I’ve made in life. I will always have the MSQA acronyms behind my name. More importantly, I met some remarkable folks (students and faculty) that are, to this day, very dear friends of mine. We are forever bonded by our experience of the CSU Dominguez Hills QA program.


Lawrence Mallari, MSQA - Class of 2015 Lawrence Mallari MSQA ASQ CMQ/OE, CQE

Quality Supervisor at Collins Aerospace and Masters of Science, Quality Assurance (Class of 2015)

It's been almost four years since my graduation from the CSUDH MSQA (Masters of Science - Quality Assurance) program, and I could honesty say that I did not expect to be where I am today without it. When going through the program, like any master's course, I did not see the light at the end of the tunnel; let alone where the tunnel would spit me out on the other end. However, throughout those two plus years of learning in the program, I picked up many crucial real-world skills that would help me get to my current position as a Quality Supervisor (Manager level 1) for Collins Aerospace, San Marcos, Texas (formerly UTC Aerospace Systems).

While going through the program, I was working as a Quality Engineer, extremely green in the aerospace and defense industry, but highly eager to learn and grow. I remember that the lessons the professors taught in the classes were easily applied to real life practical applications at work. This made me stand out in the professional setting, while I was still going through school and still "green". After graduating, the "MSQA" that was applied after my last name was easily recognized by other companies in the industry, and that's how I was head hunted for a Senior Quality Engineer position at UTC Aerospace Systems. I had no idea of the weight of the masters program till it helped me land my next job, and now my career!

To this day, I still catch myself looking through old MSQA books, and talking to current and past students of the MSQA program. This program gave me so much knowledge to share at my place of work, but more importantly, connections that would last a lifetime. For those going through the program, struggle now to reap the rewards later. And for those who have successfully completed the MSQA program, I hope your accomplishments be plentiful and abundant! Thank you CSUDH for the leg up in life and thank you MSQA program for guiding my bright future!

The History of the MSQA Program

What is the history of the Master of Science in Quality Assurance?

The MSQA began in 1978 as one of several consortium programs under the direction of the CSU Chancellor's Office. In 1987 the consortium was disbanded. Due at least in part to the university's unique location in the technological and industrial heartland of Southern California, the authority for the MSQA was transferred to CSUDH. In 1995, the MSQA became the first online masters program ever approved by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Online classes began in January 1996.

Contained within the CSUDH formal mission statement is the commitment to "offer our programs at times and places accessible to the populations we serve on campus, off-campus, and those sites best served by state-of-the-art technologies." To fulfill this commitment, the MSQA Program became part of the distance learning program in 1989. In 1995, we moved MSQA to the Internet — a move which has greatly expanded our ability to reach the community of Quality Professionals we serve.

What is the College of Continuing and Professional Education and what is their relationship to the MSQA-Internet Program?

The College of Continuing and Professional Education, a self-supporting branch of the University, offers courses for the continuing education of professionals in business, government, service industries and education, and programs for personal enrichment. The College supports an extensive distance learning program, and is nationally recognized as a leader in Distance Education. The MSQA Program and the College of Continuing and Professional Education have a long-term partnership for delivering Quality Assurance courses, Certificate Programs and the Master's Degree via distance learning technologies. 

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