Eastern Michigan University EMU HOME
 
Feature header
 

June 9, 2009 issue
EMU administrator named examiner for Baldrige Award


By Ward Mullens

 

Sandi Nielsen, director of Eastern Michigan University's Professional Education Center in the College of Business, has been appointed to the 2009 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. 

The award, created by public law in 1987, is the highest level of national recognition for performance excellence that U.S. organizations can receive.

Sandra Nielsen

Nielsen

"I have been selected and served as a Baldrige examiner numerous times over the past 10 years and, each time, it is an exciting challenge," said Nielsen, who has received the honor five times in the past 10 years. "My work as both a Baldrige examiner and an Academic Quality Improvement (AQIP) reviewer for higher education provide me with learning that can be applied back at EMU and in my work with our external corporate clients through the Professional Education Center, many of whom also are focused on quality and continuous improvement."

As an examiner, Nielsen is responsible for reviewing and evaluating applications submitted for the prestigious national award. The Board of Examiners is composed of approximately 500 leading experts, individually selected for their expertise and representative of industry, professional and trade organizations, education and health care organizations, and government.

Those selected meet the highest standards of qualification and peer recognition. All members of the board must take part in a preparation course based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence and the scoring and evaluation processes for the Baldrige Award.

Awards may be given annually in each of six categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, health care and nonprofit. Information also can be found on the Baldrige National Quality Program's Web site at http://www.nist.gov/baldrige.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) manages the award program, in close cooperation with the private sector. The American Society for Quality (ASQ) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, administers the program.