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.
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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.