Minutes
ITANA Conference Call
June 12, 2008

*Attendees*
Jim Phelps, University of Wisconsin (chair)
Scott Converse, UW Madison
Michael Enstrom, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Jim Hooper, St. Louis University
Colin Jones, British Columbia Institute of Tech
Piet Niederhausen, Georgetown University
Sue Sharpton, U of Alaska
Tom Zeller, Indiana University
Steve Olshansky, Internet2
Ann West, Internet2/EDUCAUSE
Dean Woodbeck, Internet 2 (scribe)

*Agenda*

(0) Roll Call. Agenda Bash.

1. Accept minutes of last call
2. Scott Converse - 6 Sigma in Higher Ed

*Six Sigma in Higher Education*

Scott Converse from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, did a presentation on the use of Six Sigma in higher education. He has been involved in administrative redesign projects at the university. His slide deck is available on the ITANA wiki:

https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/download/attachments/10266/ITANA-SixSigma+in+HigherEd.ppt?version=1

Six Sigma is a set of tools and techniques developed to better understand complex problems and processes. The emphasis is on process improvement. It relies on both developing a quality solution and acceptance and support of those involved in the process.

The higher education example was a process used for processing expense vouchers. The time, from start-to-finish, was six weeks, which was not acceptable. Scott emphasized the need to look at the process and gather data. In the example, there was a lot of "white space," or waiting time, between the steps in the process. White space represents the greatest opportunity for improvement and is non-threatening to those involved in the process. In this example, reducing the waiting time between steps provided significant opportunities for improvement.

Attacking the white space is a primary tool in 6 Sigma. The big gains are in reducing the long idle times.

Six Sigma projects at Wisconsin have included these areas:

• Transferring funds from foundation to department accounts
• Grant Award/Sub-Award process
• Access to IT resources for new, transferring and exiting employees
Scott favors a mixed approach to problem-solving, relying on experts to help the process teams work, but having process teams - comprised of employees - looking at processes and developing solutions. That creates buy-in, which dramatically increases the opportunity for success.

*Face to Face*

The ITANA face to face meeting next week is full, at 40 participants. The next call will include a report from the meeting.

*Next Call, Thursday, June 26, 2008, 2:00 p.m. EDT*

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