PR2009 Dec U1

SHELTON STATE CLAIMS SILVER AT ALABAMA QUALITY AWARDS

TUSCALOOSA –  The Shelton State Strategic Planning Team has been declared a Silver Level recipient by the judges for the Alabama Quality Award Team Showcase, to be held December 2-3 at the Paul W. Bryant Conference Center.

The 12-member Shelton team, led by Dr. Graham Hatcher, assistant to the president, produced the College’s strategic plan, Shelton 2020, and introduced the plan to the College and public in April 2009.

The essence of Shelton 2020 is to establish organizational goals and direction, providing a means to link unit work toward the overarching plan that incorporates goals in four distinct areas: Enriching Student Learning and Development; Empowering Faculty and Staff; Expanding the College’s Impact Area; and

be in such outstanding company with previous honorees. We also look forward to how this plan will enable the College to clarify the vision of a institution dedicated to learning, recognized for its commitment to excellence, and responsive to students and community.”

The Alabama Quality Award (modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award) has been administered by the Alabama Productivity Center since 1986. The Award recognizes and honors organizations Ensuring the College’s Future.

“We are pleased that our planning efforts have garnered statewide recognition,” said Hatcher. “We are fortunate to whose past or recent innovations in areas of production, service or management have resulted in increased productivity and quality.

For the purpose of the award, increased productivity and quality means getting more mileage out of the firm's resources, whether those resources are energy, capital, materials or people.

The Award promotes understanding of the requirements for performance excellence and competitiveness improvement; and sharing of information on successful performance strategies and the benefits derived from using these strategies.

The award was established to promote the awareness of performance excellence as an increasingly important element in competitiveness. Not only does it recognize excellent organizations, the Award also aims to increase the understanding of the requirements for performance excellence. To accomplish this, the Award promotes information sharing on successful performance strategies and the benefits derived from implementation of these strategies.

The purpose of the Team Showcase is to:

• recognize individual teams for their performance and the results they achieved;

• educate other organizations throughout Alabama on the potential benefits of empowered teams;

• demonstrate innovative and creative approaches to the continuous improvement process;

• acknowledge the use of Kaizen teams and their related implementation of Lean principles, as well as Quality improvement teams; and

• encourage others to empower teams and be able to take full advantage of the vast array of international talent and skills present in organizations throughout the State of Alabama.