Hi Henry,t

ISO 9001 certification to Colleges and universities , adds effectiveness & systems but if all ISO systems follow perfectly from TOP management..It is very excellent tool to develop efficiently.tks

No.

In our environment, where funding is always an issue and difficult to secure long term, the benefits do outwiegh the limitations. I'm referring specifically to ISO17025 accreditation. You have to take the decision which areas will be accredited and be willing to accept that accrediting research and development is not possible. It's the application of that research and development product that can and should be accredited.

ISO 9001 is a basic quality management system. The most important point of this standard is because sets a strong mechanism for continuing improving. Therefore, the benefits of the application of the ISO 9001 depends of the deep understanding of this management standard.

For universities running physics, chemistry, bio, geo, mechanics, and others related science matters ISO/IEC 17025 is better than ISO 9001. But between having no QS or taking the ISO/IEC 17025 train, go with ISO 9001 and enjoy all the benefits. In my point of view, labs with no Quality System are at least one pace behind those that have it. Researchers, sometimes, think that QS is like a jail, but these people don't know that some QS systems really increase the quality and confidence of developed work. I have the ISO/IEC 17025 in my lab and, despite all the required written docs, works are doing well, very well. There are some others benefitial "details", but let leave them for another chat.

Quality is always about people and commitment.

With committing people, quality is always possible though funding is one considerable issue but it is not the most problematic issue. Quality function deployment is another significant subject for consideration of higher institutions.

Hi Henry, as the quality management ISO 9001 state the standard is generic then my answer is yes.

Implementing a usefull 9001 in universities it's almost impossible; there are 2 way to have it: to obtain and maintain the certification itself (to enforce a standard) or implement the "core spirit" of it.

The first case shall apply when the organisation has the need for a status symbol (commercial, funding etc) or someone have to be forced to act according some agreed rules.

The second case may apply when almost all in the organisation are focused on quality but, if they're, a continuously changing (and splitting) quality system is implemented resulting in a competition among different approaches and procedures.

Tertium non datur (in the long period): if you are obliged to force the application, only a few person will be proactive and the system shall be a service imposed by hight mgt, if you are in that sort of heaven where everybody is engaged in quality you'll have quality but not a formal 9001.

Hi all

Thank you for the responses. As you can see, in my country our government is trying to push for merits on ISO certification of colleges and universities. There are a lot of disagreements about it.

While it would be convenient to assume that many colleges and universities have instituted quality management systems, a few are actually pursuing certification. One big reason for this is the cost that is associated with it.

I am wondering what your experiences are, and whether you find it valuable in your own institutions. I am also interested to know how it helped your institutions meet your objectives or improved your governance systems. So far, I am getting a lot of good ideas. = ).

Thanks also for Helio and Jennifer for providing insights on its importance to laboratory research and production. I never really thought of that, since my college is mostly catering to liberal arts & social sciences.

I was involved in ISO 9001 certifications in 2 major universities in Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA for corporate certification and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia with 2 faculties and Centres of Excellence. These certifications helps them in other accreditation for eg. in FKE's case in UTM it was for ABET. You can refer to the conference papers and journal article related to this on my page. That should give a better idea on the benefits about certification.

ISO 9001 is for bulding systems. Started mainly to produce quality goods in manufacturing sector it has started finding use in other sectors also. hence its usefulness is no exception in universities.

ISO 9001 stands for improvement and control in processes so that rejections are brought down. In the educational sector it can be applied towards improving the curriculum as per the demands of the society and find out whether universities are able to deliver the laid down curriculum qualitatively. as in the manufacturing sector universities and colleges provide lot of scope for educational process control.

Dear Sirs,

I think the best methd to decide certificationor not : through stategic plannig where accreditation and certification will vary in their outcomes.

There are some very good substances in ISO 9001 which can be selectively used for application for education sectors. However, different institutions have different contextual backgrounds. In this respect, different institutions need to build up their own quality model(s) for their own application in joint consideration with ISO 9001. We need to remember that quality definitions mutate all the time though quality is free to all (Crosby). Subsequently, these quality models in view of mutating contextualized quality definitions have to be revised by different institutions at different times to suit the requirements of stakeholders!

For those who are serious in building a management system and getting certification, I agree that ISO 9001 should be considered first. For faculties or centres with specific requirements, then the organisation can move towards 14001, 17025 and so on. These steps will depend largely on the business strategies of the organisation and what is being track for continuous improvements in the quality of services. In the long run, an organisation is always looking at risk management and the contingency plans will also involve certain cost for it to be effective.

ISO 9001 certification can add up to strengthening the system and serve as a means to an end not an end itself to attaining the desired outcomes in an educational institution.Being a principal of a non commercial school which is ISO 9001 certified has helped me not only in maintaining quality standards but attaining the set objectives for over all school improvement through QMS

Unfortunately I can say that I have been through a 'quality management' process in an Australian university, and in my view the process had poor outcomes. Defining the students as clients was a bad idea in terms of educational outcomes. This has shifted the focus in the university from being quality oriented in terms of educational outcomes to being customer friendly and therefore reducing standards to satisfy the 'client'. Universities have to goals, in particular in engineering: 1. to be a place that delivers knowledge and teaches the student how to tackle real-life professional problems 2. to deliver graduates that are suitable for the modern industry. With these goals in mind, the student is the raw material that is turned into a product and the real customer is the society into which the product is delivered. Shifting the customer focus to the students has been, as I said, a very bad move. The majority of students seek to obtain a degree in the easiest possible way, so they seek to obtain the minimum level required rather than the optimum level. In short, unfortunately I have to say that quality standards can be introduced, but not by defining the student as a client, because if the academic is just a service provider, then the academic outcomes have to decline if the university is also not very selective in admissions.

As a quality audit professional, and devoted to quality in every aspects of life, there is of course advantages in the process if top management is able to engage people to the cause. Every person that affects quality should have the required competence, and be given training in the principles and dimensions of quality. Understanding why is necessary to measure trends in processes, to declare non conforming service and not hide. In my opinion students should be defined as clients, because they are the ultimate recipient of the intangible product the university delivers, knowledge. Of course they are also a product of our efforts as teachers, but we do not hold the total control of its variation, the inputs (raw material - provenience) and output (the effort made by the student to graduate). What we have to seek is if the costumer (student) seems pleased with the experience is having at the University, at all levels, because he's going to give us information on strenghts and weaknesses to set objectives to go further. Of course never forget benchmarking in the bussiness area.

I do quality assurance reviews for the US Federal government and have contact with environmental researchers in government, industry, and academia. Based on this broad exposure, I believe that academic institutions have cultural biases and traditions that make developing formal, institutional quality systems difficult. Knowlegde and best practices are transmitted via informal master-apprentice approaches rather that via written quality manuals. Quality research does get done in universities, but trying to get academic researchers to follow uniform quality practices is like trying to herd cats. The culture is very independent.

I fully agree with the previous comment. Quality systems are by nature objective, which is good in principle, but not when what is being assessed are humans. There are mechanisms for assessment of educational outcomes, but they vary between disciplines. As an example I can bring the system introduced by the Institute of Engineers Australia to grant the status of Chartered Professional Engineer. Engineers from various disciplines can be assessed by a set of general criteria, but this system is only applied for engineers. Doctors would have a different system, accountants a different one again. So quality can be assessed, but by criteria that differ from one discipline to another, and I think that developing a system that can be valid across disciplines is an impossible task. There is a simple rule that can guarantee quality: if all the people in the system strive for quality in selection of staff and students, the result will be a system that produces high-quality outcomes.

There are special programs for accreditation of educational organizations. I work in a medical faculty and our educational system is going to be accredited by a national accreditation program (UTEAK). I know that AIMEE has a accrediattion program for medical schools.

ISO 9001 does not cover all aspects of education, but where educational accreditation is not available, to be accredited by ISO 9001, would help the schools (and personnel at all levels) to have a better understanding of the service they are providing.

I have been through a 'quality management' process in an Jordanian & Saudi university ISO 9001 standard provides a systematic and comprehensive framework for establishing and maintaining a documented quality system that increases the level of confidence in meeting customer requirements.

and I fully agree with Rafael Manory & Robert Wright

This is an eternal question.

Critiques may be divided into two categories: Those who are competent, committed. and careful Vis-a-vis those who are competent, committed. and callous.

Rest - things (outputs from commentators) are obvious.

Dr P Thareja

Director Principal

( LA & Tutor QMS (ISO 9000) & EMS (ISO 14000))

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Rayat Institute of Engineering & Information Technology

Railmajra. SBS Nagar, Nr Ropar

ISO 9000 is just a template for quality improvement.

It helps in

a) documenting various processes,

b) bringing objectivity into assessment

c) Helping to identify oneself

d) Enhancing the focus on "measurement"

e) Focussing on "customer orientation"

For educational institutes, ISO 9000 helps in a big way by understanding the institutional processes and procedures.

Any system that makes universities to conduct self studies will without a doubt be helpful. In my experience any push for reflection is worth it.

Dear all,

Let me introduce some research on the subject I have been involved in. I did a survey on certification in Higher Education Institutes. My results state that "professionals in HEI's do agree on the added value of certification systems, they are willing to contribute to the certification process, provided that a set of conditions is fulfilled".

See article annex.

The benefits of ISO 9001 beyond compliance have never really been proven. ISO 9001 has its roots firmly embedded in defence industry practices. Whilst it has developed through a number of revisions it is fundamentally the same. Quality Management lacks a fundamental philosophy, most  chief executives tolerate ISO 9001 as route to business they don''t see it as a value adding activity. This is the fault of quality professional who see quality management as end in itself rather than a service to strategic management.

The importance of the question is the longevity of issue

Hence it is NOT just a template, used to replicate or arrange the data in/ to document

That implies we demean the standard, not understanding the concept in contents

I believe the standard is more potent than even TQM

probably. I am biased, being an author to the education standard of an approved tutor?

The authors have generally been out of many who did not excel at both the ends,

Of quality management, and of academic writing rightly at former's accent

 Carroll agrees "This is the fault of [THOSE] quality professional who see quality management as end in itself rather than a service to strategic management"

and as Kemenade augurs "" they are willing to contribute to the certification process, provided that a set of conditions [AS IN A TEMPLATE] is fulfilled"."

Writing about the mechanism and benefits:

"The process (proficiency) may be limited in words, but not in its applicability. While it fulfills the criteria of all-round gains: in terms of the competencies augmented by the participants; the organisation seeks newer directions to the business success, the individual brand image of both the people and the organisation, in turn, goes up. The competencies which were hitherto rated as being smaller, are better recognized and now acclaimed to be more potent and fruitful".

Thareja P (2008), "Total Quality Organization Thru’ People, Each one is Capable", FOUNDRY, Vol. XX, No. 4, July/Aug 2008 available on the net 

IS-9001 International standards for organisation/it may be higher educational institutions or industry to assess their quality management systems and make a proper document of a process and methods are unique and branded.....

Yes, it help to judge real time performance.

Yes , The world of education is losing its special place and is becoming more and more like a "normal" economic sector. This shows that universities are expected to operate at a high international level, behave professionally and provide quality services.