The View from Sabbatical: Good Things on the Horizon

Sabbatical (boat's name), where Quality concepts incubate!

It's the start of a new school semester at Ferris State University and our days on Sabbatical (our boat's name) are numbered. We put the boat in storage about mid-October, which is pushing it a bit for West Michigan. No worries!  We have so many "Quality" activities to look forward to in the coming weeks and months.

Reflecting on this week's activities:

Both my Fall '13 courses are off to a good start. I have 15 students in MGMT 488 Advanced Cases and Problems (a strategic management course) and 40 in MGMT 370 Quality/Operations Management. The first night's class for each went quite well. My MGMT 488 course is a mixed delivery course; mostly Blackboard with 4 required face-to-face meetings. This is a class of all-star students. I had most of these students previously in MGMT 370 so I know their work ethic. The make-up of this semester's MGMT 370 course, however, seems different than the past. This semester the students seem a bit more mature for some reason. Good thing because last semester we had way too much drama for my liking.

We have many good things on the Horizon:

Our student branch of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) at Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, MI is going well. We do need to fill a couple leadership positions, but otherwise the group is doing great.  Because the campus has no student life our student branch is completely virtual; on Facebook.  We do, however, host two live events; one is a tour of a local manufacturer and the other is a panel discussion. This panel of "West Michigan's Most Influential Quality Professionals" is a big hit with my students and the panelists enjoy the interaction with the students almost as much. The next installment of this event is scheduled for October 16.