[The following article appears in the June, 1995 edition of
_Public_Sector_Quality_Report, page 5.]

                    OREGON PURSUES STATEWIDE
                  QUALITY TRAINING CURRICULUM
                                
     Imagine an entire state where businesses and other
organizations have access to the same standardized set of
comprehensive quality training courses. Designed with plenty of
user input. Deliverable on site, if desired. And offered at
affordable prices.
     That's the aim in Oregon, where for two years the Oregon
Quality Initiative (OQI), a private, non-profit dedicated to
promoting quality improvement throughout the state, is working
with the Oregon Department of Economic Development, state
community colleges and the Oregon Advanced Technology Consortium
to develop a quality curriculum they call P4Q.
     According to a recent OQI newsletter, Taking Initiative, P4Q
progress to date includes the outlining of a 17-course curriculum
(six of the courses already have been developed) and creation of
an instructor certification program to promote uniformity and
quality of training delivery.
     To ensure that the customer's voice was heard and that users
would have confidence in the end product, organizers of P4Q
solicited plenty of user input. Seventy-five representatives from
Oregon businesses helped outline the curriculum, and employees of
60 organizations were invited to work on curriculum design teams.
     The teams benchmarked training curricula from around the
county, including from such companies as Saturn, Motorola and
Tektronix. In some cases, the teams found organizations that were
willing to donate training courses.
     Experienced quality trainers were hired to write some
courses, while community college educators were brought in to
edit and package the final course materials.
     The six completed courses to date include: Foundations of
Quality I, Foundations of Quality II, Managing Customer
Expectations, ISO 9000 Overview, Understanding ISO, Putting Teams
to Work.
     Other courses expected to be done by year's end cover such
topics as cycle time reduction, statistical process control, and
continuous process improvement.
     P4Q Project Leader Ron Hulett, who also serves as director
of the Training and Economic Development Center at Chemeketa
Community College in Salem, told Taking Initiatives he believes
the statewide training initiative is unique in the U.S.
     "When we surveyed other state college systems to see what
they were using," Hulett said, "no one had the kind of
comprehensive, standardized program that we were seeking to
develop."

CONTACT: Oregon Advanced Technology
Center, Wilsonville, OR, (503) 657-6958. Ron
Hulett, director, Training and Economic
Development Center, Chemeketa Community
College, Salem, OR,(503):399-5181. Oregon 
Quality Initiative, Portland, OR, (503) 224-4606.

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