Pre-course task: Participants will describe their motivation for taking this course and an international higher education administrative process they wish to improve in terms of workflow and efficiency.

1. International Education from a Systems Perspective

Participants will…  develop an understanding of systems thinking from historical and contemporary perspectives. … be able to map core elements of administrative processes within their own work environment (micro-level) and utilize data sources to predict shifts in global systems (macro-level). … be able to apply systems thinking to advance change within various types of organizational structures including their own.  

Systems thinking is the foundation of lean process improvement. Various systems and global operations will be introduced to frame future sessions. We will examine systems thinking as a management philosophy, a discipline and a tool for maximizing efficiency within international education operations. We will explore why lean process improvement has been slow to make its way to higher education even though manufacturing, healthcare and other sectors have fully embraced it. 

2. Managing Wastes within International Education Processes

Participants will…  be able to describe the eight forms of waste commonly found within academic and administrative processes. … will understand how these wastes impact efficiency and jeopardize strategic goals. …will utilize tools for assessing waste to perform a waste walk within their own work environment.

When work exceeds capacity, a manager can ask employees to work harder or help employees to work smarter. We will focus on smart workflow as an extension of strategy. We will explore the most common wastes found within our international education administrative processes as well as essential tools for identifying them.

3. Tactical Approaches to Lean Process Improvement

Participants will be able to describe select lean process improvement tactics and apply them to international higher education processes and begin applying them to their work/campus situation.

We examine techniques for eliminating wastes within administrative processes and promoting a “culture of lean” among teams. We will introduce and discuss various methods and tools that participants can easily implement within their own work environments.

4. Value Stream Mapping

Participants will be able to describe the steps a value stream mapping exercise and apply the techniques to their own work/campus situations.

We focus on the core steps and considerations for effectively facilitating a value stream mapping exercise. Value stream mapping is a dynamic flow-charting activity used to map steps, decisions and delays inherent within any business process. The process is then re-engineered to include enhancements that shorten completion time and increase value from the perspective of students.

5. Executive Summaries

Participant will be able to describe select lean process improvement techniques used within manufacturing and apply them to higher education processes.

Participant/groups will present executive summaries of their mapped process with recommendations for streamlining operations. We will discuss challenges and approaches to pursuing these plans in their workplace/campus.

• Before Session 1: Participants will describe their motivation for taking this course and their background with regards to lean process improvement. This will help the IEL Fellow instructor to form working groups to support each other in the applied work.
• During session 1: We will form working groups to pursue the applied work.
• After Session 2: Participants/teams will perform a waste walk within their own work environment, or international operation of their choosing
• After Session 3: After session #3, participants will identify which tool or set of methods best fit their work situation, would be most useful in improving their operations
• After Session 4: Participants/teams? will complete a Value Stream Mapping exercise for the international operation of their choosing. This will include creation of a current process map, future process map and calculation of summary metrics (e.g., “takt” time).