AQIP wants to know more about the internal workings of its participating institutions’ quality programs. This isn’t just idle curiosity, however. It comes from three independent and important considerations.

First, we’ve been besieged with inquiries from institutions, both those in AQIP and those considering joining, about how a quality program should be organized: who should be in charge? how representative a group is needed? how should the program leadership relate to Action Projects and the ongoing work on the Systems Portfolio? how should the quality program interface or align with strategic planning and other institutional prioritization processes?

Since AQIP possesses no empirical data on the "best way" to organize an institutional quality program, I always answer "it depends" (on your culture, size, history, goals, traditions, leadership, etc.). But what inquirers really want is to know what the range of options are.

Second, although we don’t know the "ideal" way an institution should organize itself for quality improvement, we do know that it makes a difference — a critical one. Our experience shows us clearly that institutions that want to improve but that fail to take intentional, deliberate actions to make improvement happen, don’t progress very fast or very far. The ones that shine in AQIP are those that have taken on quality with a passion, creating quality councils, improvement task forces, Action Project teams, quality improvement directors, quality tools training programs, and similar things. Some specific actions may bring more payoff than others (and we’d like very much to discover which practices work best), but it is clear that "hoping for improvement" is not an effective strategy for quality.

Third, we’ve encountered too many institutions where the quality program is an internal secret, known only to a few enthusiasts. It should be a bandwagon, welcoming and encouraging others to get involved. Even in institutions where wonderful progress is occurring, too many faculty and staff remain unaware of the activity and accomplishments. Better internal communication is essential.

To rectify all this, AQIP wants every participating institution to create (if it hasn’t already done so) a webpage explaining its quality program. Send the URL for your quality website to Mary Green. For examples, click on the Links section of the AQIP home page at www.AQIP.org and select "Links to Quality Websites hosted by AQIP Schools."