Work in progress - Innovation using the baldrige process

Increasingly, it is evident that the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) process is helping universities achieve their strategic planning goals. Yet, minimal attention in the engineering colleges has been given to the Baldrige criteria/process. This paper will address the successes of the Baldrige process for colleges and universities achieving academic achievement improvement. It will discuss the elements of the Baldrige criteria for higher education and identity three higher-level educational institutions that are MBNQA in education winners and their successes. The use of the Baldrige criteria in engineering colleges will be discussed. This paper proposes that the Baldrige criteria could provide the framework for systematic thinking for leading innovation to current engineering education critical issues.