|
The National Graduate School awards 23 MS Degrees and Six Sigma Blackbelt Certificates to UTC employees—and the Class of 2007 says "thank you" by generating a $17 million return on investment
March 24, 2007. Today the National Graduate School, an accredited educational institution based in Massachusetts, awarded 23 students with dual credentials—Masters of Science Degrees in Quality Systems Management, and Six Sigma Blackbelt Certificates. The School announced that the Class of 2007, made up exclusively of United Technologies Corporation (UTC) employees, had generated savings of more than $17 million for their employer as a result of their class projects, which were an integral part of their 16-month-long course of studies.
 The class projects, according to Leon Veretto, UTC's Director of Operations Analysis, yielded "world class" results. "The business problems and challenges that these students attacked were very real and very complex," said Veretto. "These students found solutions that had eluded UTC management for a long time. We couldn't be happier with the results."
The class projects reflect UTC's breadth. One student team solved major logistical bottlenecks in the production of helicopter tail rotors—enabling the company's Sikorsky Aircraft Division to substantially increase its efficiency in a production process the company had been struggling to improve for more than 20 years. Another student team found ways to reduce injury rates at an operations center in the Pratt and Whitney Division, with a bonus of achieving $600,000 in cost savings from avoided lost time. Another team improved supplier quality systems for the corporation's Hamilton Sundstrand
|
Mr. Leon Veretto congratulates graduates for outstanding results achieved on MBP Projects.
|
|
|
Division, yielding cost savings in excess of $1 million.
This graduation ceremony, held in Farmington (CT), had its seeds in a 2005 agreement in which UTC named the National Graduate School as one of its "Learning Partners." This designation, held by only a handful of other institutions such as Harvard and MIT, is a coveted achievement for any school, because of UTC's generously funded "Employee Scholar" program.
Under this program, UTC has invested more than $600 million in tuition, books, and fees for employees seeking degrees, in any course of study they select. The company also awards $10,000 worth of company stock to each student when they graduate. UTC even grants full-time paid leave in some cases to help employees focus on their studies.
Under this agreement, the School voluntarily committed to a unique value proposition. In exchange for UTC's payment of tuition and fees for a cohort group, the School promised that UTC will earn at least a 10 times return on investment (ROI). This return would be achieved by the results of class
projects. As part of the curriculum that the School tailored for UTC, each student has to perform a class project as a condition for earning a Master's Degree. Each project requires the formal validation by a internal company champion in order for the student to meet the graduation requirements of the program.
The Class of 2007 far exceeded this goal. Veretto stated that the senior management team at UTC is "in awe." In all, according to Veretto, "the students achieved savings of $700,000 per student through a combination of 9 team projects."
"We're thrilled with the results," said Dr. Robert Gee, president of the School. "Quite frankly, we thought that we had set the bar perhaps a bit too high when we first entered into the Learning Partnership. But the results speak well of the tenacity and hard work of the students—all of whom held down full time jobs at United Technologies while taking a grueling, full-time set of classes for a year-and-a-half in their 'free time.'"
"The UTC experience proves that for the delivery of education in quality systems management and Six Sigma, our model works" said Gee. "Classroom studies alone are not sufficient. By requiring students to apply what they are learning—by solving a real-world business challenge—everyone wins. The student's employer, who pays the tuition bill, gets an immediate return on that investment. And the student learns far more than he or she would if our curriculum was confined to classroom studies alone."
|
