HCC Named as a Winner of U.S. Senate Productivity Award

The University of Maryland (UM) and U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin have announced that Howard Community College (HCC) is recipient of the prestigious U.S. Senate Productivity Award.
The award, part of the university's Maryland Performance Excellence Awards Program, honors role model organizations for successfully implementing systematic processes for continuous improvement and achieving outstanding results.
Award recipients are evaluated rigorously by an independent board of examiners using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, which measures an organization's aptitude in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and results.
HCC employs a continuous flow of information to evaluate activities that serve students and help them succeed. A multi-step process is used to select, align, collect and integrate information - including evidence of student learning - to track daily operations and overall organizational performance.
Every team and unit, as well as senior leaders, use a Plan-Do-Study-Act process called "FIRE It Up!" to innovate, design and improve work systems. Information is fed into the strategic planning process to clarify objectives and direct resources.
HCC ranks above its peers in indicators, such as registered nurse licensure, employer training, and satisfaction of students and employees. The college also ranks high among its peers with a 50.1% four-year transfer rate.
"Howard Community College has a long history of using outcome measures to improve performance in the classroom," said Patrick Huddie, chair of the college's board of trustees. "The culture of the college says, 'The quest for excellence is never complete; you always try to improve.' That is the hallmark of a great institution."
For more information about the Maryland Performance Excellence Awards, go to www.mpea.umd.edu.

Please see The Business Monthly's special section in this issue, "A Salute to Howard Community College."