Total Quality forum slated in Madison

Oct. 13, 1998

The eighth in a series of national forums on Total Quality issues affecting both higher education and industry will be sponsored by UW-Madison Oct. 21-22.

Called TQ Forum VIII, the conference has drawn representatives of companies and campuses from across the nation. Their charge: To define ways to improve the quality of university graduates through university-industry collaboration. The first TQ Forum was held in 1989, hosted by David Kearns, CEO of Xerox.

Speakers at the Madison forum will include David Ward, chancellor of UW-Madison; Ernest Micek, CEO, president and chairman of the board of Cargill; James Duderstadt, president emeritus of the University of Michigan; and Gordon Brunner, senior vice president of research and development for Procter & Gamble.

Participants will address such questions as:

  • What does industry want and need in the graduates they hire? And how can higher education and industry collaborate more effectively to ensure that those requirements are met?
  • What process can be used to produce curricula and learning experiences that result in well-prepared graduates?
  • By what measures do we know if universities are meeting the needs of industry?
The forum, to be held in Madison's Monona Terrace Convention Center, will be sponsored by the UW-Madison Chancellor's Office, School of Business, College of Engineering, and Office of Quality Improvement.