Quality Experts from Business, Health Care and Education Needed for 1995 Baldrige Quality Award Board of Examiners

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking quality experts from all sectors of American business, as well as from non-profit health care and education organizations, to serve on the 1995 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Applicants for the board must be experts in quality management and capable of evaluating large and small manufacturing and service businesses. In addition, quality experts from the health care and education communities are needed to participate in a pilot program in these areas.

NIST currently is working with the health care and education communities to adapt the Baldrige criteria and award program for these sectors. A pilot program will be conducted in 1995.

Those selected for the Board of Examiners must take part in a three-day preparation course based on the Baldrige award criteria and the examination process. In addition, examiners are expected to spend 10 days or more reviewing applications, preparing feedback reports to applicants and, in some cases, participating in site visits.

"The Board of Examiners has made an enormous contribution to improving quality in the United States," says Curt Reimann, head of the Baldrige Award program at NIST. "Participation in the work of the board is a very rewarding experience for both the examiners and the organizations that sponsor them." The Board of Examiners currently has 260 quality experts from business and industry, trade and professional associations, universities, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.

Applications to serve as a member of the 1995 board will be available in September from the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Office, A537 Administration Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-2036, fax: (301) 948-3716, e-mail: oqp [at] micf.nist.gov (oqp[at]micf[dot]nist[dot]gov) (via Internet). Examiner applications are due Nov. 1, 1994.

The Baldrige quality award was established by Congress in 1987 to promote quality awareness, to recognize quality achievements of U.S. companies and to publicize successful quality strategies. The award is not given for specific products or services. Currently, two awards may be given annually in each of three categories: manufacturing, service and small business. Awards for 1994 are expected to be announced in October.

A non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards. NIST was selected by Congress to design and manage the award program because of its role in helping U.S. companies compete, its world-renowned expertise in quality measurement and its reputation as an impartial third party.