Congratulations to TWU's own Dr. Bob Martin - Recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal

President and Mrs. Bush Attend Presentation of the 2008 National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals

The Presidential Citizens Medal was created nearly four decades ago to recognize Americans who have performed exemplary service to our nation. It is among one of the highest honors that can be conferred on a citizen. As President, I rarely have the opportunity to surprise anybody. (Laughter.) It is tough to be stealthy -- (laughter) -- with a security detail that comprises a 20-car motorcade. (Laughter.) That makes me especially pleased to present the President's Citizens Medal to four outstanding -- and unsuspecting -- leaders in the arts: Bruce Cole, Dana Gioia, Adair Margo, and Bob Martin. (Applause.) Please do not rush the stage. (Laughter.) Remember the big security detail? (Laughter.)

As former Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Bob
Martin has helped preserve our treasured collections and bring libraries
and museums into the 21st century with new technology. He's helped recruit
and train a new generation of librarians to replace the many skilled
library professionals who are preparing to retire. I know of such person
preparing to retire. (Laughter.)

Process Engineering in Higher Ed?

M'hammed Abdous and Wu He provide an engineering oriented summary of what's commonly known as business process review.  It's from the Hammer and Champy school of thought, which is not such a bad thing.  I found this article thanks to George Siemen's weekly newsletter.  As George says, the article is a bit too focused, but with a little brainpower applied one can easily see the big picture implications of this article.  And that's why I include it here.

In this paper, we propose a conceptual and operational framework for process reengineering (PR) in higher education (HE) institutions. Using a case study aimed at streamlining exam scheduling and distribution in a distance learning (DL) unit, we outline a sequential and non-linear four-step framework designed to reengineer processes. The first two steps of this framework – initiating and analyzing – are used to initiate, document, and flowchart the process targeted for reengineering, and the last two steps – reengineering/ implementing and evaluating – are intended to prototype, implement, and evaluate the reengineered process. Our early involvement of all stakeholders, and our in-depth analysis and documentation of the existing process, allowed us to avoid the traditional pitfalls associated with business process reengineering (BPR). Consequently, the outcome of our case study indicates a streamlined and efficient process with a higher faculty satisfaction at substantial cost reduction.