Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 9

Microchim.

Acta 142, 177–185 (2003)


DOI 10.1007/s00604-003-0009-1

Original Paper
Quality Management in Undergraduate Laboratories. A Systematic
Approach to its Implementation

Gemma Rauret and Ramon Compañó


Departament de Quı́mica Analı́tica, Universitat de Barcelona, c=Martı́ i Franques 1-11, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain

Received January 12, 2003; accepted March 7, 2003; published online June 13, 2003
# Springer-Verlag 2003

Abstract. A systematic approach to the implementa- Aware of this change, some higher education insti-
tion of a quality management system in the teaching tutions have included theoretical subjects on quality
laboratories of higher education institutions is de- assurance in several curricula, such as chemistry,
scribed, based on the experience of the Faculty of engineering and pharmacy. However, as in other
Chemistry of the University of Barcelona. The main branches of science, practical teaching is also neces-
planning issues (definition of the aims and scope of the sary in order to provide the students with a global and
project, adoption of a model and of the appropriate coherent view of this subject.
strategy, leadership and adherence of personnel) are Moreover, a new scenario in higher education has
dealt with. Implementation (launching of the steering arisen from the adoption of a system of readable and
group and the quality assurance unit, definition of comparable degrees throughout Europe [1]. This situ-
the processes and of the organisational structure) is ation, together with the new requirements of the
discussed, and quality measurement activities are stakeholders, make it necessary not only to manage
described. teaching laboratories adequately and traditionally,
but also to provide an adequate answer to the rapidly
Key words: Quality management; teaching laboratories.
occurring changes in the curricula and the pro-
The increasing concern regarding the quality of the grammes. The way to deal with these challenging
information supplied by analytical laboratories has demands is through the management of teaching
been one of the most significant changes in Analytical laboratories within the framework of a quality man-
Chemistry over the last fifteen years. In this period, agement system (QMS). A QMS can be defined as a
the assurance of the quality of results has become as set of interconnected elements for the establishment
important as the development of new and improved of the policy and objectives of quality and for the
methodologies to satisfy the stringent demands of so- attainment of these objectives [2]. These elements in-
ciety. More recently, other non-analytical chemical clude the organisational structure, the human and
laboratories have become aware of the need to apply technical resources and the technical and management
quality criteria to their processes. processes. All the processes can be grouped into the
key categories considered in quality management:
planning, performing, assessing, and improving.
Since 1996, the Faculty of Chemistry of the
 Author for correspondence. E-mail: grauret@agenqua.org University of Barcelona (UB) has worked in this
178 n
G. Rauret and R. Compa~ o

direction. Our experience [3] enables us to propose a managed under the same quality principles and organ-
systematic approach that could be applied by other isation. In a second stage, the quality criteria of man-
universities interested in the implementation of qual- agement should also be extended to the remaining
ity assurance elements in the teaching laboratories. teaching and administrative activities of the centre.
The aim of this paper is to show the main issues of In principle, the implementation of a QMS in a
this approach. particular area of a centre, such as the teaching labora-
tories, can be a more feasible task than a more com-
The Planning plete implementation covering all the activities of the
centre. However, when the QMS is extended, some
Aims inconsistencies could appear, and these must be prop-
erly addressed.
The aims of the project can be summarised as follows: On the other hand, the existence of a stated quality
– To implement a QMS in teaching laboratories in policy in the whole organisation (university) to which
order to improve the technical and economic man- the centre belongs and a clear commitment of both the
agement as well as the performance of these university and the centre top managers, is an essential
laboratories and the educational quality of the prac- premise for the success of the project.
tical work carried out.
– To stimulate the centre’s staff towards the culture of The Model
quality management and continuous improvement.
– To offer an image of solidity and competence to One of the first steps in establishing a QMS is to
customers (students and their families, employers), choose the most suitable quality model for the insti-
education authorities, and society in general. tution. Among the standardised models, that of ISO
– To disseminate the experience acquired in the Fac- 9001:2000 standard [4] is one of the most widely
ulty of Chemistry of the University of Barcelona to known and applied internationally in the private sector
other centres. and, more recently, it has also been applied by public
administrations. Although it is difficult to obtain ac-
Thus, this implementation is addressed to: curate information about the exact number of institu-
– The students, in order to train them in practical as- tions of higher education that have implemented such
pects of quality assurance in laboratories as a com- a model, the perception of the authors is that the num-
plement to their theoretical training on this topic. ber is low, but has been increasing in the course of the
– The teachers of the different chemistry subjects, not last few years. Moreover, the tailoring possibilities
only because laboratory management is a relevant introduced in the last edition of the standard in rela-
tool to be developed as a student ability, but also to tion to the content of section 7 (Product realisation)
instil in them the need for good laboratory manage- will facilitate its implementation. Furthermore, the
ment in order to achieve good results in their sci- adoption of a certifiable model would enable the orga-
entific work. nisation to apply for an ISO certification in the future.
– The support personnel in the laboratories and in the The obtaining of such a certification could be a stim-
centre in general. The stimulation in people of a ulus for the staff as well as a valuable tool to increase
mentality of responsibility and interest in continu- the competitiveness of the organisation.
ous improvement is also crucial. Although the standard ISO=IEC 17025:1999 [5] is
– The stakeholders (graduate students, employers, specifically addressed to the quality management and
and society in general) which are the target group the technical competence of testing laboratories, it is
of the public service provided by the university. conceived for the professional laboratories, and it is
not an appropriate model for teaching laboratories.
The aim of a professional laboratory is to carry out
Scope
correct processes and to produce valid results. On the
In its preliminary stage, the QMS outlined could only contrary, in a teaching laboratory, a defective process
cover the teaching of practical subjects. However, from or a bad result can be an excellent tool in the hands
both a pedagogical and a managerial point of view, all of the teacher to be used in the teaching=learning
the teaching laboratories of the centre should be process.
Quality Management in Undergraduate Laboratories. A Systematic Approach to its Implementation 179

Moreover, as stated above, a general quality man- success. Among the tasks deriving from this leader-
agement model, extensible in the future to all teaching ship we can point out the following:
and administrative activities of the centre, would be
– To analyse the current and future needs of the
more appropriate.
stakeholders in order to orientate the institution
and the QMS in the proper way.
The Approach – To stimulate in the staff a proactive attitude towards
the aims of the institution.
Depending on whether an external recognition of the
– To convince people of the advantages of working in
QMS (usually as an ISO 9001 certificate) is required or
a quality management scheme.
not, several approaches are possible. When such rec-
– To provide the humane and material resources re-
ognition has to be obtained in a relatively short time,
quired for the implementation of the QMS.
some kind of external consultation will be necessary.
– To participate actively in the revision and improve-
The main task of this consultation will be to help the
ment of the QMS.
quality committee (QCM) in the interpretation of the
general requirements of the standard and their concre-
tion in the case of a higher education institution. Involvement of the Staff
When reaching external recognition is regarded as a
medium or long-term objective, the implementation of Higher education institutions are complex organisa-
the quality system may be based on the centre’s own tions in which the functional and hierarchical relation-
capabilities, with a strong involvement of the steering ships among the staff members are not always well
group. In this case two strategies, top-down and defined. Moreover, the parallel dedication of staff to
bottom-up, are possible. The top-down strategy is a teaching and research tasks can lead to conflicts of
more formal approach beginning with the writing of interest that may cause detrimental effects on both
the quality manual and of the general procedures of activities, but especially on teaching. The implemen-
the QMS. By contrast, the bottom-up strategy begins tation of a QMS will entail a clearer definition of the
with actions affecting the management of laboratories organisation and of the staff functions which should
at a practical level, delaying those associated with mitigate the negative effects of the situation depicted
more formal or difficult issues. From our experience, above.
when obtaining external recognition is not the primary Besides the leadership of the top management, the
aim, the bottom-up strategy is more appropriate, since adherence of people at all levels of the organisation is
it allows the institution to achieve some practical im- the other essential support element the QMS requires.
provements in a short period of time from the begin- People should be motivated to use all their technical
ning of the implementation of the QMS. The rationale and personal capabilities for the attainment of the ob-
underlying this approach resides in the fact that, tra- jectives of the organisation, in benefit of the stake-
ditionally, any cultural change at a university is more holders.
effective if the staff understands and approves of it The students are the main target group of the insti-
and does not perceive it as an imposition. However, tution’s activities. Thus, in spite of the temporary na-
this form of implementing the process may take lon- ture of their links to the institution, their involvement
ger than desired. A drawback of the bottom-up ap- will be important both for the improvement of the
proach is that, since it goes from more specific to system and for their formation and personal maturity.
more general issues, some inconsistencies are likely
to appear during its progressive implementation. In
The Implementation
order to minimise these dysfunctions, the organisa-
tional and documentary structures have to be clearly
The Steering Group and the Quality
designed by the QCM when the implementation starts.
Assurance Unit
The steering group of the project, hereafter termed the
Leadership
quality committee (QCM) is an essential tool for the
An attitude of leadership from the top managers of the success of the project (see Fig. 1). The QCM defines
centre in regard to the project will be essential for its the quality policy, establishes the annual objectives
180 n
G. Rauret and R. Compa~ o

Fig. 1. Structure of the quality committee for teaching laboratories

and plans the actions (quality plans) to attain them, the laboratories and the practical subjects should con-
applies for the necessary resources, and carries out stitute these. The participation of the representative in
periodical revisions of the system’s performance. the safety committee is also recommendable. These
The QMS is chaired by the head of the centre (Dean improvement groups will be a solid support for the
of the Faculty, Director of the School, etc) or his=her task of the representative of the department in the
delegate and is composed of the representatives of the QCM.
centre’s teaching units, one of whom acts as the sec- A Quality Assurance Unit (QAU) is another essen-
retary of the QCM. These representatives are the links tial element for successful implementation and oper-
between the QCM and the teaching units. Their role is ation of the QMS and must be present from the
to lead the implementation of the QMS in their units, beginning of the process. From an organisational
charging them with raising the interest of their col- point of view, this unit should depend directly on
leagues in the advantages of working in such a sys- the head of the centre and, normally, it will be com-
tem. Often colleagues do not properly acknowledge prised of one or two people. The leader of the QAU
their task, and the representatives will need the insti- will be a member of the QCM and should be a grad-
tution’s clear support. The launching of improvement uate, preferably a chemist, with knowledge and expe-
groups in each department, as internal enlivening rience in quality management. Taking into account
groups, is highly advisable. The representative of that quality management in a chemistry education in-
the department in the QCM and the co-ordinators of stitution is strongly connected to safety and waste
Quality Management in Undergraduate Laboratories. A Systematic Approach to its Implementation 181

management issues, some expertise on the part of the – Chemicals: purchasing, storage, preparation, stan-
QAU leader in regard to these fields will be necessary. dardisation and labelling.
His=her main tasks will be to train the members of – Bibliography: textbooks, handbooks and tables.
the QCM in quality management issues, managing the – Documents of the QMS (general and specific pro-
controlled documents of the QMS and assessing the cedures and registers): writing and revising.
system by means of periodical internal audits. Since – Personnel: assignment, qualification, training and
advanced students could bring with them a specific motivation.
point of view regarding the performance of the – Waste management, minimisation, storage and
QMS, their participation in the tasks of the QCM is elimination.
advisable. In the case of the Faculty of Chemistry of
The third process is the realisation of the product,
the UB, the participation of some students in succes-
that is, teaching the practical subjects to the students.
sive steps of the QMS implementation is considered a
This involves putting into practice all the planning of
successful experience. They are students who have
the previous stage. The final process includes the as-
passed more than 75% of the credits required for the
sessment of the three aspects involved in teaching=
degree, and they are granted 10–15 hours per week to
learning practical subjects: the adequacy of the con-
help the members of the QCM. In addition, they are
tent of the programmed practical work, the perfor-
trained in quality management of laboratories and
mance of the QMS and the knowledge and the
have gained some experience in this field.
training acquired by the students.
Processes Approach
Organisational Structure
In the last few years, the definition of the processes
Significant differences are likely to exist among the
involved in any activity has been considered an essen-
organisational structure of the practical teaching of
tial premise for its good management. According to
the centres. Hence, in this section only the main fo-
ISO 9000:2000 [2], a process can be defined as a set
cuses of this structure will be outlined, based on the
of interconnected activities that convert inputs into out-
structure implemented in the Faculty of Chemistry of
puts. The identification of the inputs and outputs of the
the UB (see Fig. 3).
processes as well as their connections with the func-
The centre (in our case the Faculty) distributes the
tions of the organisation will lead to more predictable
teaching tasks among the teaching units (in our case
results, better use of resources, shorter cycle times and
the departments). In each teaching unit, its direction
lower costs [6]. The processes involved in teaching
(the head of the department and the academic secre-
practical subjects are set out schematically in Fig. 2.
tary) is responsible for the distribution of the teaching
Four main processes must be considered. The first
tasks among the teaching force provided by the insti-
one, the design of each practical subject, is carried out
tution (professors, lecturers, associate professors and
in the teaching units following the degree objectives
Ph.D. students). The practical subjects assigned to
and the guidelines of the Studies Programme. In this
each teaching unit are taught in the respecive own
stage, the pedagogical objectives of the subjects, that
teaching laboratories. A member of the teaching staff,
is, the topics (including the quality topics) and the
called the laboratory co-ordinator, is in charge of the
procedural competencies that have to be learned by
infrastructure of each laboratory. It is the responsibil-
the students, should be discussed and agreed. Before
ity of this person to assure that the laboratory is prop-
its definitive implementation, the practical topics have
erly cleaned and maintained, and ready for teaching
to be validated in order to assess whether they fit in
different practical subjects. Since several subjects are
with the intended learning objectives.
taught in each laboratory, and most of these subjects
The second process, the planning, is the most com-
are taught to several groups each semester, there is a
plex one and can be divided into several sub-processes:
co-ordinator of each subject who ensures that the cor-
– Facilities (including safety issues): availability, responding reagents and equipment (instruments and
cleaning and maintenance. apparatus) necessary are available. He=she is also re-
– Equipment (including glassware, instruments and sponsible for the training of any inexperienced per-
apparatus): purchasing, maintenance, verification sonnel (associate professors or Ph.D. students that
and calibration. teach the subject for the first time). Each group of
182 n
G. Rauret and R. Compa~ o

Fig. 2. Processes (shaded rectangles) and sub-processes (white rectangles) involved in teaching=learning practical subjects

students (up to 35–40 students) is under the responsi- Some other administrative and technical personnel
bility of one teacher who qualifies them. Depending are involved in the practical teaching and are essential
on the number of students in the group, this teacher is for its good performance. These are the people in the
assisted by one or two additional teachers. administrative and economic services and the cleaning
Quality Management in Undergraduate Laboratories. A Systematic Approach to its Implementation 183

Fig. 3. Organisational structure of the personnel involved in the teaching of practical subjects

and maintenance services of the faculty, the represen- Formation of Staff


tatives of the department in the quality and safety
All staff members will need some periodical training
committees, those responsible for the economic man-
in relation to technical and pedagogical aspects of the
agement of the department, and the support personnel
practical work. Quality management issues, such as
of the department (technicians, purchasing head, ad-
organisation, process definition, documents of the
ministrative head).
184 n
G. Rauret and R. Compa~ o

QMS, audits, quality measurement, improvement, distributed when each group of students finishes its
etc., also need to be considered as important topics stay in the laboratory.
for the continuous training of teaching personnel. The – The performance of the laboratories will be
application of new technologies of communication to measured by means of the answers given in the
the teaching=learning process will also require signif- aforementioned questionnaire and also by the
icant training efforts. Training of the staff together number of complaints presented by the users of
with a clear institutional recognition of the teaching the laboratories. The QCM and the co-ordinators
task will be the best stimulus for innovation and responsible for the laboratories and the practical
continuous improvement of the teaching=learning subjects should assume the commitment of im-
process. plementing opportune corrective actions to deal
Training activities have to be tailored to the char- with the dysfunctions pointed out in the com-
acteristics (senior or young, permanent or temporary) plaints presented by teachers and students. They
and needs of the teaching personnel. The training of should give an explanation as to whether a
the technicians that collaborate in the management of corrective action is or is not feasible at that
the laboratories is also mandatory. All these activities moment.
have to be carried out in accordance with an approved – The benefits on the learning process can be mea-
annual plan. sured on the basis of the students’ results and the
opinion of the teachers in relation to specific items,
for instance the laboratory notebook, the reports
Quality Measurement prepared after each practical work, the precision
of the results obtained, etc. The opinion of profes-
A QMS, together with the clearly stated objectives,
sionals from external laboratories receiving ad-
must specify a set of indicators (qualitative and=or
vanced students for practical stays could also be
quantitative) associated with each objective. Since
an excellent indicator.
these indicators will allow assessment of the degree
of attainment of the objectives proposed in the quality In regard to the second target, two indicators can be
plan of each stage, they constitute a fundamental used to measure the increase of staff members’ inter-
tool of the QMS. Moreover, the definition of the est in quality management issues:
indicators will provide a beneficial feedback on the
objectives since it will lead to a more definite and – The number of teachers attending the training
realistic formulation that will make them more activities on these subjects.
attainable. – The number of proposals for improving actions in
Thus, as a final step of the proposed approach for relation to the management of laboratories and the
the QMS implementation in the teaching laboratories practical work.
of a centre of higher learning, we shall outline some The achievement of the third aim, the external per-
indicators for the four objectives proposed in the ception of the quality of practical teaching, has to be
planning stage. measured in relation to the activities included in
The first objective, in fact, includes a general goal the external promotion plan designed to fulfil this
(namely, the establishment of the QMS), and four objective.
specific aims that refer respectively to the technical Finally, a proper indicator for the fourth goal will
management, the economical management, the per- be the number of activities, such as papers, talks, sem-
formance of the laboratory and the quality of the inars, etc., performed with a view to disseminating the
teaching=learning process. Thus, we propose five experience to other centres.
indicators:
– The percentage of fulfilment of the objectives stat-
Final Remark
ed in the annual quality plan defined by the QCM.
– The improvement of the technical management The authors would be pleased to discuss the deeper
measured as the degree of satisfaction of the labo- implications of the contents of this paper with inter-
ratory users (students and teachers). This satisfac- ested individual or institutional parties. Opinions and
tion can be assessed by means of a questionnaire, comments are, of course, also welcome.
Quality Management in Undergraduate Laboratories. A Systematic Approach to its Implementation 185

References [4] ISO 9001:2000 Standard, Quality management systems.


Requirements
[1] Joint declaration of the European Ministers of Education con- [5] ISO=IEC 17025:1999 Standard, general requirements for the
vened in Bologna on June 1999 competence of testing and calibration laboratories
[2] ISO 9000:2000 Standard, Quality management systems. Fun- [6] International Organisation for Standardisation, Quality man-
damentals and vocabulary agement principles and guidelines on their application.
[3] Rauret G.; Compa~ n
o R.; Rubi
o E. Quin. Anal. 2000, 19, 103 Document ISO=TC 176=SC 2=N 376

You might also like