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Father and Son Team Up for NGS/U Program From Across the Country
Call it family rivalry at its best...CAPT Patrick Trapp and LTJG Brian Trapp are both in the Coast Guard and both enrolled in the current MSQSM online program. To add to this NGS/U first-time father/son duo, they both are on the same Master's Business Project team, and are proving that distance is nothing more than another challenge in the pursuit of lifelong learning. CAPT Trapp is on the east coast, stationed in Portsmouth, Virginia; while LTJG Trapp is on the west coast; in Alameda, California. Their project is focused on the establishment of a work-study program for Coast Guard advanced education students.
 CAPT Trapp commented that his original desire and intent included working in one of the on-site cohorts, but when that didn't work out, he focused more on the online option. "I have to admit, it was a tough transition initially ... going from a traditional classroom environment, to an online format. I quickly realized that given my challenging schedule, the online option provided me exceptional flexibility while allowing me to still maintain some control of my time management." NGS/U provided me with the right combination of options, a Quality Management base and a Homeland Security emphasis, round that off with an executive accelerated program that you can complete in a year, and a solid match was made. I was impressed enough with the program that I recommended it to my son, Brian. "
 LTJG Trapp commented that he too was originally signed up for an on-site cohort program. "After my father mentioned NGS as an option, I did some research through their website and talked with a few friends and coworkers who were recent NGS/U grads. Who knew I was already using benchmarking?! While I was looking forward to meeting in class the same way I did my undergraduate degree, the on-line option definitely had its share of benefits. Getting to class was as simple as finding a place to hook up to the internet... not a bad commute!"
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Meet Your Professor: 
Sandra Voogd
Sandi Voogd has been a dedicated Quality Management professional for several years with domestic and international experience. Sandi has enjoyed applying quality concepts during previous work in the nuclear industry, durable goods manufacturing and most recently a Tribal Government. She guided the development of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation's first strategic plan. The effort included working with the Mashantucket Pequot's largest enterprise, Foxwoods Casino. Foxwoods Casino is a 24hr/7day a week operation and employs approximately 8,000. Sandi introduced the Kaizen continuous improvement process to the Foxwoods operation which resulted in significant breakthrough results such as reducing warehouse processing time from as much as 60 days to 1-14 days.
Sandi has been an adjunct professor with NGS/U since 2005. She especially enjoys teaching classes related to Hoshin strategic planning. She has utilized the Hoshin planning tools while leading strategy development with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Black and Decker. Sandi believes that there is nothing more powerful than engaging the hearts and minds of the people in setting the future direction of an organization. The catch-ball process was a very effective method for engaging the Tribal Citizens in crafting their vision and path to achieve it. She enjoys helping her students learn the Hoshin planning tools and apply them to their projects and day-to-day life.
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Graduation Policy Update
It was previously announced that NGS/U would host only one large graduation at Cape Cod, MA in June of this year. However, many students have indicated that they will be unable to make the trip for a variety of reasons; therefore, our President, Dr. Robert Gee, has authorized one final year of local graduations at the various cohort sites.
In keeping with its tradition, NGS/U hosts formal graduation ceremonies that include the wear of caps and gowns. Members of the administration, faculty and featured guest speakers will be formally attired as well to add dignity to your very special day. The exact date of each local graduation is posted on the class schedule for every cohort. Consult graduation planner, Dorothy Grady, at 800-838-2580 ext. 128 or dgrady@ngs.edu for specific details related to your respective graduations as she will be the point-of-contact to address all graduation-related questions.
Photo: Rockford 1007 Graduating Class | |
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Corporate Alumnus Spotlight:
Mr. Jim JelusoUnited Technologies
Jim Jeluso has 16 years of experience in the Aero-space Industry. He is
currently the discipline lead for the WPB Enterprise Hardware Quality Clinic "Doctor" for all Rocket Propulsion Systems within Pratt & Whitney's Space Propulsion division.
Mr. Jeluso has an extensive background in dimensional and assembly inspection processes. He holds a certification in Mechanical Inspection with the American Society for Quality, RABQSA-ISO 9001:2008 Lead Auditor and an (ACE) Achieving Competitive Excellence certified Associate. Mr. Jeluso received his Bachelors degree from Carson-Newman College TN and his Masters of Science degree in Quality Systems Management from NGS/U.
He says, "My studies in QSM provided me valuable skills within my job. Such as promoting healthy, robust processes; reducing cycle times, inventory and turnbacks; improving process repeatability and control; and helping maintain our customer satisfaction scores." |
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If you have news or information
that you would like to include in The Benchmark,
please contact Sara Fleck at: sfleck@ngs.edu or 800-838-2580 x125. Issue: 1 | |
