“Quality” education: Exploring the value of bringing the quality approach to the communication classroom

Quality programs, from their early grounding in total quality management to today's modern forms, have become a mainstay in much of American business. Multiple sources suggest that more than half of American businesses have some type of quality program in place. By the late 1980s and early 1990s the quality philosophy had begun permeating the walls of higher education institutions. The primary venue for bringing the quality approach to higher education thus far has been through administrative channels and little has been done to explore its applicability in the classroom. This paper opens with a discussion of the core concepts embedded in the quality approach, considers the potential value of bringing this approach to higher education and specifically to the communication classroom, and concludes by offering suggestions for applications in introductory and upper level communication courses.