About the course
The Process Improvement Practitioner course is Porter’s own intermediate-level program in continuous improvement. It is comparable in scope to the mid-level improvement credentials that many manufacturers and hospitals ask for, but it is not affiliated with any certifying body, and it is named so that no one thinks it is. It combines lean tools (value stream mapping, 5S, standard work, setup reduction) with the statistics needed to prove a change worked: measurement system analysis, process capability, control charts, hypothesis tests and a short introduction to designed experiments.
The course follows a five-phase cycle: define, measure, analyze, improve, control. Each on-campus Friday covers one phase. Between Fridays there are about two hours a week of online lessons and exercises, plus work on your project. Projects must address a real process at your workplace with a sponsor who signs off on the charter. In 2025–26, the 22 completers reported a median of $41,000 in annualized savings per project. We report the median because one person saved a dairy plant $600,000, and that skews the average.
Who should enroll
- Supervisors, engineers, quality and production staff, and clinical or office process owners who will lead improvement projects
- People who have done a one-day lean workshop and want the statistics behind it
You need a project sponsor at your employer and basic spreadsheet skills. The course provides a statistics software license for the term. If spreadsheets are new to you, take Data Analytics with Spreadsheets first.
Dates, format and fee
| Section | Dates | Meets | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort 2027 | Jan. 15–Apr. 2, 2027 | Fridays Jan. 15, Feb. 5, Feb. 26, Mar. 12 and Apr. 2, 8 a.m.–4 p.m., plus weekly online work | Commerce Hall 220 |
- Format
- Hybrid: five on-campus Fridays, weekly online modules, a workplace project
- Contact hours
- 40 (plus about 30 hours of project work)
- CEUs
- 4.0
- Fee
- $1,850, including textbook and software license
- Seats
- 24
What you will do
- Define (Jan. 15). Project charters, SIPOC diagrams, voice of the customer, choosing a problem small enough to finish.
- Measure (Feb. 5). Data collection plans, measurement system analysis, baseline capability.
- Analyze (Feb. 26). Value stream maps, cause-and-effect diagrams, Pareto analysis, regression and hypothesis tests.
- Improve (Mar. 12). Mistake-proofing, setup reduction, standard work, a short introduction to designed experiments, and a pilot plan.
- Control (Apr. 2). Control charts, control plans, handing the process back to its owner. Each participant presents an A3 report to a panel of faculty and an industry reviewer for 15 minutes.
Instructor
Dr. Hana Vukovich, associate professor of industrial engineering, spent eleven years in supplier quality for a vehicle-components maker before joining Porter. She also teaches in the lean manufacturing concentration and the graduate certificate in quality engineering. Project coaching is shared with two graduate assistants from the quality program.
Employer pricing and registration
The list fee is $1,850 per person. Professional Education invoices employers directly on net-30 terms and provides the completion letter and attendance record that tuition-assistance programs ask for.
| Enrollment | Price per person |
|---|---|
| 1–2 people from one employer | $1,850 |
| 3–5 people from one employer, same section | $1,665 (10% off) |
| 6 or more people from one employer | $1,573 (15% off) |
| Porter alumni (not combined with group pricing) | $1,665 |
| Private cohort of up to 16, at your site or ours | Quoted; usually 70–80% of 16 list-price seats |
Employers with fewer than 250 workers in Porter County and the five neighboring counties may qualify for a Valley Workforce Board incumbent-worker grant that covers up to half the fee. We will help with the paperwork. Employers who send three or more people may submit one shared project, if each person owns one phase. Register online or by phone. The full policy on cancellations, substitutions and weather is on the Professional Education page.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This course, its dates, fees, CEUs, instructors and the Valley Workforce Board grant are invented; there is nothing to register for and no certificate to earn. Dr. Hana Vukovich, the savings figures and the dairy plant are invented, and this credential is recognized by no one, including us.