ASQ Fellows - Congratulations, The More The Merrier

I wanted to extend my sincere congratulations to the newly recognized ASQ Fellows.

ASQ Fellows 2014

The list of honorees has been posted and new ASQ Fellows are definitely in very impressive company which includes a past ASQ Chair and Board Members.

I recognized about 4 or 5 of the names from various initiatives, and doing a quick search on linkedin.com revealed the background of other new ASQ Fellows.  The new cohort definitely adds to the prestige and prominence of this membership category.  I am humbled to be included among their ranks.

I have commented before that the ratio of ASQ Fellows to the breadth of ASQ Senior members suggests that even with 10% representation, there should be between 4000 and 5000 Fellows instead of 600-800.  

24 does seem to be a low number of recipients, particularly since the Fellow criteria is not that remarkable for a professional with 15 years of Quality experience.  Here is an example portfolio of an active QA professional that should qualify for ASQ Fellow recognition.

·         Have a responsible QA role or position: 4 points
·         ASQ Certification: 6 points
·         Teach courses regularly at post-secondary institute (or consulting engagements for academics):  7 points
·         ASQ Committee work or member-leader:  4 points
·         Write articles or give presentations: 4 points
·         Participate in an equivalent industrial organization :3 points

If records were properly kept, there is no reason why each ASQ section or division should not submit a minimum of one application for a new Fellow every year.  I personally think that it would be a sign of success and robustness if ASQ recognized 50 or even 100 people in a year with this credential (without reducing or waiving the criteria for acceptance into the Fellow ranks).  I encourage any ASQ Senior Member who fulfills the ASQ Fellow criteria to approach their section or division to prepare and submit an application.

If anyone is interested, I recommend the following Quality Progress article: So You'd Like To Be An ASQ Fellow.  According to the article the ASQ Society Examining Committee receives 40-50 applications each year and nominates 60% of the candidates.  If every section and division were to nominate a minimum of one Senior Member per year (and up to 4 or 5), and if the guidance was followed, increasing the success rate to 80-90%.this would easily result in having over 100 new ASQ Fellows being recognized annually.  

The ASQ Fellow program is very good and I am glad when deserving quality practitioners and professionals receive this recognition and enhance its prominence and prestige. 

Congratulations again to the new ASQ Fellows – see you in Dallas in May.