Judiciary partnership
Students, faculty to work with judiciary's operational process improvement program
3:53 p.m., Nov. 14, 2014--The University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics signed a partnership agreement with the Delaware Judiciary on Thursday, Nov. 13. Through this collaboration, UD students and faculty will work with judiciary employees to implement new and more productive management systems in the Delaware courts.
“The idea is to create a common management culture over time and to develop a strong relationship with the Lerner College,” said Chief Justice Leo E. Strine of the Delaware Supreme Court.
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“The Lerner College is investing in our state judiciary and criminal justice system, and we’re investing in the Lerner College,” said Strine. “From this we hope to build a stronger judiciary and criminal justice system, and a stronger Lerner College.”
Building a more efficient judiciary
As part of this new partnership, employees of the Delaware Judiciary will be trained in the acclaimed Lean Six Sigma management system by Steve Horah of UD’s Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate program.
“We’re investing in our employees,” said Patricia Griffin, court administrator for the state of Delaware. “Our plan is for these process improvement techniques to flow throughout all judicial branch employees, to instill a common management culture of trying to improve the way we do business.”
Robert Coupe, commissioner of the Delaware Department of Correction, is one of the new program’s participants.
“Justice Strine has brought together the stakeholders in the court process,” said Coupe. “The idea is to create a culture of continuous improvement in our leadership positions.”
Coupe said his department is looking forward to working with Lerner College students to use technology to improve the efficiency of their systems. He added that it is particularly important for court systems to strive to avoid mistakes because of the impactful role they play in society.
Griffin said that future plans also include a streamlined electronic system of file sharing between different judicial departments. This saves paper as well as time.
“We’ll be implementing a unified approach,” said Griffin. She called this unity and movement away from outmoded practices a “culture change” within the judiciary.
Strine agreed on the positivity of different key partners in the justice system working together.
“If you can get people thinking in a common way, they’re essentially speaking the same language,” said Strine, who is a UD alumnus. “They’ll get much more done.”
An ongoing relationship with UD
Students will also be gleaning valuable experience from UD’s collaboration with the Delaware Judiciary. In the coming years, UD students will work with their professors to tackle process improvement projects within the judiciary.
“This experiential learning is a fantastic opportunity for enriching the curriculum of the Lerner College,” said George Irvine, UD’s assistant director of organizational learning solutions. This program, a joint venture of the Lerner College and the Division of Professional and Continuing Studies, was integral in forming the partnership.
“Part of the goal of the Division of Professional and Continuing Studies is to help professionals in the area to get smarter using UD knowledge,” said Irvine. “We’re achieving our mission in terms of extending our knowledge for the benefit of society.”
Irvine added that the program is unique in that it is one of the first ever to apply process improvement and performance management techniques to judiciaries.
“There aren’t many court systems doing this,” said Irvine. “If Delaware can be among the first states to introduce electronic case management integrated across courts, that will be a big pioneering step for courts across the United States. We can be among the first in the nation.”
Faculty members participating in the program include Diane Wright, Skip White and Scott Jones of the accounting and MIS department and Ernie Saniga of the business administration department.
“Lerner College faculty and students are eager and excited to work with the Delaware Judiciary on its operational process improvement program,” said Bruce Weber, dean of the Lerner College. “I applaud Chief Justice Strine for charting an innovative path for the state’s courts to operate at the highest level of effectiveness.”
“Organizations today have great opportunities to use information technology and management methods to streamline procedures and deliver high quality services,” Weber continued. “Our knowledge partnership will raise the satisfaction level of stakeholders of the judiciary, and will bring our faculty’s valuable insights to the state’s court system, which is so important to Delaware.”
Article by Sunny Rosen
Photos by Ambre Alexander Payne