(University at Buffalo: Buffalo, NY) -- Professionals who want to help their organizations become more efficient can take advantage of two new business improvement training courses offered by The Center for Industrial Effectiveness (TCIE) at the University at Buffalo (UB), the state university of New York, that blend independent, online learning with classroom sessions.

The Blue Belt Blended Learning certification program is tailored to the health care sector and starts Feb. 16. It provides lean methodology training and an introduction to the rigors of the Six Sigma quality management philosophy. Attendees will learn how to reduce waste while gathering and using data to make productive changes.

The program will benefit administrators, line staff, health care practitioners, and other health care professionals who will learn how to streamline processes and improve throughput while meeting the industry’s regulatory demands and requirements for meticulous record keeping.

The Blue Belt program consists of more than 30 hours of independent, online learning and several classroom-based sessions, which will take place on March 2 and 23 from 8 a.m. to noon, and on April 20, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center, 2402 North Forest Road, Amherst, New York.

The facilitator, Sandra DiPasquale, Ph.D., is a Six Sigma Black Belt, a health care specialist, and adjunct instructor in the UB Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. Cost is $1,495; registration deadline is Feb. 9.

The Black Belt Blended Format certification training is targeted at professionals charged with mastering Six Sigma’s process improvement tools. Six Sigma helps businesses grow through greater efficiency, problem solving, and the philosophy that measurement and management go hand in hand.

This 200-hour course, which includes 120 hours of self-paced online learning, will begin March 4. Classroom sessions are facilitated by Thom Marra, a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and will be held on March 25, April 8 and 29, May 12 and 27, June 10 and 22, July 8 and 22, and Aug. 5, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They, too, will be held at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center. Cost is $5,295; registration deadline is Feb. 25.

The training focuses on the same principles as the popular Green Belt training, but at a higher mastery level through an expanded set of statistical tools.

Certification for both courses requires candidates to identify and complete an outcome-based improvement project at their place of employment, as well as pass an exam.

TCIE also provides organizations with private training sessions on request.

TCIE provides a dynamic link between the UB’s expert resources and the region’s business community. A program of the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, TCIE fosters partnerships and manages projects as diverse as the region’s businesses, and is a premier provider of lean Six Sigma training and mentoring. For more information on how TCIE can assist Western New York businesses, go to www.tcie.buffalo.edu.