Lean HE Americas
How to get involved:
Getting involved is easy – Complete this short membership form with your contact information and you'll be connected with our network of Lean coaches, internal consultants, trainers, and practitioners. You'll be placed on an email list and added to our bimonthly Zoom Lean Coffee Chat meetings and get notices of upcoming events, like Lean Quick Takes and the annual Lean HE International Conference. The email list is used to communicate meeting dates, information, and updates related to the group.
If you're interested in participating in an upcoming event, let us know and we'll connect you.
Contact Information:
Ruth Archer, PhD
Director of Continuous Improvement
Michigan Technological University,
Michigan, USA
raarcher.906@gmail.com
Lean HE Americas Bylaws
Our bylaws define essential elements of our organization, including membership, steering committee structure and roles, and internal rules, policies, and procedures related to governance.
Publications and Links to Resources in the Higher Education Field:
Lean Higher Education: Increasing the Value and Performance of University Processes, 2nd ed., 2020, William K. Balzer. There is a companion guide for individual or group study.
A Guide to Evidencing the Benefits of Change in Higher Education, 2017, Heather Lawrence and Nicola Cairns
Network for Change and Continuous Innovation: www.ncci-cu.org
Upcoming Events:
2024 Lean HE International Conference was at University of Cambridge in England! 23-25 October 2024. The theme was "Sustainability in Lean: Bridging innovation and tradition".
Lean HE Canada is an active network in the Americas. If you’re interested in learning more, reach out to Ray Konecsni.
Lean Quick Takes
4pm ET, May 20, Aug 19, and Nov 18, 2025
Register here for the May event!
Lean Quick Takes is a quarterly 60-minute virtual event that showcases 3 Lean-related ideas, 15 minutes each, with 8-10 minutes of presentation and 4-5 minutes of Q&A for each idea. The purpose of Lean HE Quick Takes is to educate our Lean higher ed community on Lean culture, principles, processes, methods, and tools as they are applied at universities and colleges.
Submit a Lean Quick Takes presenter proposal here!
Lean Coffee Chats. 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 4:30 ET. ★★ This is a twice monthly, 30 minute, virtual networking event. Our purpose is to get to know our colleagues. It's a casual, drop in event. There is no expectation of attending every week. You'll be automatically invited when your email is added to our list.
Information
The Lean HE Americas division gives university, college, and community college Lean practitioners in North and South America an opportunity to network and learn from others in the Lean-in-higher-education arena. This forum will give members opportunities to share best practices and emerging techniques that will support service improvement across their organization. The network will support the use of Lean methodology in higher education. We would like to invite higher education organizations who are practicing Lean, or are in the process of adopting this methodology for their business process improvement initiatives, to join the network.
Lean HE Americas Steering Committee
Lean HE Americas is governed by a steering committee. The following universities are currently represented on the Committee:
Kevin Waldrop, 2023 International Conference Host, University of California San Diego, USA
Eric O. Olsen, PhD, California Polytechnic State University, USA
Ray Konecsni, Canada Network Lead, University of Regina, Canada
We welcome all interested higher education staff and faculty to attend our seminars, meetings and conferences. Members of the network are from the organizations listed below:
Algonquin College, Canada
Arizona Western College, USA
Berea College, USA
Boston University, USA
Bowling Green State University, USA
Brandon University, Canada
California Institute of the Arts, USA
California Polytechnic State University, USA
California State University Channel Islands, USA
Cape Breton University, Canada
Capella University, USA
Cleary University, USA
College of the North Atlantic, Canada
Conestoga College, Canada
Cornell University, USA
Des Moines Area Community College, USA
Dona Ana Community College, USA
Elon University, USA
Ferris State University, USA
Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA
George Fox University, USA
Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Grand Valley State University, USA
HEC Montreal, Canada
Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
Indiana University, USA
Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires, Argentina
ITESO, Mexico
Iowa State University, USA
Kansas State University, USA
Kent State University, USA
Kettering University, USA
Lake Forest College, USA
Lakehead University, Canada
Lehigh University, USA
Marquette University, USA
McMaster University, Canada
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Miami University, USA
Michigan State University, USA
Michigan Technological University, USA
Milwaukee Area Technical College, USA
Minnesota State University Moorhead, USA
Mohawk College, Canada
Mount Royal University, Canada
Mt Hood Community College, USA
New Brunswick Community College, Canada
New Mexico State University, USA
North Carolina State University, USA
Northern Michigan University, USA
Oberlin College, USA
Ohio University, USA
Ohio Wesleyan University, USA
Oregon State University, USA
Polytechnique Montreal, Canada
Red Deer Polytechnic, Canada
Ryerson University, Canada
Saint Mary's University, Canada
San Diego State University, USA
Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Canada
Seattle University, USA
Southern New Hampshire University, USA
St Norbert College, USA
Tarrant County College, USA
The Ohio State University, USA
The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Ecuador
University of Alabama, USA
University of Alberta, Canada
University of Arkansas, USA
University of Brandon, Canada
University of British Columbia, Canada
University of California Davis, USA
University of California Irvine, USA
University of California San Diego, USA
University of California San Francisco, USA
University of California Santa Barbara, USA
University of Central Oklahoma, USA
University of Chicago, USA
University of Colorado, USA
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, USA
University of Dayton, USA
University of Guelph, Canada
University of Illinois, USA
University of Maine, USA
University of Manitoba, Canada
University of Maryland Baltimore, USA
University of Massachusetts, USA
University of Miami, USA
University of Michigan, USA
University of Michigan HSC, USA
University of New Brunswick, Canada
University of New Hampshire, USA
University of North Alabama, USA
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA
University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA
University of North Texas, USA
University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
University of Northern Iowa, USA
University of Oregon, USA
University of Regina, Canada
University of Tennessee, USA
University of Tennessee HSC, USA
University of Texas Arlington, USA
University of Texas Dallas, USA
University of Toronto, Canada
University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada
University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada
University of Utah, USA
University of Washington, USA
University of Wisconsin Green Bay, USA
University of Wisconsin Madison, USA
University of Waterloo, Canada
Utah State University, USA
Utah Valley University, USA
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA
Washington University in St Louis, USA
Wayne State University, USA
Western Governors University, USA
Western University, Canada
Wheaton College, USA
Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, USA
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA
Worcester State University, USA
Yale University, USA
News and Updates
Lean Resources for Educating Yourself and Others on Lean Concepts, Principles, and Tools — Aug 11, 2021
Official Launch of the Canadian Lean Higher Education Network — Jun 28, 2021
Free Miro for Faculty, Staff, and Students — Feb 17, 2021
University of Waterloo: 2018 CI Year in Review — Feb 21, 2019
University of Waterloo hosts Lean in higher education seminar — Feb 21, 2018
University of Waterloo Lean leaders win 2017 Share Showcase — Jan 8, 2018
DMACC assists Tidewater Community College with Strategic Enrollment Management Overhaul — Dec 4, 2017
Lean HE case study from Des Moins Area Community College — Nov 1, 2017
Lean update: the University of Waterloo — Oct 20, 2017
Central Coast Lean is holding a Lean IT business relationship presentation for Lean Leaders — Oct 19, 2017
Lean in Higher Ed: Service Excellence Really is for Everyone!: Karyn Ross Interviews Ruth Archer — Oct 10, 2017