How can we make everyday work at UCLA easier, more consistent and more effective? Often, progress does not begin with a sweeping transformation. It begins when people closest to the work pause, examine how a process functions, and identify practical opportunities to make it better.
To support Effective UCLA’s goal of strengthening a culture of continuous process improvement across the campus community, Organizational Effectiveness & Development (OED) established a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) program to build practical process improvement capabilities through targeted learning and development opportunities. The program is designed to make continuous improvement more accessible and applicable for campus partners across a wide range of roles and functions.
The program currently offers two workshops. The Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certificate Workshop provides participants with foundational process improvement learning. Making Metrics Meaningful, a recently introduced supplemental course, reinforces and extends concepts covered in the Yellow Belt program. Both workshops are available in classroom and virtual formats, increasing access for individuals and teams throughout UCLA.
Just as important, the mix of campus-wide and department-specific offerings allows the program to meet different needs. Campus-wide sessions bring together colleagues from across UCLA, while dedicated sessions allow individual departments to participate as a team and connect the learning to their shared work. This flexibility has helped the program reach a broad campus audience.
Since launching in Spring 2025, OED has delivered 23 workshops, including 13 campus-wide sessions and 10 department-specific sessions. To date, OED has awarded 353 Yellow Belt certificates to participants representing 60 UCLA organizations and departments. Those figures demonstrate both strong engagement and growing interest in continuous improvement practices.
The program's reach is especially notable. Participants come from academic departments and professional schools, along with units supporting research, technology, facilities, health, student services, administration, risk, communications and campus operations. Participating organizations include Bioengineering, Psychology, the College of Life Sciences, University Extension, UCLA Health, UCLA Law, the Anderson School of Management, the School of Nursing, Facilities Management, Digital & Technology Solutions, Intercollegiate Athletics, Student Affairs, the Luskin School of Public Affairs, and many others. Some departments are part of larger organizations already represented but requested their own workshops to accommodate their teams.
These early results offer an encouraging picture of momentum. Continuous improvement is not confined to one type of work, one department, or one part of UCLA. The breadth of participation shows that teams across campus see value in strengthening their ability to examine processes and approach improvement more intentionally.
The program’s success to date is not simply the number of workshops delivered or certificates awarded. It is the growing network of UCLA employees introduced to a shared approach to continuous improvement. Each session expands the campus’s collective capacity to recognize opportunities, learn across roles, and support thoughtful changes in how work gets done.
As the program continues, OED will build on this foundation by expanding access to practical Lean Six Sigma learning and supporting a growing campus community committed to continuous improvement; one process, one team, and one improvement at a time.
For more information, email uclaoed@oed.ucla.edu.