LIVINGSTON – Innovative approaches to teaching and strong partnerships with business and industry have earned a prestigious statewide award for the University of West Alabama College of Business.

The college’s Dean, Dr. Ken Tucker, along with the Chair of the Department of Accounting, Finance, and Economics, Dr. Mitzi Green, accepted the Alabama Quality Award Level One: Commitment to Excellence award at a ceremony held December 8, 2011, in Tuscaloosa.

“We are very honored to receive such a distinguished award,” Tucker said. “The AQA program is so well respected state-wide, and the competition so intense, we feel fortunate indeed to be afforded this special recognition.”

The Alabama Quality Award (AQA) is modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and recognizes organizations that apply effective strategies for productivity and quality improvement and offers a forum for sharing those strategies with other groups. The award is administered by the Alabama Productivity Center, a nonprofit organization established in 1986 by The University of Alabama and Alabama Power Company to stimulate economic development within the state.

Organizations in the manufacturing, service, nonprofit, education, and healthcare industries compete for the annual award based upon criteria that include strategic planning, customer service, market focus, process management, and excellence in leadership. AQA’s board of examiners evaluates applications each spring and summer, then awards the prize at the end of the year.

The College of Business was among 11 organizations receiving AQA honors for 2011.

“The feedback report from the AQA examiners will give us significant guidance in making meaningful improvements in our performance,” Tucker said. “In addition to recognizing the strengths of an organization, the application and award process also identifies opportunities for improvement, which will aid the organization in getting better.”

Tucker credited the college’s faculty and staff with the business school’s success. “I would like to thank Dr. Wayne Bedford, Chair of Computer Information Systems and Technology and Associate Dean; Dr. Mitzi Green; Dr. Jan Miller, Leadership Development Fellow; and Maxine McClusky, Dean’s Secretary, as well as all of our faculty and staff, for their stellar contributions in both developing the application and also positioning the college to be a viable candidate for such an award,” he said. “Their hard work, dedication, and commitment to continuous improvement made this special recognition possible and they are to be commended.”

Established in 1967, The University of West Alabama’s College of Business offers undergraduate programs in accounting, business administration, management, marketing, technology, computer information systems, industrial technology and industrial maintenance.