(FALL 2009)

An elective course in the Spa and Hospitality Management Certificate Program.
A spa's quality management system transfers into practice the spirit and the intentions of what the spa's owners and managers want to provide for their guests. All processes interact to create the guest experience. In order to be fully functional, the spa quality management system has to have an aim, a method and a way to measure its effectiveness. This course will focus on the interconnected process and the necessary quality management that emerges from the spa's mission, values and methods. Topics include: Spa's key Process Indicators and objectives; quality management's role in the Spa's system of operation; processes that improve guest experience; regulatory requirements to optimize spa business operations and processes that minimize risks and continually improve all aspects of the spa business. See enrollment confirmation for login information. The required textbook for this course is "The International Standards of SpaExcellenceSM2008". It is available as an electronic PDF file and can be purchased by UCI Extension students at a discounted rate of $85 at http://www.spaquality.com/pages/UCI-text.htm.

Linda Bankoski, B.A., is a self-described learning and improvement fanatic with a multifaceted career as a health-care professional, corporate trainer, customer advocate, market researcher, culture change pioneer, business advisor. She brings 30 years of experience in manufacturing, market research, quality assurance, and training. She has been an ASQ Certified Quality Auditor, trainer, and consultant for 17 years and has served 5 years on the Board of Examiners for Baldrige National Quality Program. She has been the Managing Director of Education and Assessment for SpaQuality LLC since 2004 and is co-author of The International Standards of SpaExcellence, a quality management framework for spas.

Julie Register, BSBME, has 30 years of experience in quality systems in a variety of organizations. For the last decade, Ms. Register traveled extensively to experience and write about hundreds of spas around the world. Her involvement in the spa industry gave her the unique perspective of observing the industry from two distinct views - one as a very experienced spa consumer and the other as a quality assessor. She recognized the opportunity to bring quality management spa systems to the spa industry and created SpaQuality LLC, a company that provides quality standards, education, assessment, and certification to spas.