Establishment of Graduate Certificate in Lean Six Sigma

Date: April 21, 2014
To: College of Engineering
From: Office of Academic Affairs
Approved On: March 12, 2014
Approved by: Graduate Council
Implementation Date: Summer 2014

Note: Deletions are strikethroughs. Insertions are underlined.

Catalog Copy

Graduate Certificate in Lean Six Sigma

Addressing the need to ensure quality, this certificate provides professionals with the opportunity to reach a demonstrated level of competence in the lean manufacturing and Six Sigma quality management techniques. Students learn techniques to identify and eliminate waste systematically to help companies improve their bottom line. The graduate certificate may act as a standalone graduate option for post-baccalaureate and post-masters students, or may be pursued concurrently with a related graduate degree program at UNC Charlotte. The twelve credit hours in the certificate may be applied to the graduate programs in the Systems Engineering and Engineering Management (SEEM) department per approval of the department Program Director.

Courses are available in both on-campus and online formats.

This program accepts students in fall, spring and summer semesters.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Graduate School, the Systems Engineering and Engineering Management department seeks the following:

Either a bachelor’s degree in engineering or a closely related technical or scientific field, or a bachelor’s degree in business, provided relevant technical course requirements have been met

  • Undergraduate coursework in engineering economics, calculus, and statistics.

Students missing any of the prerequisite courses should register for EMGT 6101- Engineering Management Fundamentals (3 credits) offered online in the second summer session. This course satisfies the prerequisite requirement but does not count toward the 12 credit hours in the certificate.

  • An average GPA of 3.0 (out of 4.0)
  • Applicants should submit written description of any relevant and significant work experience.
  • Applicants whose native language is not English will need to satisfy the UNC Charlotte Graduate School’s English proficiency requirements.
  • Early-Entry Program – Undergraduate students with a GPA of 3.2 or above and with at least 75 semester hours completed toward a baccalaureate degree in Engineering, or Engineering Technology at UNC Charlotte may be admitted as an early-entry student provided they meet all other requirements of admission except the earned bachelor’s degree.

Students should complete the online Graduate Application for Admission.

Program Requirements

The certificate will be awarded upon completion of four graduate level courses (12 credit hours) in the area of lean Six Sigma process design, planning and execution. The cumulative GPA must be at least 3.0 and at most one course with a grade of C may be allowed toward the certificate. Requests for related course substitutions may be approved at the discretion of the Program Director.

The students need to take the following three courses:

  • EMGT 6924 Lean Six Sigma Practice and Management (3)
  • EMGT 6926 Lean Supply Networks (3)
  • EMGT 6905 Designed Experimentation (3)

Plus one of the following courses:

  • EMGT 6901 Advanced Project Management (3)
  • EMGT 6904 Product and Process Design (3)
  • EMGT 6142 Quality & Manufacturing Mgmt (3)