What is quality in a maritime education?

Bunny PAINE-CLEMES
Director of Faculty Development, Professor of Liberal Arts

The California Maritime Academy

Abstract

How do we know that we are delivering quality in a maritime education?

If we are measuring a product, do we count the number of students who secure jobs upon graduation, or do we look for stellar career achievements? How do we describe our ideal graduate? Do we care about character education? Do we measure knowledge? If so, do we define it as technical expertise or as a more general cultivation of the intellect? Or do we determine the qualities that employers say they want?

If we are measuring a process, do we address student growth in measures defined by Perry, Chickering, or Astin? Do we measure institutional systems by the criteria of Baldridge or Total Quality Management (TQM)? Do we apply the Seven Principles of Good Practice in Higher Education? Do we define quality as "community" by Boyer's six princ iples?

In a world made uncertain by terrorism and change, when split-second decisions about security must be made by highly trained mariners, those of us in maritime education must ask ourselves: How do we define quality in our education, and how do we know we have it?

Keywords: Quality, Cognitive or Affective Growth, I-E-O Model, Baldridge, Total Quality Management (TQM), National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.