The university needs to improve the quality of student outcomes under multiple constraints. Student enrollments are increasing due to the effect of the baby boom. Global fiscal austerity requires cost containment. The university wants to improve the quality of each student's credit hour, to increase the number of enrolled student credit hours, and to reduce the cost to the university and to the student of each credit hour. The university needs to empower people in quality-consistent ways and to exploit technology.
Technology can help the university manage quality and provide wider access for students.
This mission may be generalized to apply to many other organizations. One approach to these goals is quality management. Such management depends on standards within the organization. A standard is a specification that is recognized within an organization. A product or process can be measured against a specification to establish whether it meets the standard.