Ethical Transparency – FAQs:
For the purposes of transparency, we have included the following Frequently Asked Questions that shed light on our history and mission…
Question #1: Why was the Council for Six Sigma Certification formed?
Answer: Ever since the beginning of Six Sigma, there has never been an official “standard” for certification or any type of recognized “accrediting” agency in the Six Sigma community. Since there was no accrediting agency, companies could create one and appear more official. Yet, many large companies and government institutions required a program to be “accredited” in order to obtain “tuition reimbursement”.
In the United States, as with many countries, colleges and universities are required to be accredited (by an accrediting agency approved by the US Department of Education) if they want to be eligible to accept financial aid. However, Six Sigma Certification was originally intended for employees to be considered as part of an employer’s employee training budget and not a type of tuition reimbursement from an accredited college or university. Please keep in mind that Six Sigma was initially designed by Motorola, not designed for consumers by an accredited college or university.
It was intended solely for businesses. The training was provided within a company by consultants, not professors.
However, some training providers created accrediting agencies for marketing purposes. These “accrediting” organizations were often confused by students and employers with an officially recognized accrediting body, despite the fact that they could be created overnight without weight in the six sigma industry. Unfortunately, this has the potential to dilute the Six Sigma community as a whole because many training providers did not adequately cover key fundamental principles in the methodology. The Council for Six Sigma Certification was formed to combat this and create a more standardized approach to training that would hold other providers more accountable for their certifications. Helping to ensure that a “minimum body of knowledge” and a “minimum student competency” is achieved before any student can be certified.
We serve as an Official Industry Standard of Six Sigma Accreditation for Six Sigma training providers worldwide who choose to join together behind our standardization after disclosing their internal operations.
Question #2: Who was the original founder of the Council for Six Sigma Certification?
Answer: The Council for Six Sigma Certification was formed in 2005 by Craig Setter. Mr. Setter, at that time, owned not only one of the most popular Six Sigma Certification providers in the world, but was also one of the pioneers in internet-based Six Sigma Training and Certification with his company “Six Sigma Online” (which is still a leading provider in the industry today).
Industry-respected publications like Quality Digest supported the original founder for distinguishing the relative value of the controversial six sigma white belt programs. As White Belts became more pervasive, he created his own White Belt Program and offered it to the world for free. It is in this tradition that we proudly link to the free offering of the White Belt Certification throughout our site.
With a lifetime of experience in quality improvement, the founder wanted to contribute a free offering back to an industry that he had spent a lifetime being passionate about, and has since trained and certified well over 100,000 individuals, which has contributed to the spread of Six Sigma as a leading discipline worldwide.
Question #3: Why are several of the providers that show up in Google not accredited by the Council for Six Sigma Certification?
Answer: Although it is difficult to answer with absolute certainty, in many cases it is because of one (or more) of the following reasons:
1. They have applied for our accreditation but were rejected.
2. They have created their own accreditation agency without the backing of an Official Industry Standard Accreditation in Six Sigma training.
3. They, for whatever reason, do not feel it is beneficial to have their curriculum inspected by an accrediting agency such as ours.
Because our accreditation is free, we encourage the public to exercise caution when dealing with any non-accredited provider.
Question #4: Why do some providers discount the value of accreditation?
Answer: We have seen some cases where a provider will discount or downplay the value of being accredited by our organization. Given that it is free to become an accredited provider through our organization, there is only the benefit in association with an Official Industry Standard for Six Sigma training. The value of training that the consumer receives will be bolstered by an accreditation to support the validity and integrity of the training that they received.
Question #5: Are there other accrediting agencies for Six Sigma?
Answer: Yes , there are other accrediting agencies with various models for accreditation processes, fees for accreditation, and certification requirements. One should do research on these other accrediting agencies to determine if they can gain comfort in their positions as neutral accrediting bodies.
Question #6: Why do you have sponsored link(s) in your listings?
Answer: In order to keep our services free for training providers and the general public, we require operational funding that goes beyond individual and/or business capital contributions. As a result, we are currently funded through a combination of private capital contributions and advertising revenue. However, in order to preserve our listings and maximize the referrals to smaller providers, we attempt to significantly limit the advertising availability on each page and throughout the site. For those interested in advertising availability, please contact us at info@sixsigmacouncil.org.