Black Belt

Become a Lean Six Sigma expert who drives strategic process improvement!

At-a-glance  
Format Blended online or onsite (instructor-led)
Cost $4950 - discounts available
Duration 16 weeks
Availability 2 - 3 times annually
Prerequisites Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification
CEU's 11

RIT's blended Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification program is designed for working professionals and builds upon Green Belt certification. You will become an expert in Lean Six Sigma prepared to drive process excellence throughout your organization. RIT Certified Black Belts are leaders, change agents, strategic thinkers, trusted coaches, expert resources, and vigilant project managers who lead complex high value projects that improve customer satisfaction and productivity.

RIT’s Black Belt program is unique

  • Projects are integrated into the training so you actively apply tools and concepts directly to your own project. Your project will continue beyond formal training and will generate significant benefits to your organization, exponentially higher than the cost of the program itself. Each project is mentored by a Lean Six Sigma expert from RIT, and support continues through project completion.
  • Designed to meet the needs of all business sectors.  Emphasis is placed on tailoring learning to each student’s needs, while participant diversity provides opportunities to learn from one another through online discussions and project reviews.
  • Emphasis goes beyond in-depth coverage of Lean Six Sigma tools to leadership and change management essential to driving a culture of performance excellence.  Deep immersion and practice ensures that RIT Certified Black Belts live the methods and tools mastered, on a daily basis.
  • Spread out over 16 weeks to facilitate project integration and applied learning. Online lectures and discussions afford flexibility to busy schedules, and periodic “live” (web-conferenced) project reviews offer direct feedback on your project.
  • Instructors have deep expertise in their fields and work with you not only during the program but through completion of your project.  RIT is a major university with expert faculty, Master Black Belts, and other professionals who are teachers, consultants, real-world problem solvers, respected speakers and authors.

RIT’s Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification program helps you generate superior data driven solutions, improved customer satisfaction, enhanced productivity, and significantly improved bottom-line results.

Blended Online Program

Our blended online instructor-led delivery model is designed to provide you with flexibility to meet your other commitments while keeping you actively engaged with our expert instructors and other participants.  Learning materials include pre-recorded lectures, articles and videos, exercises, and quizzes that you complete each week; online “discussion boards”; three “live” project review sessions scheduled in advance to offer direct feedback on all projects; and conference calls or web-conferences as needed.

You should plan to spend 6-8 hours each week on course materials, homework, discussions, and occasional project review sessions, and an additional 6-8 hours each week working on your project, holding team meetings, and preparing for tollgates.

Contract Program

Our Black Belt certification program is also available as a customized contract program, which can be delivered to your organization in a “blended” format with both onsite elements and online components or offered fully online. Contact us for more information.

Certification

Certification by RIT as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt requires the following:

  • Successful completion of online training including all course materials and deliverables, participation in discussions and project reviews;
  • Passing score (70) on the final exam;
  • Completion of a Black Belt project, which you lead, including submission of a final report signed-off by your sponsor or other senior leader, within 2 years of training.  Final review and approval is done by your RIT instructor.  (Credit is not given for projects that were initiated before the start of training).

The program follows the DMAIC process and includes the following key topics:

  • Leadership and change management
  • Communication and conflict resolution
  • Strategic planning
  • Problem identification & project selection, project monetization
  • DMAIC & DMADV
  • Effective teams
  • Project management, risk management, and root cause analysis
  • Systems thinking, Voice-of-the-Customer, and benchmarking
  • Creative thinking and concept generation (Pugh analysis)
  • Advanced statistical methods using Minitab: 
    • Inferential statistics
    • Components of variance and multiple regression
    • Design of experiments and robust design
    • Process capability and statistical process control
    • Non-parametric methods
    • Simulation and Monte Carlo analysis
    • Transaction analysis
    • Response surface methods
    • Survey design
  • A3 problem solving
  • Piloting a solution
  • Management-by-fact
  • Lessons learned and implications for new project identification
Dates Registration
October 2, 2023 - January 25, 2024 (blended online)  Open


The program spans 16 weeks but you determine how to fit training into your busy schedule. Plan to spend 6-8 hours each week on course materials, homework, discussions, and occasional project reviews, plus an additional 6-8 hours working on your project, holding team meetings, and preparing for tollgates. 
 

Pre-requisite

Black Belt enrollment requires Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification from a reputable provider (as determined by RIT), including completion of a Green Belt project. 

If you have not been certified as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, please register for our Green Belt Program.  We offer a 20% discount on Black Belt training if you complete your Green Belt with us – see pricing for details.

If you have been Green Belt certified but did not a complete a viable Lean Six Sigma Green Belt project (as determined by RIT), you may still be accepted into our Black Belt program but you must complete a Green Belt level project in addition to a Black Belt project in order to be certified by RIT as a Black Belt. You will be charged $950 for us to mentor this additional project, which includes access to our online Green Belt training modules to help you fill any gaps that may exist as you prepare for Black Belt training.

Information required

To apply to our Black Belt program, please email the following information to Vincenzo Buonomo at vxbasp@rit.edu*:

  • Copy of your Certificate or other evidence of completion
  • Provider name, delivery method (classroom, online, etc.), approximate dates of training
  • Copy of Green Belt curriculum or topics covered
  • Information about your Green Belt project: copy of your charter, summary of solution and benefits achieved, sponsor approval and title, sponsor contact information.

* Information is not needed if your Green Belt certification came from the Center for Quality & Applied Statistic (CQAS).

We will review this information quickly and email you a link to use for Black Belt registration.


 

Individual Registration: $4,950

Discounts (only one discount per person):

  • MedTech and GRQC Members: $4,455 (10%)
  • RIT Alumni, Employees, and Immediate Family Members: $3,960 (20%)
  • Green Belt holders from RIT's CQAS are eligible for a 20% discount - contact certreg@rit.edu for more details

Group Registration (no other discounts apply) *:

  • 2 people: $4,455 per person (10%). (RIT Alumni, Employees and Immediate Family Members - please register as 2 individuals for a 20% discount)
  • 3+ people: $3,960 person (20%)

* Contact us to discuss package pricing and annual contracts - partner with us to help you improve your organization's performance!

Pricing includes 6-month Minitab license, if needed.

Cancellation Policy

Refunds will be issued for cancellations received and confirmed at least 15 business days prior to the black belt online program date. No refunds will be issued for cancellations received after that date. Please email certreg@rit.edu with any questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Green Belt and Black Belt training are two distinct programs which must both be completed separately, and Black Belt training builds upon the content within the Green Belt program. However, after finishing Green Belt training you may start our Black Belt program even if you have not yet completed your Green Belt project. You must still complete a Green Belt project as well as a separate Black Belt project in order to be certified as a Black Belt, but you may find it more convenient to complete both training programs as quickly as possible. It may also be convenient to define a Black Belt project that builds upon your Green Belt project. Lastly, RIT offers a discount on Black Belt training if you complete your Green Belt with us - see the pricing section.

Yes! Black Belts are process improvement experts with skills that apply across disciplines and industries even though application domains differ. For example, professionals in medical and transactional fields may find lean tools more helpful initially while manufacturing professionals often take a more balanced approach to utilizing lean and six sigma tools. RIT integrates lean and six sigma because waste and process variability are challenges to all organizations. Examples from different industries and application domains are used in the program to demonstrate the broad applicability of Lean Six Sigma. Black Belts are responsible for deciding which tools and methods will be most effective in specific situations within their own organizations.

No. We require Green Belt certification from a reputable provider because our Black Belt program builds on concepts and tools learned and practiced through Green Belt training and applied to at least one Green Belt level project. Training and project work are co-dependent – neither is adequate on its own. Employers of RIT Certified Black Belts expect graduates to be immediately capable of driving complex, high-value, cross-organizational projects.

This depends on the rigor of the program that you completed for your Green Belt and how active you’ve been in applying Lean Six Sigma tools, which is why we request information about your Green Belt provider and the curriculum you followed. We will review this material to ensure that you’ve received adequate preparation. If there are gaps we will point you to Green Belt material for review.

Our online format is designed to provide you with flexibility to meet your other commitments from wherever you are, while insuring that you are actively engaged with our expert instructors and other program participants. Elements include: (1) pre-recorded lectures, articles, videos, and quizzes that you complete each week at your convenience; (2) online “discussion boards” that you participate in each week with other participants at your convenience; (3) several “live” project review sessions scheduled in advance to offer direct feedback on all projects; and (4) conference calls or web-conferences as needed.

If you’ve never experienced a blended online format, we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised and will find it a very rich learning experience. Our Black Belt certification program is only offered via this format, although we offer on-site programs on a contract basis for employers with a minimum number of participants. Contact certreg@rit.edu if you are interested in a customized program for your organization.

You should plan to spend 6-8 hours each week on course materials, homework, discussions, quizzes, and occasional project reviews. In addition, you should plan 6-8 hours each week for work on your project, holding team meetings, and preparing for tollgates.

Every Black Belt project requires a sponsor whose role is: (1) to help identify in advance an opportunity suitable for a Black Belt project; (2) to help remove roadblocks and support project execution; and (3) to participate in tollgate reviews and sign-off on all tollgates. Your direct manager should also provide assurance that he/she understands the demands on your time for and is committed to your success in the program.

Before starting our Black Belt program, you must have identified an appropriate project “opportunity” with the support of a sponsor. You will receive information from us to assist you and your sponsor in selecting an appropriate project but, as a Green Belt, you already have experience with project selection. A Black Belt project is usually significantly larger in size and scope than a Green Belt project, involving multiple functions across the organization and generating more significant benefits. We suggest that a suitable Black Belt project returns at least $150,000 in estimated benefits, recognizing that other metrics may be more appropriate to your situation. The project should be completed (with sign-off from sponsor and finance) within two years of training. Your RIT instructor is the final reviewer and approver of your project.

No, credit is not given for projects that are either in-process or were completed prior to the start of RIT training.  Projects must be started in conjunction with our training program.

After the formal training ends, you will have 1 year to complete your project in order to earn Black Belt certification. Extensions may be granted for extenuating circumstances but they must be approved by RIT and your sponsor.

Minitab isn’t required but it is highly recommended, and a copy (6-month license) will be provided to you if you don’t have one available from your employer. All statistical tools and associated lectures, problems, and examples utilize Minitab so it will be much easier to learn the material with Minitab. Other statistical packages have the capabilities of Minitab but we have elected to use Minitab because it’s a good balance between ease-of-use and features.

All readings and slides will be available in our online repository, from which you can print a copy for your own use. Videos are viewable but cannot be downloaded.

Yes. Upon request, you will be issued 11 CEU’s at the end of the training portion of the program.

Once we have confirmed that you satisfy our pre-requisites, you will be provided a link to our registration and payment system. Registration is first-come-first-served – to be assured of a seat, you should register and pay as soon as it is feasible for you. RIT accepts credit cards and purchase orders. In the event that you need to cancel, we will refund the full cost of the program until 3 weeks (15 business days) prior to the program start date.

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