Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
The Lean Six Sigma Black Belt represents the highest standard of process improvement leadership. Black Belts are the champions of their organization’s quality culture — they identify the most complex and high-stakes problems, build and lead cross-functional improvement teams, and use advanced statistical methods to drive breakthrough performance gains.
UNF’s Black Belt program is structured as a three-course sequence that builds directly on Green Belt fundamentals. You will deepen your statistical expertise — including advanced regression, Design of Experiments, and hypothesis testing — develop the leadership and change management skills needed to drive organizational transformation, and demonstrate your mastery through a real-world Six Sigma capstone project completed at your own workplace.
The program is self-paced and instructor-supported, designed to fit the demanding schedules of experienced professionals without sacrificing depth or rigor.
Required Textbook: Lean Six Sigma Leadership Tools for Black Belts
Recommended: The Probability Handbook
Three-Course Sequence to Black Belt Mastery
Prerequisites of this course include having successfully completed the UNF Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate course, strong familiarity with using formulas and graphing in Excel, and the ability to use algebra to solve equations. Participants that have attended a non-UNF Green Belt program may be eligible to attend if the program attended was comparable in duration and content (instructor approval is required). A laptop computer with Excel and a Minitab software license is required. If you do not already have access to Minitab, a 6-month license can be purchased through UNF for an additional fee.
Completion of a Black Belt project is a requirement of this certificate program. Your registration fee includes one year of instructor mentorship to identify and complete an approved project. This project will serve as credible evidence that you can apply Six Sigma in the real world. Two six-month project extensions are available for purchase if you are unable to complete your project within twelve months.
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Management Skills
This focuses on the organizational and leadership dimensions and covers all the non-statistical tools that Black Belts need to successfully identify process problems and lead teams through the DMAIC process.
Statistics for Lean Six Sigma Black Belts
The statistical core of the Black Belt program. You will master advanced data analysis techniques using Minitab statistical software, moving beyond the foundational methods of the Green Belt into more sophisticated quantitative tools for complex problem-solving.
Project Capstone
The capstone course is where Black Belt knowledge becomes Black Belt mastery. Under instructor guidance, you will plan, execute, and document a complete DMAIC improvement project at your workplace — demonstrating every skill developed across the program sequence.
Topics
- Reviewing Six Sigma
- Launching Projects
- Capturing the Voice of the Customer
- Choosing Metrics
- Leading Teams
- Managing Projects
- Mapping & Graphing Data
- Finding Root Causes
- Implementing Lean
- Calculating Lean Metrics
- Training Employees
- Designing for Six Sigma
- Closing the Project
- Descriptive Statistics & Graphical Analysis
- Probability
- Discrete Probability Distributions
- Continuous Probability Distributions
- Analysis of Variance
- Correlation & Regression
- Multiple Linear Regression & Logistic Regression
- Design of Experiments
- Control Charts
- Process Capability
- Project Selection
- Define Tollgate
- Measure Tollgate
- Analyze Tollgate
- Improve Tollgate
- Control Tollgate
Frequently Asked Questions
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Do I need a Green Belt before enrolling?
Yes. The Black Belt program builds directly on Green Belt-level knowledge. Students should have completed a Green Belt certificate program or have equivalent professional experience with DMAIC methodology and basic statistical tools before enrolling.
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Do I have to complete a real project at my workplace?
Yes. The capstone project requires execution in a real organizational setting. This is what distinguishes a UNF Black Belt graduate — you will have proven, documented results. Your instructor will work with you to select an appropriate project scope for your workplace context.
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Can my employer fund this program?
Many employers fund Black Belt training as a direct investment in operational improvement capabilities. UNF PLL can provide documentation to support employer reimbursement requests. Visit our Financial Assistance page for more information.
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Who is the instructor?
Dr. Mary McShane-Vaughn
Dr. Mary McShane-Vaughn is currently the Principal at University Training Partners, a company that develops and delivers Lean Six Sigma training for corporations and universities. She earned her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and an MS in Statistics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) in Flint, Michigan.
Dr. McShane-Vaughn has created and delivered Yellow, Green, and Black Belt training courses to hundreds of students, both in-person and online. Over the past seven years, she has enthusiastically delivered more than 70 Yellow, Green, and Black Belt courses for her university and corporate clients.
Previously, Mary was a tenured faculty member at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia (now Kennesaw State University). For eight years she directed and grew the Master of Science in Quality Assurance program and taught statistics, statistical quality control, linear regression, and design of experiments online in the graduate program.
Before her career in academics, Dr. McShane-Vaughn worked for 15 years as a quality engineer and statistician in the automotive, medical device manufacturing, consumer products testing, and revenue management industries.
Mary served as the Six Sigma Black Belt Exam Chair for the American Society for Quality (ASQ) from 2010–2012 and is now a member of the Certified Quality Engineer subcommittee. She is a past examiner for the Georgia Oglethorpe Award. She serves on the editorial review board for ASQ’s Six Sigma Forum. She is co-author of The Certified Quality Inspector Handbook, and author of The Probability Handbook, The Probability Workbook, and Lean Six Sigma Leadership. Dr. McShane-Vaughn is a senior member of the American Society for Quality and a member of the American Statistical Association. She holds ASQ certifications as a Six Sigma Black Belt, Quality Engineer, and Reliability Engineer.