Translation is the rendering of the language that will be incorporated into localized informational, digital, and physical products. Translation quality management (TQM) can be thought of as an input-process-output (IPO) chain, in which highly qualified translators are the input who process copy edited source content based upon the parameters for work set out in specifications, stylistic guidelines, and glossaries, and the output is the translation that undergoes quality evaluation to determine its suitability to be delivered to the client within translated and localized products and stored in translation memories for recycling into future projects within a product line. This course focuses upon designing workflows and guidelines to ensure that the TQM IPO chain is well optimized.

During the first part of this course, students will learn translation vendor management, with a focus upon how to recruit, screen, and onboard talent who can produce translations that are fit for purpose, given the specifications, audience, purpose, and domain. A gold standard workflow will be presented that includes vendor recruitment, screening, and onboarding, that incorporates the automation necessary to drive efficiency and the evaluation capabilities necessary to cultivate vendor databases that produce consistent quality results.

During the second part of the course, students will learn translation quality management, and the quality management systems (QMS) that set talent up for success. Types of quality evaluations that will be covered include those conducted on human and machine translations in bitext and in-context environments, with a focus upon addressing root causes for issues, thereby building capacity for growth over time.

Vendor and quality systems, when managed well, enable us to achieve what standardization bodies define as the principal among quality objectives: consistently meeting stakeholder requirements with translated and localized services and products – no matter the language pair, service, or content type.

Notes on blended schedule: This course is hybrid and will take place partially online. We will have in-person class meetings during weeks 1-3, 8, and 13-15. We will meet via Zoom during weeks 4-7 and 9-12.

Notes on variable credits: The Translation Quality Management (TQM) course combines topics from these two courses taught in the spring of 2022: TRLM 8642 Localization Vendor Management and TRLM 8655 Localization Quality Management.

If you enrolled in either TRLM 8642 or TRLM 8655 in the spring 2022 semester, you’d need to enroll in this Translation Quality Management course for 1-credit, to learn the modules from the course (LVM or LQM) you did not take.

If you enrolled in both TRLM 8642 and TRLM 8655 in the spring 2022 semester, you have already taken the modules that will be presented in the TQM course.

If you have not taken either TRLM 8642 or TRLM 8655, you must enroll in TQM for 2-credits.