Assessing Organizational Performance in Higher Education

Assessing Organizational Performance in Higher Education offers educational leaders a proven model for integrating and expanding assessment practices. Rooted in systems theory, this approach provides a uniquely effective structure for measuring and evaluating organizational performance by framing an organization as a system with internal and external elements, each of which presents an opportunity and potential for assessment. The book provides a full complement of assessment technologies that enable leaders to measure and evaluate performance using qualitative and quantitative performance indicators and reference points in each of seven areas of organizational performance. While these technologies are not new, applying them in a comprehensive assessment of the performance of both academic and administrative organization in higher education is a true innovation. Assessing Organizational Performance in Higher Education defines four types of assessment user groups, each of which has unique interest in organizational performance. This offers a new perspective on who uses performance results and why they use them. These varied groups emphasize that assessment results must be tailored to fit the needs of specific groups, that one-size-fits-all does not apply in assessment. An assessment process must be robust and capable of delivering the right information at the right time to the right user group. The book includes recommendations on how to create and maintain an on-going, flexible, integrated, cost-effective, and comprehensive system capable of assessing performance of any organization or process within the institution, a new application of project management practices.