What would be a valid definition of Institutional Effectiveness? Can it be achieved or will it always be chasing continuous quality improvement?
Dear Aeron Zentner,
Institutional effectiveness can be defined as the systematic, explicit, and documented process of measuring performance against mission in all aspects of an institution. It can be measured in terms of existence of an institutional purpose suitable for higher education, determining that the institution has educational objectives consistent with its purpose or mission, documentation of the achievement of students in relation to the intended educational outcomes identified, determination of the extent to which institutions frequently assess student academic accomplishment and use its findings for improvement of educational programs.
Institutional effectiveness can be surly achieved if the aforementioned points are measured positively. This is my point of view.
As times constantly change all yearning for better life expectations, goals always change, including aims & objectives &therefore institutional effectiveness can almost never be achieved. Another point is that, those of the individuals who are expected to impart their contributions, will have to keep abreast of all latest developments in their respective fields, & this is never perfect.So what is lost over a small time period, unless they , make up, short comings could always occur.
Effectiveness in higher education is possible. The major criteria will be conscious matching of the goals and mission of the institution with the planned process and implementation. This can be achieved through measurement of set standards with results. Start from the known to the unknown.
It seems to me, Aeron, that you have two questions here: "what is it?" and "can we do it?" If we're going to achieve institutional effectiveness to any extent, it will be because we have a defined goal, so I'm glad you bring up the question. Like Dr. Al-khresheh, I believe that institutional effectiveness is complex and multi-faceted. I like the way he emphasizes mission alignment, for which continual quality improvement is crucial. Also, factors such as strategic planning and adaptability play a part. On a practical level, educational leaders have to make hard decisions about how to allocate resources, when to pursue technological innovations, and so on. Deciding on measurable outcomes, as Ms. Koko points out, provides a path toward making those decisions and achieving incremental improvements. I believe there will always be something to improve upon, though.
If you think about university I think it is important to perceive a higher education institution as a set of processes where you have the primary line and supporting line (after Porter, Value Chain Management: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_chain). I see from my research that because of an academic culture it is very difficult to measure the primary line at a university/research institute. But definitely we may measure the supporting line and it is a large field for improvements. I have delivered a presentation about quality in HEI - I think it might be helpful for you: http://fjk.org.pl/pl/conferences/download/16 (information about the seminar Quality - New Opening you find here: http://fjk.org.pl/pl/conferences/quality-new-opening).
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