LHE-7600: Strategic Planning and Operations in Higher Education

Suskie, L. A., & Ikenberry, S. O. (2015). Five dimensions of quality: A common sense guide to accreditation and accountability. Jossey-Bass.
Read pages 147-188 (Chapters 13-16). In these chapters, Suskie and Ikenberry describe the different quality measures used by institutions, from general, big picture measures to more specific student learning measures. She discusses how institutions can set targets and benchmarks for both minimum and aspirational performance. She also provides an overview of how institutions can appropriately convey this information to different audiences and stakeholders.

Savgin, C. (2019). KPIs drive strategic planning and execution: And feedback steers the institution in the right direction. Planning for Higher Education, 47(4), 10-19.
This short article features a case study of an institution establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and how it feeds into their strategic planning process. The author outlines some of the challenges involved in establishing KPIs.

Keller, C. M. (2014). Lessons from the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA): The intersection of collective action & public policy. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 46(5), 23-29.
This short article features the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA), created in 2007, to provide more comparable, transparent data across educational institutions for various stakeholder groups. The author shares lessons learned in the development of these key indicators.

Jones, D. P., & Complete College America (2016). Outcomes-based funding: Taking stock. In National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, 1-30. National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
This report is a good overview of performance-based funding models used throughout the U.S. to fund higher education partially. Performance funding is when states tie some part of resource allocation to performance based on identified performance indicators. The report provides a summary of the different metrics used by different states.

Matthew, R., Bonilla-Martin, E., Santana, D., & Gonzalez, E. (2019). Using big data: How moneyball and an ardent baseball fan shaped successful metrics-based university planning. Planning for Higher Education, 48(1), 46-54.
This short article is a case study of how one university used big data to create key performance metrics to show organizational effectiveness. This process has been an evolving process, focusing on the effective use of data for decision-making.