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The Academy made a presentation on
its innovative Key Performance Indicators (KPI) data reporting instrument at a
June meeting of the Data Elements Task Force of the Western Association of
Schools and Colleges (WASC), in Oakland, CA. The Academy was represented at this
meeting by Tom Suh, Research and Policy Analyst, and Dale Larson, Director of
Finance at the University of Dallas, and a frequent consultant to the Academy on
issues of higher education finance. Their presentation was part of a series
of conferences and meetings in which the Academy shared the fruits of its
KPI project with regional accrediting agencies.
[WASC is one of six regional
accrediting associations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to
determine Title IV eligibility for colleges and universities. It primarily
serves institutions in the states of California and Hawaii.]
Several of these regional agencies,
including WASC, were revising their accreditation standards and
procedures, including their data reporting systems and requirements. Suh and
Larson, appearing at WASC’s request, explained that the Academy’s purpose in
conceiving and developing the KPI process, a streamlined system for financial
and institutional data collection and analysis, was to minimize the time
and manpower required to establish the viability of an institutions educational
programs. Less time spent on these financial and institutional issues means that
more time and attention is available for reviewing educational programs. The
Academy now routinely uses the KPI process in its reviews of new applicants for
accreditation, as well as to monitor the continuing performance of member
institutions.
Suh and Larson’s presentation was
followed by an extensive question and answer session, during which they provided
a demonstration of the results obtained by the KPI process in practice, using
real data collected and analyzed for earlier in the year for a cooperating
institution. Suh and Larson emphasized the compactness and reliability of the
set of indicators used in the KPI review, arguing that they provide accreditors
with accurate "dashboard indicators" of institutional health without
the intrusiveness and massive documentation that characterize customary
reporting systems.
Developed with the generous support
from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts,
the KPI system takes its name from Samford University’s (Birmingham, AL)
comprehensive system of internal assessment. The KPI spreadsheets and
mathematical algorithms are derived from indicators first developed and used by
Moody’s Investor’s Services, which has also provided invaluable assistance
and expertise to project.
This innovative
and time-saving process has continued to attract interest from other regional
and specialized accrediting agencies, and the Academy is pleased to make more information
available to interested organizations and individuals. For more information on
the KPI Project, please contact the Academy at (202) 452-8611.
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