AALE Presentation on Key Performance Indicators
at the WASC Data Elements Task Force Conference

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.