The faculty and administration of the University of New Brunswick have taken a positive step towards arriving at performance indicators following the last round of negotiations. Rather than forcing employees to react to the imposition of indicators by an employer, the UNB initiative ensures that both parties are involved on an equal footing, and that any measures of public accountability are customized to the particular mission of the university.
In the 1995 round of collective agreement negotiations UNB set up a joint performance indicator committee chaired jointly by the current president of the faculty association and the associate dean of arts. The committee terms of reference are: (a) to identify appropriate institutional performance indicators; (b) to recommend appropriate institutional performance indicators; (c) to recommend procedures for the collection and analysis of appropriate data; and (d) to recommend what uses (internal and external) could be made of the data. A series of objectives focused the committee mandate.
The process emphasized a two-way flow of information and ideas so that everyone in the university community would understand the goals sought through the use of performance indicators, their role in achieving these goals, and how to provide input.
The joint committee categorized institutional performance indicators by their purpose. Standard performance indicators set the context in which UNB works, and will be readily comparable with other institutions, while strategic performance indicators are specific to UNB and its detailed objectives.
The joint committee defined an initial set of standard indica-tors revolving around financial resources, human resources and infrastructure.
The initial strategic indicator areas to be considered include: quality of students attracted, timely completion of degrees, appropriateness of course delivery systems, overall teaching performance, quality of educational experience, student extra-curricular activities, subsequent student success, composition of graduating body, participation in scholarly activity, scholarly output, external funding, community involvement and leadership, equitable treatment, environment for growth and change, and financial responsibility.
The UNB committee has recommended the creation of an on-going performance analysis advisory group to advise the senior administration on long-term priorities. The advisory group would pick up where the joint performance indicator committee leaves off.
The main task ahead is converting the standard performance indicators and the strategic performance indicator areas into usable quantitative and qualitative measures.
For further information contact the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers by email: aunbt@unb.ca.