Through this compact planning process, we have embarked on a discussion of performance measures that we can use as tools to move the university and each of its parts closer to our visions and aspirations. Conceptually, measures play the following three roles.

• Strategic indicators, used to monitor progress toward the vision or strategic goals, which would reposition the organization in relation to other, comparable or competitive organizations. These are unit or university-wide measures used primarily summatively. The university's strategic indicators, for example, could be: membership in AAU, a US News ranking within the top tier, and an overall improvement in NRC rankings.


• Dashboard indicators, used to monitor the general health of an organization. These are unit-specific measures. The university's dashboard indicators, for example, could include: graduation rate, retention rate, placement rate, and student satisfaction measures.


• Program indicators provide information useful for program improvement. They are used to determine whether an initiative is having the impact intended, or whether desired outcomes are being met. They are program- or initiative-specific and would be used at the program level in formative evaluation intended for ongoing program improvement. For example, program indicators for a professional degree program might include pass rate on a licensing examination, students' demonstration of a specific skill, and appreciation of specific ethical issues for that profession.

A given measure might play all three roles or could be used primarily for one of these purposes. For example, a coach monitors an athlete's recovery heartrate just to make sure that she can continue her usual training regimen; if this dashboard indicator shows diminished capacity, the training regimen might need to be changed. If she decided to train for the Olympics, and if her recovery heartrate was identified as something she needed to increase to reach this strategic goal, then a higher level of performance is targeted on this strategic indicator. The coach then recommends a new training regimen to improve the athlete's recovery heartrate, and in this case the measure is used as a program indicator that is monitored continuously to see if the new regimen has the desired impact. In these three examples, recovery heartrate plays three different roles.

Measuring performance - as a tool for improving quality, effectiveness, and recognition of the university, the colleges, and administrative units - can play a key role in planning and decision making. The following model suggests the relation of strategic, dashboard, and program indicators to planning, implementation, and evaluation.