University of Canberra

The University of Canberra currently defines its mission as

The education of people for professional careers, carried out in a professional way, and the continuing education of professionals throughout their working lives.

The University’s Strategic Plan for 1998-2000 is based on Strategic Directions and provides a global view of the University’s focus and direction for the next triennium. In addition, each of the faculties and divisions has its own strategic plan which addresses the more detailed concerns appropriate for an element of the University. The full version of the Strategic Plan sets out the strategies and tasks necessary to achieve its objectives and identifies groups, such as Academic Board’s Education Committee, to evaluate progress. Nominated operational plans will enable them to identify useful performance indicators and methods of evaluation.

The strategic plan is designed to operate on a ‘rolling triennium’ basis so that at the end of 1998 the University will be developing plans for 2001 against the findings of its evaluation mechanisms and the modifications to the document that these will produce. Indicators for monitoring the University’s operations and progress against its strategic plan are at different levels of development. As there is an inevitable tendency to value what is measured, the University is being careful to ensure that it measures that which it values. There is a large set of publicly accessible higher education contextual data available which provides a background against which the University’s own indicators can be used. These data should be used with care, and with some sense of their limitations.

Strategies and performance

Teaching and learning

Objectives: The University’s first objective is the education of the professional sector of Australian enterprise and industry through programs which focus on student needs, are intellectually stimulating and appropriate to the professions.

• strengthening academic standards and academic partnerships;
• emphasising generic skill acquisition;
• targeting of programs towards community needs; and
• ensuring that, within the diverse range of courses offered by the University, the acquisition of generic skills is emphasised in all the University’s education programs.

Key indicators: It is most useful at this stage to provide some key indicators that give an historical basis to the University’s current performance:

1. Employment and/or postgraduate studies of UC graduatesThe GCCA data for the period 1994-97 indicate that UC graduate employment rates for 1994-97 typically matched or exceeded national averages although the regional impact on graduate employment in 1997 from reductions in Commonwealth employment and associated changes to the ACT economy is apparent. Graduate starting salaries similarly reflected little variation from national average figures when account was taken of regional market conditions. In brief, UC graduate achievements in gaining employment at appropriate salary levels differed little from the high band within national figures for 1994-97.

Employment and/or Postgraduate Studies of UC Graduates

In view of the University’s emphasis on education for the professions it is not surprising that a smaller percentage of UC graduates than the national average seek or need to progress immediately to full-time postgraduate studies. Those choosing to progress directly, however, report ready acceptance into preferred postgraduate programs and universities. The University believes that, in the context of its own mission, these results can be interpreted as highly satisfactory.

2. Satisfaction of UC graduates with their courses

The GCCA data are not always meaningful for any University at the level of course because of sampling and classification problems. The data over the period 1994-97 indicate that an increasing percentage of CEQ respondents in each major field of study and for UC in aggregate are expressing overall satisfaction (a 12 per cent increase since 1995 in OSI) and satisfaction with the quality of teaching (a 27 per cent increase since 1995 in GTS), with almost 90 per cent satisfied with the generic skills acquired through their courses (GSS).

Satisfaction of UC Graduates with Their Courses

3. Progression and completion rates for UC students in first degree courses

UC routinely monitors the progress of its students. The internal ‘tracking’ data at the level of subject and course for particular student groups and sub-groups, confirmed by DETYA analyses at more aggregated levels after adjustment for field of study and demographic background, indicate that the progression and completion rates of UC students are a little higher than national averages.

Data used by DETYA to calculate UC’s student retention and progression relative to other universities’ (shown below) indicate, for example, that 79 per cent of UC’s 6534 students who could have continued their courses into 1995 (excluding the 1929 who had completed their courses the previous year) did so (while the normal expectation would be 76 per cent, having regard to field of study patterns and demographic characteristics of UC students relative to national data). Thus DETYA’s calculated retention performance index for UC in 1995 was 103 (against a national mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 10). UC’s index for both retention and progression in 1995 and 1996 was in each case, therefore, a little higher than national averages.

Retention and Progression of UC Students

Generic skills and attributes of graduates from the University of Canberra

The University strives to develop in its students’ generic skills and attributes which will facilitate graduates’ contribution to their professions and the society in which they live. In keeping with the mission of the University of Canberra, the particular emphasis has been on defining generic skills and attributes of graduates expected to become professionals. All graduates from the University of Canberra are expected to have developed the following skills and attributes:

Lifelong learning: Graduates are expected to continue to practice their learning skills to ensure that their professional practice is underpinned by current knowledge, skills and training.

Other data which provide a perspective on UC teaching and learning

The commitment of sufficient resources is critical to the achievement of the University’s goals, and for this reason several input measures are used by the University to monitor its performance. The University plans, however, to move toward a more outcome-oriented approach as far as possible. The University intends to use GCCA’s CEQ instrument to undertake its own survey of its final year students. The first of these surveys will be undertaken in Semester 2, 1998. As well as its work through the Centre for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching and Scholarship (CELTS), the University also undertakes surveys of its first-year students, the results of which are used to inform the University’s teaching processes. Following the development of the University’s teaching and learning plan, faculties have now developed their own teaching and learning plans and will report on faculty level implementation of specific aspects of the University plan.

The University of Canberra has been formally established as a university since 1990 and is developing an historical data base so that Council and VCAC can monitor the University’s performance over time. The development of performance indicators is an incremental process and the University’s regular review processes are being further developed to elicit more concrete data from employers and professional associations that will indicate the levels of employer satisfaction with generic skills acquisition, as well as professional expertise. Data will also be sought to report on faculty/school student evaluation mechanisms, and to identify priority areas for improvement as well as models of best-practice teaching.

Research

Objectives: To create, collect, advance and disseminate knowledge and inquiry in ways which are closely linked with and enrich the University’s professional focus and that strengthen the knowledge and intellectual base of the professions.

Indicators

The University is developing a set of indicators of research performance based on the construction of a ‘full-time equivalent research’ (FTER) workforce. For this purpose, all full-time research academic staff are weighted at 1.0 and all teaching-and-research staff are weighted at 0.3; teaching-only staff are not included. This construction has face-validity and incorporates the choices available to a University in designing a research strategy. Work has begun on historical data analysis to provide a data base for the 1990s. The data for 1996 have been analysed completely: in that year UC research performance was between ‘average and ‘high’ for performance across the whole system. The following table displays research performance for a number of universities familiar to us.

Consideration is being given to publishing the index; for the moment it is being used to help shape the University’s research strategy.

Other data which provide a perspective on UC research

Student services

Objectives: Provide a wide range of services and facilities to support the scholarly development of students and to facilitate their transition through academic life.

• library services, computer access, network services including the Internet, World Wide Web and electronic mail; and
• student support services such as health and counselling services, services for students with disabilities, student loans, study skills and a careers and employment service.

Indicators: Three key indicators are used to measure the University’s performance: accessibility, availability and assistance for students.

1. Accessibility: The goal has been on-campus access to all of our services for students, to enhance their ability to undertake their studies successfully and to make them feel they belong to the academic community.

• by mid-1997, all students living on-campus had direct access to the Internet system;

• by mid-1998, all students living off-campus had access to the system via an external provider;

• During 1997 there was an increase in the range of services that could be electronically accessed.

2. Availability: current standards

• General computer laboratories open on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week during term;

• Library open until 10.00pm each day;

• Availability of essential readings in library now greater than 90 per cent.

3. Assistance for students

Other data which provide a perspective on UC student services

Management

Indicators: Indicators of management efficiency are, of course, reported through reviews and their recommendations. The outcomes of the 1997 divisional review will be examined and evaluated in July 1998.

1. Days lost through industrial action

3. Numbers of formal staff grievances raised at University level

*Related to general staff reclassification.

The University has not been involved in court actions during the 1994-98 period and has been involved in only one case in the AAT.

4. Occupational health and safety

The number of accident reports received each year is declining in proportion to staff and student numbers while the number of notifiable reports has dropped. Accordingly, the University’s workers’ compensation premium was reduced by 19.3 per cent in 1996 and 27.3 per cent in 1997.

5. NACUBO benchmarking data

The University has participated in the NACUBO benchmarking process which covers a broad range of administrative activities. The first two years have been devoted to data collection and validation exercises. The full benefits will not be achieved until the University has long-term comparative data.

Other data which provide a perspective on UC management

Community service

Objectives: The strategic plan identifies the provision of intellectual leadership and service to the professions, industry, governments and to the wider society, particularly the ACT and local region, as one of its key objectives.

• The development and maintenance of linkages and cooperation with industry, other ACT educational institutions, the public sector and professional associations;
• The extension of the University’s links with other countries as a means of extending Australia’s role in the world;
• The development of close ties with other ACT cultural institutions to contribute to the economic, cultural and social development of the region.
• The University’s strategies involve a two-stage process: the establishment of cooperative links and, in due course, evaluation of the effectiveness of the links.

Indicators:

1. Partnership agreements with employers, government agencies, professional associations

Over the last two years, the University has entered into a number of agreements to provide suites of professional education and training for organisations such as the Australian Customs Service, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Army and DETYA. The University is actively pursuing links and cooperative activities with local government authorities to provide a structured interaction with local community organisations. Evaluation and measurement indices will be developed to report on these activities.

2. Memoranda, agreements with international institutions

The University has set up an international partnerships arm, UCARDI, to bring together universities in other countries which have a mission and structure similar to the University of Canberra. So far the partnerships represent some fifty universities in 20 countries. The University is developing indicators of the efficacy of these arrangements.

Collectively, UC staff devote a substantial amount of time and effort to community service activities - to leadership and service in public intellectual life; to the economic, social and cultural development of the ACT and of Australia and the protection of the physical and cultural environment, and to the development of the professions. Such service is regarded as an important ingredient in the delivery of quality teaching and research and is recognised in the University’s promotions procedures.

Other data which provide a perspective on UC community services

List of Acronyms

Contacts

Email: mae@adminserver.canberra.edu.au