Purdue uses peers to test
progress
By Laura Pelner
Campus
Editor
For the Board of Trustees one of the biggest components
of the strategic plan is the accountability that comes with it. In order
to measure how Purdue is moving forward in accordance with the plan,
the University has established a group of peer institutions with which
to measure itself.
"One of our primary concerns is real benchmarking
and accountability," said trustee John Hardin Jr. at the board meeting
Friday. "We need to put the entire community on notice, this is not
going on a shelf. I'm really looking forward to seeing the fruits this
will bear."
Trustee Michael Birck reiterated these thoughts
and said the strategic plan is not just a "bunch of wishes." He said
the measurements it includes are crucial to its overall success.
Provost Sally Frost Mason said the only way Purdue
will know if it is in fact improving is to compare itself to other similar
universities.
"It's important to compare what we do with what
happens at comparable institutions," Frost Mason said, and she listed
a number of ways Purdue and these other institutions are similar.
She said the peer schools are all regarded as equal
or greater than Purdue in quality, they are science- and technology-intensive,
they are public and comprehensive, they are major land-grant institutions,
and they all have flagship campuses and wide geographic distributions.
Frost Mason said Purdue will compare several things
with its peers — student and faculty quality, the quality of the
learning environment, student success, research productivity, industry
partnerships, community involvement and funding.
"Initial comparisons with our benchmarking institutions
have led us to conclude that we need to make substantial improvements,
and therefore substantial investments, (to achieve) our vision and realize
the next level," Frost Mason said.
In the comparisons the University has already made,
there is one area where it definitely seems Purdue is lacking. President
Martin Jischke said Purdue is 10th out of its 11 peer institutions in
tuition per student and state support per student. Jischke said the
monetary difference per student between Purdue and the other schools
is about $6,000 less than the average.
Purdue's peer institutions include:
N The public section of Cornell University
N Georgia Institute of Technology
N Pennsylvania State University
N University of Arizona
N University of California, Berkeley
N University of California, Davis
N University of Illinois
N University of Michigan
N University of Texas
N Texas A&M University
N University of Wisconsin
|
