Elements of Quality Online Education cation

Reinventing the University: The Business of Online EducationVIII. SUCCESS MEASURESUMUC employs a variety of metrics to examine how well the institution is meeting its objectives andadvancing strategic plans. The areas of examination tend to align with the “balanced scorecard”conceptual framework of Kaplan and Norton [18], a model originally designed for business organizations.Since UMUC operates as a business, this framework fits well with how the university measures successacross the institution. The School of Education at the University of Southern California also finds thismodel helpful in examining its “metrics of excellence” [19].UMUC focuses primarily on four areas to measure success: the student perspective, the financialperspective, the internal perspective, and the learning and growth perspective. All of these areas alignwith the Kaplan and Norton framework.The student perspective focuses on how our students see us. With this lens, UMUC focuses on quality.Toward that end, an established review cycle of all curricula ensures their currency and applicability.Curriculum review occurs more frequently than is required by regulatory bodies, especially in those areaswhere the knowledge base has a shorter life cycle, such as information technology. Other qualityindicators that UMUC uses include faculty development and training; course evaluations; and withdrawal,retention, and graduation rates.As a public institution, the university’s fiscal health is of key concern. Consequently, the financialperspective is important to all our stakeholders. The university is required to demonstrate through variousfiscal accounting reports and audits that the business is sound. With such a historically low amount offinancial support from the state, enrollment growth and the strategic and judicious use of resources are animperative for the institution.UMUC also measures success from an internal perspective. The executive leadership regularly examinesvarious processes to determine the areas in which we excel and those in which we need to improve in thefuture. This periodic review is especially important at this time in UMUC’s history. The enormous growthin online students has taxed some of the old processes that were suited to a smaller operation but arescalable no further. By streamlining processes and eliminating silos, the executive leadership hasrealigned many functional areas so that they operate more effectively and efficiently.In the fourth and final area—the learning and growth perspective—UMUC focuses on ways in which theuniversity can improve and create added value. In the highly dynamic online environment, this area ofmeasurement can be a challenge. Not only is technology advancing rapidly, but also studentdemographics are shifting. Tomorrow’s students will be different from today’s, with an increasing mix ofBoomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials, and this means we have to continuously reexamine processes andpractices to meet a changing marketplace.The retail industry provides a good example of how the generational differences among these groupsaffect operations: large shopping malls are not attracting younger shoppers in the same numbers as theirparents. Demographers project that this shift is likely to have a revolutionary impact on retail operationsin the future [20]. UMUC recognizes that it must remain responsive to student needs and demonstratecontinuous improvement and value.203