Regents review new accountability metrics for Elevate Extraordinary 2030 strategic roadmap

University leaders presented a draft set of success measures intended to operationalize the Elevate Extraordinary 2030 strategic roadmap, outlining how the institution will measure progress over the next five years.

Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Ryan Schmiesing told regents the roadmap is organized around five strategic imperatives and 20 action teams. Among the proposed success measures are tracking the percentage of students who complete at least one substantive immersive learning experience, the share of students enrolled in successful interdisciplinary courses, increases in graduates in health sciences to meet rural care needs, and measures of sustainability impact through international rankings.

Provost Gretchen Ritter said the University Performance and Accountability report will be separated from roadmap metrics: the accountability report will provide campus-level data such as enrollment, degrees awarded, graduation rates, faculty counts, and expenditures and return for board action in February after adding peer comparisons and final proofreading.

Regents asked how the University will measure reputation and post-graduation outcomes. "We're thinking in terms of surveys," a regent said; Provost Ritter and other leaders described plans to combine surveys, national benchmarking (including AAU criteria), and improvements in data infrastructure to record internships, study abroad, community engaged learning and other direct measures in student records.

Board members also discussed tracking faculty honors and 'prestige awards' as part of benchmarking against peers. The administration said a combination of new data sources and existing metrics will inform goals attached to the progress card and the strategic roadmap; the final refined metrics will return to the board at a later meeting.