Key Performance Indicators : A GUIDE FOR ASSESSMENT …

Key Performance Indicators :A GUIDE FOR ASSESSMENT

AND QUALITY ENHANCEMENTFOR UNIVERSITIES INTHE ISLAMIC WORLD

2.4.4.ExtraSessRiyadh 19/10/12 8:53 Page 17


“The Role of Higher Education in the Development of Science and Technology for a Prosperous Future”

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Introduction

The quest for knowledge is a pillar ofthe Islamic Faith, and knowledge andits pursuit have today assumed greater

importance in promoting knowledge-intensive world.

While the Muslim Leaders are aware of thecritical role and impact of higher educationin the socioeconomic development and inequipping the future generation with newskills, knowledge and ideas, the highereducation in the Organization of IslamicCooperation (OIC) countries, however,continues to be faced with great challengessuch as lack of financing, faculty and staffdevelopment, skill-based training, qualityof teaching and scarcity of research fund.In the meantime, the higher education isopened up to new technological innovationand opportunities that are improving theways in which knowledge is produced,managed, disseminated, accessed andcontrolled.

It is imperative that the Ummah accordsmore attention to the promotion of qualityhigher education and develop compre-hensive and objective methodologies toevaluate the performance of itsuniversities. In appreciating the issue andin responding to the growing demand ofthe market-forces of Knowledge-economy(K-economy), a fresh look is needed to re-examine the higher education system in the

OIC countries in terms of its quality andrelevance.

The Vision 1441 on Science and Technologyadopted by the 10th Session of the IslamicSummit held in Putrajaya, Malaysia in 2003declared that the OIC member states arecommitted to become a community thatvalues knowledge, and is competent inadvancing Science and Technology and inutilizing it to enhance their socioeconomicwell-being.

The Strategy for Science, Technology andInnovation for the Islamic World adoptedby the 10th Session of the Islamic Summitheld in Putrajaya, Malaysia in 2003 andupdated by the 4th Islamic Conference ofthe Ministers of Higher Education andScientific Research held at Baku, Republicof Azerbaijan, in October 2008, stressed theimportance of sustained and enduringinvestment in human capital developmentrepresenting the knowledge, potential,drive, skills and all other essentialattributed that are embodied in individualto meet the challenges of 21st century. It alsohighlighted the Islamic perspective oneducation, particularly the fundamentalvalues and ideals underlying theedification of the individual and society aswell as ethics in scientific and technologicalapplications and their social, cultural andeconomic implications.

The Third Extraordinary Islamic Summitheld in Makkah-al-Mukaramah inDecember 2005 adopted the OIC Ten-yearProgram of Action that calls for effectiveimprovement and reformation of theeducational institutions and curricula at alllevels in the OIC member states. Amechanism to meet and achieve thedecision is to encourage the universitieswithin the OIC region to improve their


Sixth Islamic Conferenceof Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research

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standards of quality, especially theuniversities with potential to becomeworld class universities to the rank of Top500 World Universities.

As a result, an informal open-endedmeeting of the Ministers of HigherEducation was convened in Kuwait City,the State of Kuwait on 20 November 2006and discussed procedures and mechanismsof improvement of universities' perfor-mance. The meeting decided to form atechnical expert team to develop technicalsolutions that urge the Member States tostrive for quality education that promotescreativity, innovation, and research anddevelopment.

A Technical Experts Meeting was convenedin Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran on19 – 21 February 2007 to draft a documentcontaining proposed criteria, proceduresand mechanisms for ranking of universitiesin the OIC region. The draft document wasdistributed to all OIC member states, asreference for the Seminar of OIC memberstates held in Tehran, the Islamic Republicof Iran on 29 – 30 April 2007.

Representatives of the OIC member statesreviewed the document with the aim ofseeking consensus on the proposed criteria,procedures and mechanisms for ranking ofuniversities. The amended document wasplaced before the Fourth IslamicConference of Ministers Higher Educationand Scientific Research, held in October2008, in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan. Theconference recommended further examina-tion of the subject and the document.

The 37th Council of Foreign Ministers of theOIC member states, that met in Damascus,Arab Syrian Republic in May 2009requested the OIC General Secretariat toconvene an extraordinary meeting of theMinisters of Higher Education andScientific Research, in collaboration withthe ISESCO, to receive the feedbacks withthe purpose of preparing the finaldocument as a basis for future decisionconcerning implementation. The Kingdomof Saudi Arabia offered to host theExtraordinary Meeting of the Ministers ofHigher Education and Scientific Researchin Riyadh. A preparatory TechnicalMeeting of experts was held in Riyadh on24 - 25 April 2010. The university rankingsdocument was constructively debated, andit was recommended to amend its criteria,procedures and mechanisms for OICuniversity ranking as “Key PerformanceIndicators for Universities in the IslamicWorld to compete with world classuniversities”.

The 5th Islamic Conference of Ministers ofHigher Education and Scientific Researchin Kuala Lumpur, 19 – 20 October 2010reviewed the recommendations of theRiyadh meeting and requested the OICGeneral Secretariat and ISESCO to preparea draft document on “Key PerformanceIndicators for the Universities in theIslamic World”, and present it to theExtraordinary Islamic Conference of theMinisters of Higher Education andScientific Research, to be hosted by theKingdom of Saudi Arabia.



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World UniversityRankings:A Professional Outlook

Over the past ten years, several mech-anisms for rankings of universitieshave been introduced in the higher

education (HE) sector. The results andacceptance of those rankings have notalways been consistent or agreeable.Furthermore, many HE organizationsstarted reviewing university rankings on acritical basis attempting to bring logic andsense to this issue that witnessed growingcriticism from many educationists anddecision makers around the world. Thisdocument finds these views worth reportingand considering as they relate in manyways to the targeted goals of the task.

The UNESCO Forum on "Rankings andAccountability in Higher Education" heldin Paris in 16-17 May 2011 was a uniquechance for HE professionals to obtain anupdate on the university rankings and thedevelopments of the attitude towards them.

Professor Ellen Hazelkorn, Vice President,Research and Enterprise, and Head ofHigher Education Policy Research Unit(HEPRU) in Dublin, Ireland, confirmedthat:

• "Governments should stop obsessingabout global rankings and the top 1%they risk transforming their highereducation system and institutions, andsubverting other policy objectives, toconform to indicators designed byothers for other purposes;

• What matters is how governmentsprioritize their objectives of a skilledlabor force, equity, regional growth,better citizens, future Einsteins(scholars) and global competitiveness,and translate them into policy;

• Benchmarking should be used toimprove the capacity and qualities ofthe whole system-- not simply rewardthe achievements of elites and flagshipinstitutions."

Barbara Ischinger, Director for Education,OECD, Paris, said in her presentation, "thesubtitle of the (UNESCO) meeting ‘usesand misuses’ is not chosen by accident: therankings that we currently have available–for all the care that goes into compilingthem – fall short of capturing the rangeand depth of what universities and otherhigher education institutions do."Shediscusses the origins of university rankings,"Rankings first came to prominence atnational level and were usually developedby media companies to make thatinformation available in an easy-to-readway. All the information in them was eitherpublicly available or obtained by survey."

Highlighting the importance of aspects ofuniversity functions, she adds, "Thecontribution that higher education makesto economic, social and cultural development,goes far beyond teaching and research. Thetools at our disposal for evaluating andimproving higher education are stillrudimentary."



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To explain the difficulties professionalorganizations face to measure suchfunctions, she said,"

My team has been analyzing at regionallevel the complex interactions betweenhigher education systems and institutions,and the places they inhabit. We havelearned many important lessons from thiswork – about how higher education cancontribute to economic, social and culturaldevelopment, and about the mechanismsand incentives that can help. But we alsofind – and I know the EuropeanCommission’s U multi-rank project isfinding this as well – that these interactionsare very hard to measure and compare, andare therefore undervalued."

She concludes, "At a time whengovernments and families are financiallystretched, we need to know how effectivelymoney is being used. So accountability isabout far more than rankings." Sheexplains, "they are not the whole story andthere is a problem when tools intended toprovide information for students and theirfamilies are used to drive policy decisions,"adding that, "universities do much morethan research –the great majority of themare primarily or even exclusively teachinginstitutions and the existing internationalrankings tell us nothing about teaching andlearning outcomes". These views reflect theimportance of outcomes in highereducation being the priority rather thanranking which is trendy and highly limitedin scope in measuring performance.



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Objectives

The 5th Islamic Conference of Ministersof Higher Education and ScientificResearch (Kuala Lumpur, October

2010) requested to prepare a document onKey Performance Indicators based onrecommendation of the report of theTechnical Meeting of Experts on theRanking of Universities in Islamic Worldheld in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabiaon 24 - 25 April 2010.

The 5th Islamic Conference of Ministers ofHigher Education and Scientific Researchfurther requested to produce a documentcontaining proposed key performanceindicators, guidelines and procedures foradoption by interested universities for self-assessment with a view to improve qualityof education and research.

This document seeks to learn from the bestpractices around the world and proposethe KPIs that can be derived from thoseinternational experiences. This documentproposes learning from the internationallyacclaimed success stories in highereducation performance and deriving thekey performance indicators (KPI) in thoseuniversities to reflect them in the KPIs thisdocument seeks to propose. For example,many top universities have somehallmarks such as

1) emphasis and excellence in research,2) good governance,

3) academic freedom,4) adequate facilities/infrastructure,5) adequate funding,6) quality of faculty,7) talented undergraduate body,8) international presence, and 9) multi-disciplinary programs.

Universities around the world have threemain functions to serve: teaching, research,and community service.

Quality in providing these services ismeasured through different media. Qualityassurance agencies and accreditationboards are important bodies that monitorthe provision of those services.Accreditation and quality assessmentsdepend heavily on the provision ofperformance data, processes, andoperational descriptions.

Beneficiaries of these KPI in the OICmember states include:

• Higher education systems in the OICmember states;

• Students, parents, and communities inthe OIC member states;

• Trade and industry investors;

• HEIs in the Muslim world;

• Engaged human resources;

• Research Centers and programs;

• Innovation and creativity initiatives.

Expected gains of enhancing KPI in highereducation institutions are limitless, but canbe exemplified in the following:

• Socio-economic well-being of theUmmah in general, and every OIC statein particular.

• Increasing the student enrollment,recruitment of faculty members, andproduction of skilled manpower foreach nation.



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• Diversifying economic resources forIslamic states, especially those thatdepend heavily on single or limitednatural resources.

• Excellence in research leads to furtherresource generation throughcollaboration with the differentindustries by providing consultanciesand earning projects with local andinternational partners.

• Empowering universities to have betterimpact on their respective societies toturn them into knowledge-basedeconomies.

• Enhancing universities' reputation andinternational presence and acceptability,

especially in this globalized era.

• Improving local and internationalemployability of OIC members statesuniversities,

• Encouraging student and facultymobility among the OIC members statesuniversities which in turn, will lead tobetter understanding and culturalenrichment.

• Helping OIC member states universitiesmanage their activities, prioritize theirfocus, build their competences andcapacities, and allocate higher resources.

• Closing/bridging the gap between OICmember states universities and theirinternational counterparts.



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Key PerformanceIndicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) wereidentified for five major criteria. Theywere selected using the SMART

concept, keeping in view in particular thesimple and measurable indicators. TheKPIs for all the five major criteria are givenin Table 1. They reflect the prioritiesobserved in international scales.Knowledge of such priorities allowsuniversity leaders to reengineer theiractivities and reprioritize them to achievean improved performance that matches thequality standards.

Table 1

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR RESEARCH-CAPABLE UNIVERSITIES

• Research quality• Research performance• Research volume• Patents• External Research grants and chairs

• Graduate employability• Student enrolment and retention• Students success rates in standardized and professional

examinations• Frequency of curriculum reviews and development• Modernity of teaching references and textbooks• Ratio of expenditure on non-salary items to total budget such as

teacher training, equipment, IT & Library services, and student-related expenditure

• Assessment of teaching quality• Ratio of faculty members with PhD to total number of faculty• Ratio of faculty to students• Faculty members with awards• Ratio of faculty members with terminal degrees from other

institutions to total number of faculty

• Ratio of international faculty to total faculty• Ratio of faculty members with foreign higher degrees to total

number of faculty members with local degrees• Ratio of International students to total students• International cooperation through programs such as twinning,

visiting scholars, service contracts and collaboration projects• International conferences organized

CriterionResearch

Teaching

International out-look

INDICATORCRITERION



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In Appendix #1 additional details of theabove table with suggested example ofprobable weightage has been displayed.

Most universities in the OIC member stateshave priorities that emphasize more ontheir respective national developmentplans with emphasis on teaching activitiesand community service. A common beliefattaches excellence to internationalrecognition as being consequential andrestrictive for quality, which is not true.Quality assurance can be achieved atdifferent levels and should not be restrictedto one aspect only. New directions in the

vision of quality assurance in highereducation are now becoming more populararound the world. Shift to outcome-basedapproaches in higher education isnoticeably replacing the fading interest inranking systems.

Since most universities put teaching on thetop of their priorities, more focus on theteaching-related KPIs requires a differenthandling of those KPI and differentdistribution of attention to the involveddetails. Table 2 reflects the nature of thatdistribution and prioritization.

• Number of library holdings and book titles per student• Number of accessible up-to-date journals/periodicals• Availability and diversity of learning materials and resources• IT facilities and accessibility to e-resources• Adequacy of learning and teaching-related infrastructures and

fieldwork- related facilities• University experience enhancement opportunities• Adequacy of trained and skilful supporting technical and office

staff

• Lifelong learning and community service programs • Industrial linkages and Coop. programs • Alumni-university links• Entrepreneurship programs• Consultancies and contracts incomes• Number of market linked academic majors• Industrial Projects and Spin-off companies.

Facilities, Resources,and Supporting Staff

Socio-economicimpact

INDICATORCRITERION



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Table 2

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF QUALITYASSURANCE IN TEACHING UNIVERSITIES

• Graduate employability• Student enrolment and retention• Ratio of faculty members with PhD to total number of faculty• Frequency of curriculum reviews and development• Students success rates in standardized and professional

examinations• Modernity of teaching references and textbooks• Ratio of faculty to students• Assessment of teaching quality• Ratio of expenditure on non-salary items to total budget such as


• Faculty members with awards• Ratio of faculty members with terminal degrees from other

institutions to total number of faculty

• Research quality• Research performance• Research volume• External research grants and chairs• Patents

• Ratio of international faculty to total faculty• Ratio of International students to Total students• Ratio of faculty members with foreign higher degrees to total

number of faculty members with local degrees• International cooperation• International conferences organized• International Exchange Programs

• Number of library holdings and book titles per student• Number of accessible up-to-date journals/periodicals (hard and

soft copies)• Availability and diversity of learning materials and resources• Adequacy of learning and teaching-related infrastructures • University experience enhancement opportunities• Adequacy of trained and skilful supporting technical and office staff

Teaching

Research

International out-look

Facilities, Resources,and Supporting Staff

INDICATORCRITERION



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• Lifelong learning and community service programs • Industrial linkages and Coop. programs • Entrepreneurship programs • Number of market linked academic majors• Size of university endowments• Alumni-university links• The HEI's success in meeting relevant national developmental

demands


INDICATORCRITERION

Suggested Process forUsing the KPI

The KPI in this document are built withboth, international competitivenessand performance quality assurance in

consideration. It is assumed thatinternational competitiveness does not goagainst quality assurance, whatever thelocal developmental demands andchallenges may be.

Using the Self Assessment Form (SAF) forOIC member states (Appendix #1), and inconjunction with KPI Glossary (appendix#2) universities can determine where theystand and then make informed decisionson where improvement should be done.The form explains how each item shouldbe understood and interpreted in the field.

This easy process allows universities toengage its staff in a diagnostic assessmentof what the institution needs and where itshould start its improvement. This toolshould be helpful in setting the scene forquality assurance right in HEIs.

KPI DocumentApproval

ImplementationProcess and Key

Players' Roles

Identifying Prioritiesbased on SAF

Application Results

Launching ApprovedPrograms & Initiatives

SAF Execution by OICStats

Grap Analysis andFeedback

Enhancing Strengthsand IsolatingWeaknesses

Creating Programs &Initiatives by OIC, ISESCO &

Member States HEIs

Fig. 1. Suggested Implementation Process explaining the roles to play, the order of actions, and proposed involvement of differentorganizations.



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This mutual process requires both the OICmember states and the relevantorganizations to play certain roles that,when completed properly, enhancement ofthe OIC member states HEIs performanceis expected to improve and move to theright direction in light of the KPI providedin this document.

Recommendationsand SuggestedPerformance Targets

The OIC Vision 1441H on Science andTechnology adopted by the 10thIslamic Summit Conference, Putrajaya,

Malaysia, 2003, states that "OIC MemberStates are committed to become acommunity that values knowledge and iscompetent in utilizing and advancingScience and Technology, to enhance thesocio-economic well-being of the Ummah".In light of that, a number of targets aresuggested to be achieved by the OICmember states.

TARGETED ACHIEVEMENTSThe OIC has set a number of targets toachieve by 1441H. These targetedachievements can be accomplishedthrough a group of actions that arediscussed in the KPI presented in thisdocument:

• Workforce: To achieve workforce of at least 1441researchers, scientists and engineers permillion by 1441 Hijri;

• Scientific Output: To achieve at least 14% of World’sscientific output by 1441 Hijri;

• Research:o R&D Support: To increase the investment in R. & D. toreceive at least 1.4% of GDP;

• Benchmarking Investment inEducation: To increase the investment in educationin the OIC states' GDPs to benchmarkwith international standards;

• Student & Faculty Mobility: To encourage interstate harmonythrough the increase of student andfaculty mobility among OIC universitiesfor undergraduate and post-graduateeducation and research in institutions ofhigher learning in member states;

• Development of Human Resource forResearch: To take advantage of existing centers ofexcellence in Muslim countries fortraining of Muslim scientists;

USE AND IMPLEMENTATIONOF THE KPI DOCUMENT

The document provides guidelines, advice,and suggestions on the development of thehigher education practices in the OICmember states universities to improve theirprovision of reliable and productivelearning experience for its students,university visibility, outstanding researchoutput, and socio-economic impact ontheir respective communities. Using thisdocument entails a range of changes suchas spending, interaction, and improvementsat all levels.



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A number of recommended actions aredisplayed in the next table for the OICmember states to reflect in theirimplementation of each KPI category. Itdetails the suggested overall actions andleaves the execution to the respectiveuniversities, yet it gives less detail on theexecution level.

It is a prerequisite for this KPI document tobe followed by seminars, workshops, andmeetings organized by the OIC and therelevant organizations inclusive of ISESCOto move these recommendations forwardthrough discussions and thoroughcollaboration between the OIC memberstates universities.

SUGGESTED MECHANISMS:

1. Encouraging to consider Establishing(Quality Assurance Units) in everyMinistry of Higher Education (MOHE)and university in the OIC membersstates. There is also a need to collaborateand network with other related agenciesworking in this endeavor, namely theQuick Win project in education by IDB,the Malaysian Accreditation Agency intheir networking of accreditation agencies

in the universities in the Islamic worldand the Federation of Universities in theIslamic World (FUIW) through theirbureau of capacity building in qualityassurance and accreditation in theMuslim world.

2. Organizing awareness and "how-to"seminars and workshops organized bythe OIC and ISESCO to introduce andenhance the success potential inimplementing the document. Suchseminars and workshops could includethemes and topics such as qualityassurance, best practices (administrative& curricula), protection from braindrain, networking of universities/centersof excellence, exchange of faculties onshort term and/or deputation basis, andexchange of publications.

3. An OIC/ISESCO follow-up standingworking committee from comprisesstaffed by KPI experts from the OICmember states to brainstorm, develop,and prioritize a list of suggested OICand ISESCO programs and participatein providing consultative services, seminars,and workshops for interested OIC memberstates, as exemplified in detail in Table 3.

Table 3

EXAMPLES OF SUGGESTED AREAS OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF KPI

Graduate employability• Improve linkage to the local and regional

markets.• Encourage Coop programs.• Tie programs to the market needs, and

restructuring the HEI's programs toachieve that.

Student enrolment and retention• Establishing and supporting Career

Guidance Centers within HEIs in the OICmember states.

• Facilitating access to HEI's programs andincreasing funding for college students.

• Improving extracurricular activities and

RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF KPI

TEACHING



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cultural events to enhance universityexperience and have them engaged inhealthy activities.

• Developing and deploying studentsupport programs and academic advisoryunits to help low achievers and strugglingstudents overcome their problems.

• Encouraging preparatory and foundationprograms in the OIC HEI's to reducestudent attrition and improve thereadiness of secondary school graduatesfor college.

Ratio of faculty members with PhD tototal number of faculty

• Increasing funding for post-graduateprograms and scholarship grants.

• Attracting highly skilled and qualifiedfaculty members through incentives andprovision of good and supplementaryfacilities and services.

Frequency of curriculum reviews anddevelopment

• Regulating curriculum reviews onlegislative grounding to turn it into amandatory practice at regular, intensive,and thorough intervals in the OIC HEIs.

• Establishing administrative units in theOIC HEIs that undertake the developmentof curricula through cooperation withfaculty members and internationallibraries and counterparts.

Students success rates in standardized andprofessional examinations

• Help students prepare for professionalexaminations.

• Link curricular goals to professionalexaminations.

Modernity of teaching references andtextbooks

• Setting an expiration date for textbooksand references leading to consequentreplacement with updated resources.

• Allocating adequate funding for textbookupdating through authoring or externalpurchases.

• Encouraging respect to copyright laws,especially for local authors to encourageauthorship and innovation among theOIC HEI's scholars.

Ratio of faculty to students• Raising the awareness on the importance

of this ratio for quality.• Developing career guidance programs for

secondary school students to help themmake more informed decisions on theirchoice of major and career.

• Enhancing admissions based oncompetitive performance ofsecondary/high school graduates.

Assessment of teaching quality• Introducing student assessment of

teaching.• Diversifying teaching quality assessment

tools through peer reviews, pair work,visitations, etc.

• Learning from international best practicesand implementing those practices byadoption or adaptation to fit the localsetting.

Ratio of expenditure on non-salary itemsto total budget.

• Encouraging teacher training programs,exchange initiatives,

• Allocating adequate funding forequipment and IT & Library services

• Boosting other student-relatedexpenditure

Faculty members with awards• Encouraging the existing faculty to target

international recognition.• Attracting international established

faculty to work in the OIC universities.• Participation in international events to

network with international counterpartsand introduce local OIC universities'achievements to international events andresearch centres.

Ratio of faculty members with terminaldegrees from other institutions to totalnumber of faculty

• Encouraging diversity, novelty, andintroduction of new ideas.


TEACHING



Ratio of international faculty to totalfaculty

• Embracing the concept of internationalfaculty presence on campus.

Ratio of International students to totalstudents

• Embracing the concept of internationalstudents' presence on campus.

• Allocating more seats for internationalstudents to enrol in local OIC universities

• Encouraging exchange programs andmutual funding for student mobilityinitiatives.

Ratio of faculty members with foreignhigher degrees to total number of facultymembers with local degrees

• Giving priority in employment tograduates with diversified skills andqualifications awarded from differentHEIs.

• Discouraging inbreeding of facultymembers throughout the OIC universities.

International cooperation • Launching programs for twinning,

visiting scholars, service contracts andcollaboration projects among OICuniversities, and between them andinternational counterparts.

• Encouraging split and joint-degreeprograms.

International conferences organized• Establishing more annual and regular

academic conferences, symposia, andtraining workshops, specifically under theISESCO umbrella.

• Funding international participation forfaculty members in internationalconferences, especially the reputable ones.

International Exchange Programs • Increasing the number of operating

programs and beneficiaries.• Encouraging OIC universities' faculty

members to target internationallyacclaimed exchange programs such as theBritish Council, Fulbright, A. VonHumbalt Programs, etc.


INTERNATIONAL OUT-LOOK

FACILITIES, RESOURCES, AND SUPPORTING STAFF

Number of library holdings and booktitles per student

• Increasing funding for the increase oftitles and holdings.

Number of accessible up-to-datejournals/periodicals (hard and soft copies)

• Increasing funding for the increase ofsubscriptions.

• Encouraging joint and groupsubscriptions by OIC universities toreduce the costs

Availability and diversity of learningmaterials and resources

• Increasing funding for obtaining learningmaterials and resources.

• Increasing funding for authoring andmedia production and learning resourcesgeneration programs.

• Interlibrary loans among OIC memberstates universities.

Adequacy of learning and teaching-related infrastructures

• Acquiring state-of-the-art laboratoryequipment

• Provision of adequate logistics andfunding for fieldwork related activities.

• Maintaining adequate IT influence onacademic infrastructures.

University experience enhancementopportunities

• Enhance student support programs,sporting facilities and recreational facilities.

• Improving other extracurricular activitiesand cultural events.

• Support study tours and student mobility.

Adequacy of trained and skilfulsupporting technical and office staff

• Labs should have adequate and skilfultechnical staff

• Office staff should be competent andefficient


Lifelong learning and community serviceprograms

• Offering distance and traditional, shortand long term courses to all age groups ofthe society

• Encouraging and facilitating students toparticipate in community servicesprograms.

• Utilizing student volunteers' contributiontowards community awareness regardingdifferent environmental and health issues.

Industrial linkages and Coop. programs • Promoting industry-university linkages• Developing curricula to involve

internships and field training in relevantindustries prior to graduation.

• Enforcing a legislation for industries tomake substantial arrangements andspecific programs for student training andinternships as part of their socialresponsibility towards OIC communities.

Entrepreneurship programs • Encourage and instil the spirit of

entrepreneurship in the students throughtraining programs, curricula, andawareness.

Number of market-linked academicmajors

• Encourage curricula development inconsultation with the industry players.

• Analysing unemployment rates,professions, and causes to reengineeruniversity majors to avoid further increasein unemployment.

Size of university endowments • Devising strategies for attracting funds to

the university.• Creating chairs to attract philanthropists

to invest in the universities.

Alumni-university links• Keeping a record of alumni,

communicating with them consistently,and creating unions for alumni withhomecoming activities.

• Engaging alumni in enhancing universityendowments and reputation.

The HEI's success in meeting relevantnational developmental demands

• Providing support in preparation ofnational policies.

• Establishing higher education councilsthat bring together all stakeholders towork hand in hand in planning anddeveloping the higher education system.

• Providing expert advice in developmentand implementation of R&D projects.


SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT

RESEARCH

Research quality, performance, and volume.• Review of research procedures, facilities,

funding, and all relevant components andmending the shortcomings to uplift thequality of outcomes.

• Raising awareness of prominent andinternationally acclaimed journals andperiodicals to be targeted by publication.

• Encouraging OIC member stateuniversities to enlist their journals anddevelop them to qualify to become part ofinternational indexes such as ISI andsimilar indexes.

• Encouraging multi-authorship, multi-disciplinary, cross-national, and cross-cultural research projects, especiallybetween the OIC member statesuniversities.

• Identify general indexes for major languagesspoken in the OIC member states.

Patents• Establishing support units for patent

registration for local researchers.• Encouraging the transformation of patents

into marketable products to support thetransition of OIC member stateseconomies into knowledge-basedeconomies.

External Research grants and chairs• Encouraging local industries,

businessmen, and community leaders tocontribute to university efforts throughgrants and chairs.

• Mandating social responsibility measuresto be implemented in trade, foreigninvestment, and industries throughgrants, scholarships, and research chairs.

• Motivating faculty members to attractgrants and compete for that.



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A successful application of the KPI forquality assurance in universities from theOIC region would demand fullcommitments, support and cooperationfrom all interested parties of the OICmembers states. All participating member

states are expected to share the properunderstanding of the KPI's consequentactions, for their own HEI's benefit and thefulfillment of the OIC targeted achievementsand goals.

The proposed KPI in this documentbuilds on the preceding efforts offellow experts and policy makers

carried out in Baku, Tehran, Damascus,Kuala Lumpur, and Riyadh. Having beendeveloped into a KPI document, it shouldcontribute to the significant improvementof the quality of the OIC member statesuniversities' programs and activities. TheseKPI are profoundly based on the deepunderstanding of the nature of challengesand problems under which the OICmember states universities operate. TheseKPIs merge the international expectationsand standards in higher educationperformance together with OIC universitiescapabilities, resources, and expectedchallenges. They also respond carefully to

OIC local communities' needs and foreseetheir hoped future.

While international competitiveness isviewed as an attainable goal for a numberof the OIC member states universities,priorities remain the most influential factorin determining the ability of theseuniversities to live up to their localcommunities expectations, respond to thelocal demand and developmental needs,and then look for a better place at theinternational level. This document isfounded on the understanding that allthese goals can be targeted and achievedwithout sacrificing any or implementingany at the expense of the other.

Conclusions


Appendix # 1

A SUGGESTED SELF-ASSESSMENT FORM (SAF) WITH WEIGHT BREAK-DOWN FOR KPIResearch-Enabled Universities

• Research quality• Research performance• Research volume• External research grants and chairs• Patents

Ratio of faculty members with PhD to total number of faculty• Ratio of faculty to students• Faculty members with awards• Ratio of faculty members with terminal degrees from other

institutions to total number of faculty• Frequency of curriculum reviews and development• Ratio of expenditure on non-salary items to total budget such as


Student enrolment and retention• Graduate employability• Students success rates in standardized and professional

examinations• Modernity of teaching references and textbooks• Assessment of teaching quality

• Ratio of International students to total students• Ratio of international faculty to total faculty• Ratio of faculty members with foreign higher degrees to total

number of faculty members with local degrees• International cooperation through programs such as twinning,

visiting scholars, service contracts and collaboration projects• International conferences organized

• Adequacy of learning and teaching-related infrastructures andfieldwork- related facilities

• IT facilities and accessibility to e-resources• Availability and diversity of learning materials and resources• Adequacy of trained and skilful supporting technical and office

staff• University experience enhancement opportunities• Number of library holdings and book titles per student• Number of accessible up-to-date journals/periodicals

• Industrial linkages and Coop. programs • Number of market linked academic majors • Entrepreneurship programs• Consultancies and contracts incomes• Lifelong learning and community service programs • Alumni-university links• Industrial Projects and Spin-off companies.

Research45%

Teaching35%

International out-look10%

Facilities, Resources, and Supporting Staff

3%


7%

INDICATORCRITERION

* Items suggested priorities.

* Proposed allocations of weightage for teaching universities: Teaching (50%), International Outlook (15%),Facilities (5%), Socio-economic impact (15%), and Research (15%).



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KPI GLOSSARY

QUALITY OF PUBLICATIONS

According to the international standards, onlythe journals classified by the Institute forScientific Information (ISI) and covered by theScience Citation Index (SCI) and the SocialSciences Citation Index (SSCI), should be usedboth for counting publications and citations.

FACULTY MEMBERS

Faculty members mean persons that performeither a teaching or a research activity in thegiven institution, either as permanent affiliatedpersons or on a full time, contractual basis forno less than one semester. In this latter case,each semester gives a credit of ?.

RESEARCH QUALITY

This indicator aims to measure the quality ofthe performed research, compared with themean quality of all of the World research.

It is internationally admitted that the quality ofa given published article can be measured by thenumber of citations it receives.

RESEARCH VOLUME

This indicator aims to measure the volume ofthe research production of the faculty membersin ISI journals.

FACULTY MEMBERS WITH AWARDS

This indicator reflects the recent presence of‘‘outstanding’’ faculty members in theinstitution. For a present/previous facultymember to give credit to the institution withregard to this criterion, he/she has to have wonthe award either while he/she is affiliated or

before he/she becomes affiliated to theinstitution.

The awards that are considered for thisindicator include international and OIC ones:`Nobel prize, Fields medals, FAISAL, IDB, IAS,KHARAZMI, RAZI, ISESCO, TWAS, etc.

An OIC committee will decide about theeligibility of other claimed awards.

The awards shall not include post-doctorial andother research fellowships.

FACULTY HIGHLY CITED RESEARCHERS

This indicator also reflects the presence of‘‘outstanding’’ faculty members in theinstitution. For a present/previous facultymember to give credit to the institution withregard to this criterion, he/she has to be HighlyCited researcher either while he/she is affiliatedor before he/she becomes affiliated to theinstitution.

As Highly cited researchers conforming to ISI(international) standards are too few in the OICcountries (only 4 researchers of now), it wasdecided, in order to allow a larger participation,to come out with an OIC standards for HiCiresearchers.

There is no weighting and no limitation on theperiod of time that would have eventuallyelapsed after the Highly Cited researcher has leftthe institution, i.e.: it suffices for an institutionto have hosted a Highly Cited researchers,according to the conditions on faculty membersgiven in the preliminaries of these technicalnotes, to receive full credit.

THE INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOKCRITERION

Other ranking schemes have not attacheduniform importance to this parameter. It is,however, felt here that internationalization of auniversity has a positive impact on its teaching

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quality, research output, socio-culturalunderstanding and, ultimately, reputation. Itwas, therefore, agreed to give credit toinstitutions that have international faculty andstudents, staff with PhDs from outside thecountry where the university is located, andparticipation in international exchangeprograms.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES

By international exchange program it is meantan institutional agreement between theuniversity under consideration and a foreignentity that is operating, in the sense that at leastone person, either faculty or student, has usedit in the previous three years.

This indicator aims to measure the intensity ofinternational exchange programs, both inquantity and in quality.

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTCRITERION

In classical sense, the basic functions of auniversity include the maintenance,dissemination and creation of knowledge. Therapidly changing global economic scenario andsocial dynamism require that education musthave relevance to society. Many argue, quitegenuinely, that the foremost responsibility ofscientists and scholars is to promote the welfare

of the society. Although all universities areessentially involved in human resourcedevelopment through their degree programs,there are other areas that merit encouragement.Indeed these ensure sustainability of theuniversity system, its reputation, and its“universality”.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMS ANDINDUSTRIAL LINKAGES

This indicator focuses on the ‘‘entrepreneurshipcourses’’; that are courses that aim to teachstudents how to start a company, how tomanage a company, etc.

The term ‘entrepreneurship’ supports theinnovative ideas put forward by universitystudents and endeavours to transform thecreative ideas into products throughintroducing these ideas to the industrial sector,factories, companies, etc., of the society, whichwill also bear about job opportunities for theuniversity students.

NUMBER OF INCUBATED PROJECTSAND SPIN-OFF COMPANIES

This indicator is considered as incubation andcreation of spin-offs play an important role incommercializing the research outputs of theuniversity faculties and/or graduates.


Documents

Key Performance Indicators : A GUIDE FOR ASSESSMENT …