Oregon University System

Monitoring Performance

Oregon University System (OUS) closely tracks performance at our seven universities in order to monitor improvement and examine trends that may affect higher education in the state. These results are communicated to the Board, the Legislature, campuses and the public through a variety of publications.

Performance measurement is critical for providing reliable information on the performance of Oregon’s public higher education sector. It allows comparisons of individual OUS institutions with their past performance and in some cases, comparisons with the performance of institutions in their approved peer groups. Monitoring performance enables institutions to benchmark their own performance against performance targets and allows for informed policy discussion and development.

Currently OUS has two distinct, but complimentary, performance reporting programs:

State-Level Measures
OUS State-Level Measures are made up of legislatively-approved indicators linked to statewide “Oregon Benchmarks.” These measures are monitored and reported to the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) and Legislature through an Annual Performance Progress Report.
Board-Level Measures
Board-Level Measures consist of 15 OUS performance indicators, including three institution-specific indicators, tracked and reported by each OUS campus annually to the State Board of Higher Education. Campuses set targets for five common indicators as well as two mission-specific indicators.

Institution-specific measures are selected by the institutions to highlight strategic initiatives, critical features, and distinct missions of each campus.