Achievement record released online

Information on how the U of S measures up against itself, in areas of enrolment, learning, research funding, staff engagement and national reputation, was released in the new achievement record.

Some of the changes in this year's report include a rising number of undergraduate, graduate and Aboriginal students; research revenue is growing but remains well behind peer institutions; faculty and staff engagement continues to improve; and the university's national reputation remains steady.

Another change in this year's report is how it is presented: it is available only online and not accompanied by a printed version as in previous years.

"Enhancing the online report and eliminating the print supplement keeps our focus on the validity and relevance of the information itself," said Pauline Melis, assistant provost Institutional Planning and Assessment (IPA). "And that information will be very useful to anyone involved in planning at the university, or those interested in the university's progress toward its goals, including our many stakeholders in the broader community."

The achievement record reports on university progress toward the goals of the strategic directions, foundational documents and integrated plan. It includes key indicators across four broad areas: teaching, learning and the student experience; research, scholarly and artistic work; working together; and an engaged university.

New additions to the 2011 achievement record include new indicators in campus sustainability and output and impact.

Carisa Polischuk, research analyst with IPA, began the reporting process nearly six months. "The process is somewhat simpler this year," says Polischuk, "because we didn't do a paper-based version, which used to mean extra people and extra hours working on it."

Still, Polischuk said the achievement record is a partnership between IPA, the office of Information Strategy and Analytics, and University Advancement Communications, and is supported by a variety of other offices around campus.

Further improvements will come, said Polischuk. The research output and impact section has the potential to further refine its information with an additional indicator, and work on that has already begun. As well, a future achievement record will include indicators for learning outcomes, which are still in development.

View the achievement record at www.usask.ca/achievementrecord

Robin Mowat is communications specialist in the Institutional Planning and Assessment Office


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