Toward Implementation of Administrative Metrics

Abstract

The Best Practice Management Tools Task Force/Administrative Service and Productivity Steering Committee was charged by the U of M president in 2005 to identify key outcome-based measurements by which the University could assess administrative functions' performance and benchmark their activities. This system is intended to be in direct alignment with and supportive of the University's overall metrics and strategic management systems. These metrics are specifically intended to measure the performance of common administrative/operational activities that occur at a variety of organizational levels throughout the institution in order to allow for information-based decision making about the University's administrative functions. These metrics are positioned in the context of other measures such as: the University's top-level metrics, Academic Units' Compact Scorecard metrics, unique unit metrics, and strategic initiative measures. This has been an evolving body of work that is now being driven by the University Administrative Team as a part of Transforming the U.

The University Administrative Team has refined and endorsed an administrative metrics system that primarily utilizes a “scorecard approach” that will be cascaded into the organization. An underlying premise of this system is that administrative operations should be assessed holistically to get at the idea that operations are marbled throughout the institution (i.e., central administrative units and colleges). Metric categories and suggested measures have been defined for each quadrant of the scorecard. Discussions have begun about data sources for the suggested measures and the scorecards are currently being piloted in three management systems – IT, HR, and Space/Facilities. Administrative leaders are counting on this system to be a critical information source for assessing the performance of their respective disciplines throughout the Institution.