Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science (Jul 2015)
SYSTEM OF PERFORMANCE INDICATORS FOR THE STUDENT CENTRED EDUCATION
Abstract
The higher education system in Romania is facing a number of challenges coming from its external and internal environment, challenges which threaten even its very own survival. The significant decrease in the number of high school graduates, the increasing disengagement of the new generations towards the idea of study, the marketing myopia that has characterised the university management act are just a few of the challenges that compel the responsible policymakers to adopt a new management philosophy, a philosophy which has as central point the student centred education paradigm (SCE). For operationalizing this philosophy in the current practice of Romanian universities, it is necessary to develop and use a system of performance indicators for the student-centred education (SPISCE). This system would have the purpose: to monitor the performances obtained in time by the higher education institution (HEI), allowing their comparison with those of other competing institutions; to allow the identification of areas where a significant improvement in SCE is needed; to facilitate the establishment of a client oriented marketing strategy within the institution; to create a favourable framework for promoting an organizational culture specific to SCE among teaching staff members and to redesign their rewards system, taking into account their performances in practicing the SCE. We will conceive the SPISCE starting from the process model, resulting three major categories: input-specific performance indicators, process-specific performance indicators and output-specific performance indicators. The academic year pass rate, the retention rate, the number of graduates who continue with master studies, lifetime value are just a few examples of such indicators. Measuring them will help the management team of a university to understand the supremacy of relational marketing compared to the transactional one, the importance of holding on to students and not just attracting them. In other words, universities must focus on keeping students by offering an experience that brings them as much satisfaction as possible with regard to the competencies obtained and their membership in the academic community. In the final part of the study we measured a series of performance indicators for SCE within the Economic Sciences Faculty in Oradea (ESF) and made suggestions for improving them. We believe that measuring performance indicators regarding the SCE is a requirement for practicing a performant management in an institution of higher education and for the improvement of its competitiveness.
