calvin college dashboard and kpis: where we are in their development today’s presentation covers:...

Calvin College Dashboard and KPIs:where we are in their development

Today’s presentation covers:•What are dashboard and KPIs(Key Performance Indicators)?•Why, who, and how will Calvin College be using them?•What has been the development process so far?• Examples of draft KPIs across several college divisions• Examples of draft KPIs in the academic division•Where are we going, and how fast, to completion?


What is a dashboard?


What is a dashboard?

Most simply: a collection of KPIs


What makes a measure into a KPI?• Key – The measure is critical or important to success. It may

represent a summary or high level view of other information.• Performance – The measure represents something that is

affected by taking action; generally it measures progress related to a goal (internal) or benchmark (external).• Indicator – The measure has direction, either up, down, or

in relation to a midpoint. A trend in one direction or the other can be “good” or “bad”.


A good set of KPIs (a dashboard) has • Most important measures • Not all measures• Measures may vary in format• Each provides quick diagnosis • Useful for regular checking• Can always be improved • Incomplete:• in a car, no substitute for looking out the windshield


% Fuel remaining % windshield washer fluid remaining

Number of kids in the back seat

Key? Performance? Indicator? /


What might happen if one looks exclusively at a car dashboard


Why dashboards, who is using them, how will they be used?Why? to. . . • provide early indicators/warnings on major issues: for example,

finances, enrollment, plant depreciation• provide guidelines for oversight: board, president, VPs, etc.• assist in part of managers’ and supervisors’ roles• help have conversations around substantive work matters• help in benchmarking against peers and aspirants• provide useful summary information to external audiences• track progress on agreed-upon strategic goals


Who?• President, in working both with Cabinet and the Board• Board, particularly working with VPs through board committees• Cabinet, in providing succinct information to fellow Cabinet members• Cabinet, in helping attend to key issues within their departments• 3 “levels” planned: • public – most general and most widely seen• intra-divisional – most detailed and most closely held• Board/Cabinet – in the middle in size and audience

How?• partial: dashboard and KPIS are a few tools among others• provisional: KPIs subject to refinement and replacement• periodic: examined ideally at regularly scheduled intervals


Development process so far • scan of their use by “best practice” peers and aspirants• first “panel” of dashboards intended for Board/Cabinet use—the

“middle” of the three types• selection of particular KPIs is by President, VPs, and VPs reports• currently in “working draft” stage• just starting to be employed


What are some of the currently developed KPIs?

Let’s look at some examples

https://analytics.calvin.edu/views/CalvinCollegeStrategicKPIs/AllKPIs


Summary: Dashboards and KPIs are:1. evidence-based performance measures2. used by Calvin College leaders 3. and developed collaboratively now and in the future 4. to provide evidence on key items concerning the college at large5. and each college division6. to help track, meet and inform strategic goals


COMMENTS! AND QUESTIONS?

Doug Koopman, Office of PresidentSarah Greenfield, IT

calvin college dashboard and kpis: where we are in their development today’s presentation covers:...

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