Measurement Plan for Higher Learning – Module 12

For this post, I’ll make the obvious choice, and develop a measurement plan for LTU.

Using the same steps as in previous posts, we can easily develop a measurement plan for the university that is cost effective and provides actionable insight.

   

    1.     Use Your Mission to Define Your Objectives

a.     According to LTU’s website, their mission is to “To develop leaders through a student-centric environment with innovative and agile programs embracing theory and practice.”

                                               i.     As one can imagine, much of what KDP discusses in both chapters pertains to this mission. In order to fulfill its objectives, LTU must ensure that the proceeding steps are thoroughly fleshed out.

    2.     Identify and Prioritize Your Audiences

a.     LTU needs to identify their vital stakeholders, which will include several entities, such as:

                                               i.     Students

                                              ii.     Staff

                                            iii.     Deans

                                            iv.     Faculty

                                              v.     Parents

                                            vi.     Donors

                                           vii.     and more…

It will be vital that LTU prioritize and meet the various needs of these publics. For example, students will require things like quality education and plenty of extra circular activity. Parents – on the other hand – will want a safe, cost effective college environment. College deans will want to see the cohesion of all of these elements in the form of increased enrollment, national recognition and funding, and increased staff retention rates.

    3.     Define objectives

a.     LTU could define several objectives related to their overall mission. Some of those objectives might be:

                                               i.     Increased student enrollment

                                              ii.     Increased national recognition

                                            iii.     Increased student and staff retention

                                            iv.     Increase in funding

    4.     Establish a Benchmark

a.     LTU could establish benchmarks by comparing to other private universities in the U.S., as well as using historical data for reference..

    5.     Pick a Measurement Tool

a.     LTU could utilize nearly all of the measurement tools we’ve discussed in the course, ranging from newspaper and clip analysis, to website traffic analysis, to surveys and mass data compilation to measure their success. Much like the enterprise environment, LTU can also gauge its success against its peers.

    6.     Analyze Results and Make Changes

As LTU evaluates the information that would improve the university, it can then act on that information and convert it to action. Through the information attained in the program, LTU can reformulate itself both horizontally and vertically to ensure that it is meeting the needs of each and every one of its valuable publics.

References:

http://www.ltu.edu/presidents_office/mission.asp?_wds=cs

Distance Learning Case Study Discussion – Module 12

As most of us who have taken an online LTU course know, the university commonly deploys pre, mid, and post experience electronic surveys to assess the quality of their online instruction efforts. While I can see the value in this sort of standardized surveys, I don’t believe they serve to truly measure LTU’s program effectiveness.

Why – because they don't measure course effectiveness – they simply measure course experience.

For example, the evaluations ask simple questions like “did we (the student) feel the learning experience was effective, or do we believe that the materials were useful? These questions are almost always answered on a scale of 1-5. Questions like these merely provide a plug and play input for students, and a mush of data for instructors. The question is, just how actionable is that mush? Does it serve LTU’s primary audiences for these surveys (students, instructors, and staff) well?

The answer is no. The fact is, these surveys don't allow the institution or the instructor to see that the student actually took anything of value away from the experience – they don't test the “theory or practice” motto that the school supposedly staunchly supports.

Now – some of you might argue, “That's what finals are for…”

The problem with that argument though, is that finals are bias – they can be created by the instructor to be exceptionally easy, insanely difficult, or just plain off topic – at the same time, they can be manipulated to serve an instructors interests, or curved to improve percentages.

These palpable erosions of accuracy and richness of data serve to corrode relations with students, instructors, and faculty. If the students don't feel the surveys matter, they won’ fill them out (many do not). If the instructors cannot retrieve actionable data, why deploy the surveys in the first place? If high-level faculty cannot act on data, course experiences cannot be improved, and as a result, the entire university suffers.

To rectify some of these issues, I feel that the school should develop customized surveys using input from instructors that evaluate the student’s experience, as well as their acquired knowledge through a set of questions pertaining to the material. These surveys would be evaluated and scored by the same people who manage surveys now, and serve as a much more realistic indicator of course quality and effectiveness, and could be used both online and offline.

However, I would not allow these surveys to affect a students grade, rather, I would utilize this data to demonstrate where specific courses are effective, need improvement or modification, or perhaps need restructuring. A survey of this type would provide LTU with truly actionable information that both high-level staff and instructors could use to lead to improved course effectiveness and student learning.

Content Analysis for SHH – Module 12

For this post, we’ll perform a content analysis for Second Harvest Heartland (SHH) – a hunger relief non-profit that we evaluated in the first post.

When performing a content analysis for SHH, there are several questions we will want to answer, which are:

    1.     How is SHH currently perceived by its publics?

                                               i.     SHH maintains relationships with nearly 1000 Minnesotan agency partners, several “like-minded” organizations, local, national, and global corporate enterprises (i.e. GMI), and of course, individual volunteers/donors.

                                              ii.     They are seemingly well respected by each of these publics in that they have nearly 49,000 volunteers, and are able to work so closely with the likes of large companies like GMI. SHH helps nearly half a million Minnesotan families put food in their bellies every year. Put simply, GMI would not be working with the company if it weren’t for their reputation throughout Minnesota for being the “best in the business.”

    2.     What messages are being conveyed?

a.     SHH communicates a simple and honorable message – end hunger in Minnesota through the strength of community and partnership. This message is well supported through their vast network of volunteers, donors, corporate and agency partners, as well as their ties with similar organizations. This network believes in and supports their mission, and the numbers only serve to prove that their communication aligns with the organizations stated mission.

   3.     Are these messages in line with the non-profit?

a.     As I stated above, all one needs to do to prove that SHH’s communication and messages are on point is look at the numbers. 49,000 volunteers, half a million families, 1000 agency partners – put simply, the numbers speak for themselves on this matter. It is clear that SHH has managed to penetrate their publics in a way that continues to grow in support of their mission.

   4.     Is the PR and Marketing Effective?

a.     Again, I think the sheer numbers speak to support their marketing and PR effectiveness. They are a Minnesotan non-profit; working to support impoverished Minnesotan families. They’ve done that year after year by establishing and maintaining meaningful partnerships with companies like GMI, thousands of volunteers, and a vast network of agency partners – in no small part due to successful marketing and PR. Without a successful PR effort, those partnerships would almost certainly deteriorate.

References:

http://www.2harvest.org/site/PageServer?pagename=partaff_home

Measurement Plan for Nonprofit – Module 12

For this post, we’ll develop a measurement plan for Second Harvest Heartland (SHH) – a hunger relief non-profit that works closely with GMI.

Having just recently spent a day packing and distributing care packages to the needy along with Second Harvest, I feel that they are the perfect candidate for this post.

According to KDP, there are six steps that are vital to measurement in a non-profit environment, they are:

    1.     Use Your Mission to Define Your Objectives

a.     According to SHH’s website, their mission is to “end hunger through community partnerships.”

                                               i.     As we cab see, much of what KDP discusses in the chapter pertain to this mission. It will be absolutely vital for an organization like SHH to ensure that they maintain top quality relations with their constitutes and publics.

                                              ii.     As KDP suggests, SHH may want to measure % increase in donations, % increase in media coverage, % increase in volunteers, etc.

    2.     Identify and Prioritize Your Audiences

a.     Here, you’ll want to identify stakeholders ranging from new and active members, to those that have been dormant for a while.  For SHH, their audience is two fold – firstly, they need an active and willing volunteer base (which they can easily find through all of the major corporates like GMI in the area). Secondly, they require a base of hungry, impoverished Americans to serve – which, unfortunately is also rather easy to find.

b.     The organization can easily encourage volunteerism by using e-mail, television, and social media marketing, as well as radio, newspapers, and other outlets. The organization also leverages corporate HR departments that encourage volunteerism from their employees (i.e. GMI) to further widen their volunteer base.

    3.     Establish Benchmarks

a.     Much as GMI compares itself to competition in the CPG sector, so too should SHH in non-profit. This could easily be accomplished by selecting a similar organization (i.e. Gleaners), and comparing results, measurement techniques, etc. Both companies could easily share efficient techniques, as well as the knowledge they've acquired as to “what works,” and what doesn't.

    4.     Pick Your Metrics

a.     Since SHH’s mission is to end hunger through community partnerships, one of the most important things for them to measure is the sheer strength and quality of those relations. For example, SHH has a very strong and valuable relationship with GMI in that we have a ready and willing volunteer base (more than 83% of our U.S. employee base volunteers regularly), and we happen to manufacture both shelf-stable and canned goods.

b.     The quality of this relationship is measured each and every time one of our employees donates time to SHH through an electronic survey. The survey asks questions pertaining to the likability of the experience, if you felt the sense that you “made a difference,” if you would do it again, and how likely you would be to encourage friends and family to donate time to their cause. Using surveys like these, SHH can ensure their key relationship with GMI grows stronger, as well as react to changes in sentiment or perceived negative experiences.

    5.     Pick a Measurement Tool

a.     As I mentioned earlier, SHH uses post-experience, e-mail based electronic surveys as their measurement tool of choice.

    6.     Analyze Results and Make Changes

a.     I can say this – SHH makes sure that volunteering with their organization is one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll ever have. You work with hundreds of dedicated volunteers from around Minnesota, packing warehouses full of donated food. It’s a day of fun, conversation, and collaboration.

No doubt, some of the cheerfulness of the experience comes from the post-experience surveys they’ve done, and the feedback (+ and -) that they have received through them. After my experience with them this year, I know I’ll be back – and personally, I hope they don't change a thing. J

References:

http://www.2harvest.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutus_mission