Exercise: Closing the Loop in Strategic Planning and Annual Progress Reporting

1 Exercise: ‘Closing the Loop’ in Strategic Planning and Annual Progress Reporting

Instructions: Review a unit’s annual progress report. This review sheet may be completed as an assessment of each objective or as an overall assessment of a unit’s annual progress report.

1. Indicate whether the reporting field is ‘Complete’ (the reporting addressed all characteristics of the field) or ‘Incomplete’ (the reporting is missing one or more characteristics of the field).

2. Write at least one strength and one improvement (if applicable) for each reporting field.

3. After reviewing each reporting field, assess how well the unit “Closed the Loop” and provide an Overall Quality Rating of reporting.

Field Status Reporting Fields Review of Progress (C ) = Complete (IC) = Incomplete Noted Strengths Suggested Improvements Objective statement(s): Clearly articulates what the unit plans to do ______to achieve the goal, and the statement is measurable Alignments: Matches the objective(s) ______ (UK Goal(s), Unit Goal(s)  Unit Standard/Metric(s): Clearly stated target that is an indicator of progress ______toward achieving the objective (e.g., annually increase enrollment by 10% ); matches the objective and aligns to a stated strategy (if applicable) Implementation/Strategies: The defined action(s) will assist the unit in achieving the stated objective ______(e.g., type of project and its completion date)—this is not a required field; if there are no 2 implementation strategies, write “NA” Assessment Method(s): Data collection (e.g., surveys, focus groups, exams, tracking, etc.) are ______appropriate for the objective(s)/assessment method (s)/ implementation strategy (s) and will yield useful information for assessing improvement or progress. Field Status Reporting Fields Review of Progress (C ) = Complete (IC) = Incomplete Noted Strengths Suggested Improvements Actual Results: Reported results are appropriate for the objective(s) /assessment method (s)/ implementation strategy (s) and ______provide necessary details for interpretation/evaluation (e.g., number of people surveyed, # of respondents and % for each item, # and type of publications/ workshops/courses development/recruitment activities, etc.) Reflection and Analysis: Narrative focused on the discussion of the results. Answered such questions as: ______Did the results yield the expected metric, why or why not? What adjustments need to happen to achieve the goal or for improvement? Improvement Action (s): The actions come directly from the reflection and analysis. They are the next steps. ______3 Next steps involve the modification/elimination/addition of strategies, metrics, assessment methods, or objectives “Closing the Loop” *

Overall Reporting Quality** ______

*Closing the Loop: How well has the unit demonstrated the use of results for improvement? Key indicators would be “reflection and analysis” and “improvement actions (i.e., How well did reflection and actions inform the next year’s reporting? Were the improvement action(s) in year 2009-10 reported on in year 2010-11, and the improvement actions of 2010-11 reported on in year 2011-12?) **Overall Reporting Quality: M (Model): Overall reporting demonstrates ongoing, integrated planning and evaluation processes; there are areas of excellence in one or more reporting fields: objectives & alignments, implementation/strategies, assessment methods, results, and improvement actions; C (Comprehensive): Overall reporting has specific and measurable objectives, consistent and appropriate objective alignments and assessment methods, defined targets, and comprehensive reporting and improvement actions. E (Emerging): Overall Reporting reflects a good effort; the unit needs to improve reporting related to one or more required fields: objectives & objective alignments, strategies (if identified by the unit), assessment methods, results and improvement actions. Improvement will be noted when a unit achieves a comprehensive or model rating. NI (Needs Improvement) : Overall reporting is lacking; needs assistance .