KPIs in HEI accreditation: ANQA develops outcome-based evaluation approachesKPIs in HEI accreditation: ANQA develops outcome-based evaluation approaches

On November 4, ANQA held a discussion with the Accreditation Committee's members on the approaches to the KPI integration into the institutional accreditation process and the relevant evaluation formats.
The discussion built on ANQA’s ongoing efforts to integrate the KPIs developed as part of the Erasmus+ KPI4HE project into external quality assurance (EQA) processes. At the project’s final conference, held on November 2 at Yerevan State University, the national KPI framework and its potential application in higher education governance, strategic planning and quality evaluation were presented.
During the discussion with the Accreditation Committee's members, the KPI application was also considered in the context of the development of KPI-based approaches to the HEI governance and funding. The importance of systematic and phased monitoring of these KPIs was emphasised, enabling the evaluation of institutional progress over time and evidence-based decisions on development priorities and resource allocation.
As part of the accreditation process, this work aims to shift the focus from the description of activities to systematic data collection on achieved outcomes through a well-defined methodology. During the discussion, it was highlighted that the attainment of learning outcomes should be supported by student work, assessment tasks and other credible evidence. KPIs serve as one of the tools for the implementation of this approach, enabling data analysis to complement expert evaluation.
The key discussion topics included:

• the alignment of KPIs with institutional accreditation criteria and the evidence used to demonstrate compliance with these criteria;

• the methodological clarifications on the calculation, interpretation and evaluation of KPIs;

• the development of systems for the regular data collection and recording in HEIs;

• the piloting of the developed formats and the phased implementation of their application;

• the methodological support to HEIs.

Particular emphasis was placed on the practical implementation of the KPIs. It was highlighted that the required data should be collected continuously as part of HEIs’ ongoing activities. This requires a clearly defined methodology, an appropriate distribution of responsibilities and adequate resources.
ANQA will continue its efforts to refine the KPIs and evaluation formats through piloting, discussions and methodological support, thereby contributing to the application of the KPI4HE project outcomes and the further development of evidence-based and outcomes-driven approaches to institutional accreditation.