Indicator of Student Success

The State Board of Community Colleges began monitoring performance data on specific measures to ensure public accountability for programs and services in 1993. In 1998, the General Assembly directed the State Board to review past performance measures and define standards to ensure programs and services were of sufficient quality.

In 2010 System President Scott Ralls established a Performance Measures Committee to develop new performance-based student success measures to go into effect in 2013. After a year of researching, drafting and soliciting feedback from college faculty and staff on potential measures, the Committee formally presented eight measures to the State Board. The measures were formally approved by the State Board in November 2011, were subsequently submitted to the General Assembly in March 2012, and adopted in June 2012.

One of the outcomes of the Committee’s work was the establishment of system-wide "baselines" and "goals" for each measure. The Committee recommended using consistent, statistically defined baselines and goals to promote transparency, simplicity, and objectivity. Baselines were set two standard deviations below the system mean, and the goals were set one standard deviation above the system mean. These baselines and goals are reset annually.