Public University Institutional Evaluations
The Higher Education Coordinating Commission is required by statute (ORS 352.061) to perform evaluations of public universities with a governing board in place. The Commission may make recommendations to the Legislative Assembly regarding the ability of the university to meet academic goals and fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities. These evaluations include
- A report on the university’s achievement of outcomes, measures of progress, goals and targets.
- An assessment of the university’s progress toward achieving the mission of all education beyond high school as described in ORS 350.014, or the 40-40-20 goal.
- An assessment as to how well the establishment of a governing board at the university comports with the findings set forth in ORS 352.025.
All institutional evaluations are available on our Reports webpage here.
The reports rely on regularly-conducted academic accreditation reports, self-assessments prepared for these accreditation reviews, and state and federal data. The contents of the reports signal areas of alignment with the HECC Strategic Plan which supports the objectives of higher education for the State of Oregon. These include:
- student success as measured by degree completion;
- access and affordability as measured by equity across socioeconomic, racial/ethnic and regional (urban/rural) groups;
- academic quality and research;
- financial sustainability; and
- continued collaboration across universities in support of the State’s mission for higher education.
The three largest institutions, Oregon State University, Portland State University and University of Oregon, were evaluated in 2015, the first year the evaluation cycle. As of 2016, all 7 public universities were governed by local governing boards, and new evaluations were prepared and published.