UMass President Caret vows to boost accountability

The University of Massachusetts will take steps to create more accountability and transparency with a new report next year that will measure the university’s progress in key areas, UMass President Robert L. Caret announced today.

“We are accountable. We are transparent,” Caret said at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Executive Forum. “We’re not afraid to prove we’re doing what we say we are doing.”

The report, which will be made available to the public online and in booklet form, will measure the university’s performance in six key categories developed and adopted by the University’s Board of Trustees: student experience and success; producing an educated citizenry; world-class research and development enterprise; enhancing social well-being; good stewards of resources; and telling and selling the UMass story.



The six categories will include 21 indicators to measure success, including the university’s ability to improve student retention and graduation rates, pursue efficiencies, increase external fund-raising and alumni giving, secure funding for major research and development centers, and make it easier for students to transfer within the state’s higher education system.

The first report, which will be released next spring, will lay out those priorities, with reports in subsequent years assessing the university’s progress on each key indicator.

The report builds on the university’s Performance Measurement System, which has been the go-to source for public data on the UMass system for the past 15 years.

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