| Canadian community colleges are provincially regulated, publicly funded, and designed to meet regional economic and labour market development needs. Accountability for meeting these needs is maintained through application of quantified performance measures. Some provinces have linked performance measures to funding to establish greater accountability. Assumptions that this link results in increased quality are a consequence. I designed this longitudinal study to explore relationships between performance indicators (PIs), funding, and quality at two community colleges between 1980 and 2005.; One jurisdiction linked funding to performance while the other did not. Public documents comprised the data base and the methodology was quantitative text analysis. The Logic Model and criteria for Quality were frameworks to evaluate the application of PIs. Predetermined themes included: Quality, Accountability, Transparency, Transformation, Value for Money, Fitness for Purpose, Excellence, Consistency, Access, Performance Indicators, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Outcomes, and Funding. Emergent themes included; Capacity, Curriculum, Expansion, Economic Development, Governance, Globalization, Professional Development, Student Services, Social Capital, and Vision.; No cornerstone indicators were identified; performance measures in use were operational. These PIs were not balanced according to the Logic Model distribution of Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Outcomes, or criteria for Quality. This imbalance was analogous to scattered "sand in the wind" patterns. A mismatch was demonstrated between provincial jurisdictions and institutional understandings of Quality and effectiveness.; A tightly coupled relationship between jurisdictions and institutions was obvious. Public funding declined yet demands for accountability increased. Misinterpretation of "business like" versus "business driven" operations was apparent. A culture of Quality was identified based upon themes discovered within institutional documents. Strong leadership and a shared vision of quality were demonstrated within the institutions. A Value Driven Model of Quality in Higher Education was proposed using seven criteria: Value for Money, Fitness for Purpose, Consistency, Excellence, Transformation, Access, and Fitness of Purpose. This model integrates performance measures with quality criteria to achieve Transformational Outcomes which contribute to Social Capital. Limited to two cases, this study provides insight for application of PIs, their relationship to public funding allocation, and measurement of Quality in educational environments and services. |
