2004/05 - 2006/07 Service Plan -- Ministry of Advanced Education

Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Results — Continued

Goal 1: A top-notch post-secondary education system.

To achieve this goal, the Ministry has identified three objectives and 16 performance measures.

Core Business Areas:: Educational Institutions and Organizations.; Debt Service Costs and Amortization of Prepaid Capital Advances.

Objective 1:: Access and choice for BC post-secondary students.

Strategies:: 1. Build post-secondary system capacity.; 2. Ensure equitable opportunity for all students to access post-secondary education.; 3. Expand degree granting opportunities.

The Ministry works to ensure that the public post-secondary system is of adequate size and is accessible to British Columbians. One measure of system size (or capacity) is a count of student spaces provided by institutions. Another is the number of credentials awarded by institutions annually. A third measure determines whether physical resources (i.e., classrooms, laboratories, buildings, etc.) are utilized effectively.

The Ministry works with post-secondary institutions to ensure availability of programs that British Columbians require. The breadth of program choices and non-traditional avenues to program completion is indicated by measures of student spaces in developmental programs, of Aboriginal participation, and of the variety of program choices available to students (e.g., online programs).

For some measures, baseline data have been updated to reflect data that was unavailable for the Ministry Service Plan 2003/04.

Performance Measures	Baseline	2004/05 Target	2005/06 Target	2006/07 Target
1. Total student spaces in BC public post-secondary institutions.	Baseline data for 2001/02: 154,991 FTEs ¹ (includes Entry Level Trades Training but excludes apprenticeship spaces).	Increase by 3,217 spaces to 164,065 total student spaces.	Increase by 4,200 spaces to 168,265 total student spaces.	Increase by 4,394 spaces to 172,659 total student spaces.
2. Number of degrees, diplomas and certificates awarded.	Baseline data for 2001/02: 52,909 total credentials awarded.¹ Baseline data for 2002/03: 54,617 total credentials awarded.	Increase total credentials awarded by 1.5% (3% from 2001/02 baseline).	Increase total credentials awarded by 1.5% (4.5% from 2001/02 baseline).	Increase total credentials awarded by 1.5% (6% from 2001/02 baseline).
3. BC public post-secondary graduate rate.	Baseline data for 2001/02: 83.6 credentials awarded per 1,000 BC population aged 18 – 29.¹ Baseline data for 2002/03: 84.2 credentials awarded per 1,000 BC population.	Maintain or increase rate by up to 1% (0 – 2% from 2001/02 baseline).	Maintain or increase rate by up to 1% (0 – 3% from 2001/02 baseline).	Maintain.
4. Per cent of annual educational activity occurring between May and August.	Baseline data for 2001/02:¹ Colleges, University Colleges, and Institutes average = 11.4% Universities average = 15.1% System average = 13.3%.	Increase activity toward achievement of a 21% system wide average delivery between May and August.
5. Post-secondary participation rates for population 18 – 29.	Baseline data for 1999/00: BC overall participation rate = 25%. BC third highest provincial rate in Canada.	Maintain or improve rank in Canada.	Maintain or improve rank in Canada.	Maintain or improve rank in Canada.
6. Student spaces in developmental programs [Adult Basic Education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL) and Adult Special Education (ASE)].	Baseline data for 2003/04 will be available for the 2003/04 Ministry Service Plan Report.	Maintain or increase.	Maintain or increase.	Maintain or increase.
7. Student spaces in online learning (BCcampus) programs.	Baseline data for 2001/02: 260 total online program student spaces.	Increase by 230 spaces to 850 total student spaces.	Increase by 230 spaces to 1,080 total student spaces.	Increase by 230 spaces to 1,310 total student spaces.
8. Number and per cent of public post-secondary student population that are Aboriginal.	Baseline data for 2002/03:² # = 13,912 % = 3.7	Maintain or increase.	Maintain or increase.	Maintain or increase.
9. Number of private and out-of-province public degree programs approved.	Baseline data for 2002/03: Total private and out-of-province public degree programs approved = 0. (Degree Authorization Act implemented November 2003.)	Increase over 2002/03 baseline.	Increase over 2002/03 baseline.	Increase over 2002/03 baseline.


¹	Baseline data for this measure was updated to reflect data that was unavailable for the 2003/04 Service Plan.
²	Information from Royal Roads University was not available at time of publishing.

Objective 2:: A more efficient and integrated post-secondary education system.

Strategies:: 1. Improve program completion (graduation) rates.; 2. Encourage system integration.

The Ministry works to facilitate cooperation across the public post-secondary system to ensure students can complete their education in a timely manner. System efficiency and integration will be improved by focusing on students' ability to complete programs in an appropriate amount of time. A precise measure for program completion (graduation rate) will be developed over the coming year.

System efficiency and integration will also be improved by increasing coordination among BC's autonomous public post-secondary institutions. This will be gauged by three measures that focus on the credit transfer system, which enables students to transfer between institutions and have credits earned at one institution count toward the completion of programs at another. One measure is the number of individual transfer agreements between institutions. A second is student satisfaction with the transfer system. A third, which has yet to be completely defined, will focus on the volume of credits transferred.

Performance Measures	Baseline	2004/05 Target	2005/06 Target	2006/07 Target
10. Program completion measure.	Measure under development.	Develop measure.	Establish baseline.	To be determined.
11. Number of block and course transfer agreements.	Baseline data for 2001/02: 47,281 Course transfer agreements; 605 Block transfer arrangements. Baseline data for 2002/03: 50,172 Course transfer agreements; 602 Block transfer arrangements.	Increase course transfer agreements and block transfer arrangements between 2% & 5% (4-10% from 2001/02 baseline).	Increase course transfer agreements and block transfer arrangements between 2% & 5% (6-15% from 2001/02 baseline).	Maintain or increase.
12. Student satisfaction with transfer.	Baseline data for 2002/03: 86% of students who transferred and expected to transfer credits were very satisfied or satisfied with their transfer experience (2003 survey).	Maintain high level of satisfaction (benchmark = 90%) or demonstrate performance improvement over time.
13. Transfer volume measure.	Measure under development.	Develop measure.	Establish baseline.	To be determined.

Objective 3:: A quality post-secondary system.

Strategy:: Maintain a high standard of quality in post-secondary education.

The Ministry works to ensure the post-secondary system is of sufficient quality to meet the needs of students, employers and citizens. System quality will be gauged using student outcomes survey data. A "skill gain" measure assesses the extent to which former students believe they acquired through their education a range of generic skills considered necessary for productive lives and successful employment. Two other measures use survey data to indicate student satisfaction with their education and with the quality of instruction.

Performance
Measures

Baseline

2004/05
Target

2005/06 Target

2006/07 Target

14. Student Outcomes — skills gained.

Baseline data for 2003/04: Per cent of College, University College & Institute students whose program prepared them well or very well to:

Written communication: 73%

Oral communication: 72%

Group collaboration: 83%

Problem resolution: 74%

Critical analysis: 83%

Reading and comprehension: 82%

Learn on your own: 82%

(2003 Survey)

Per cent of University baccalaureate graduates who indicated university helped them develop skills to a high or very high extent:

Written communication: 83%

Oral communication: 81%

Group collaboration: 77%

Problem resolution: 74%

Critical analysis: 90%

Reading and comprehension: 86%

Learn on your own: 89%

(2002 Survey)

Maintain a high level of skill gain (benchmark = 85%) or demonstrate performance improvement over time.¹

15. Student satisfaction with education.

Baseline data for 2003/04: 86% of College, University College & Institute students completely or mostly satisfied with studies (2003 Survey).

96% of University Baccalaureate graduates very satisfied or satisfied with education (2002 Survey).

Maintain a high level of satisfaction (benchmark = 90%) or demonstrate performance improvement over time.¹

16. Student assessment of quality of instruction.

Baseline data for 2003/04: 81% of College, University College & Institute students rated the quality of instruction in their program as good or very good (2003 survey).

95% of University baccalaureate graduates rated the quality of course instruction in their programs as very good or good (2002 survey).

Maintain a high level of student assessment (benchmark = 90%) or demonstrate performance improvement over time.¹

Performance targets are based on benchmarks or in relation to past performance. If annual performance (plus margin of error) is above or equal to benchmark level, then target is met. If annual performance (plus margin of error) is below specified benchmark level, but long term performance (successive annual performance) demonstrates overall improvement (based on inclining or declining trend line calculated from annual performance, plus/minus margin of error), then target is met. Performance trend calculation is intended to take into consideration unintended impacts of cyclical, contextual, or other structural impacts, including statistical variation.