University Performance: How We Define it And How We Measure It

Abstract

Performance is a current and expanding topic, debated by both academic researchers and practitioners, being a complex concept that can be defined from several perspectives. In this article, the concept of performance is analysed in general and in particular in the university environment. We find that the concept of performance has undergone an impressive evolution in recent decades, because in the beginning, the definitions attributed to performance referred only to financial indicators, but over time, non-financial indicators were taken into account, which proved to be indispensable for the proper functioning of the organization, but especially for higher education institutions. Thus, performance measurement uses specific indicators to differentiate and compare universities, either in terms of study programs or the university as a whole, or for funding (Ministry of Education and Research) or for accreditation and quality assurance. In the article we refer to the performance indicators for the financial stimulation of public universities, which operate under conditions of financial autonomy in the Republic of Moldova. The proposed performance measurement system for the Moldovan universities is a new one, in the making and is being used for two years. A comparative analysis of some indicators is performed. The purpose of this article is to study the essence of the performance in the university environment notion and the methods of measuring performance based on the scientific literature in the field and normative acts. We also analyzed how the performance of universities in the Republic of Moldova is measured and what are the possibilities for improvement. JEL: I23, L25; DOI: https://doi.org/10.53486/2537-6179.8-1.02