Enhanced Planning Tools Measures for Research Centres
Quality
Annual academic plan/research plan
Does your unit prepare an annual academic plan/research plan? If yes, please attach.
Top indicators of research recognition/success
List the top 3 indicators of national or international research recognition/success in your unit.
Measures of quality/impact of research
How does your unit measure the quality/impact of your research? (See below for possible
examples) (list all that apply)
Research Publications (all that apply)
Creative and Artistic Achievements (all that apply)
a) Referred journal publications
b) Referred conference papers
c) Books and Monographs
d) Other publications
e) Citations
f) Professional or expert testimony
g) Participation in research centres
h) Joint publications
a) Artistic performances or exhibits
b) Digital performances, exhibits, critical commentary
c) Commissioned works
d) Professional recordings
e) Published critical reviews
f) Fully produced films or videos
g) Literary and creative publications
Overall quality of research
Based on the measures listed in the previous question and work completed in the past 3 years,
how would you rate the quality of your unit’s research?
Status of current research infrastructure
For your current major research related infrastructure (technology and equipment):
a) What is working well and/or could be utilized by other researchers on campus?
b) What needs maintenance to be sustainable?
c) What needs replacement?
d) What should be decommissioned?
New research infrastructure
Are there new major research-related infrastructure (technology and equipment) which are
vital to improving the quality of your unit’s research? If so, please describe.
Research outcomes and recognition
Research Outcomes & Recognition ( please give a brief description of all that apply)
a) Industry connections and spinoffs
e) Student awards and honours
b) Partnerships secured through agreements f) Employment of highly qualified personnel
c) Academic and other citations
g) Purchase of works of art for collections
d) Faculty awards and honours
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Research funding sources and amounts
Research Funding
a) What is the 3 year average of Tri-Agency funding in your unit?
b) What is the 3 year average of research funding other than Tri-Agency funding in your unit?
c) Does your unit have other sources of research funding not held in research accounts? If so,
what are those sources and what is the 3 year average of this funding in your unit?
Note: The dataset for 21a and 21b will be provided by the Office of Research Services to
each unit. The dataset for 21c will not be provided from ORS to each Unit. Units will need
to report these figures.
Benchmarks and measurements of quality
How do you assess the quality of the services and programs in your areas? Do you have any
goals or benchmarks against which you are measuring quality? How does your area determine
whether the service provided is meeting the needs of users?
User feedback process
Describe your unit’s standardized, informal or formal feedback process, (i.e. satisfaction survey
or other assessment instrument) to determine if the services are meeting the needs of users.
Provide your unit’s key findings from your most recent assessment.
Training programs
Describe any training programs both formal and informal that your unit provides (i.e. new
procedures, processes, equipment, software applications)? How do you measure the quality
of training provided?
Employee qualifications and skills
Do employees in your area have the appropriate level of qualifications and/or skills for the roles
they are fulfilling? Is there an appropriate mix of qualifications/skills for the services you
provide? If no, what are the gaps and how should the gaps be addressed?
Employee satisfaction and feedback
How do you gauge employee satisfaction within your unit? How do you receive feedback from
your employees?
Performance management and professional development
Are performance management practices utilized in your unit? Do you have professional
development plans in place for your staff? What % of staff participates in professional
development activities?
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Demand
External Challenges
How have external factors created challenges and/or opportunities for your programs?
(Respond to any that apply)
a) Competitive landscape (other institutions)
b) Government policy demands
c) Geographical advantages
d) Legislative/compliance requirements
e) Industry or economic drivers
f) Market demand
g) Legal agreements w/external partners
h) Civic demand to provide services to the public
i) Accreditation requirements
j) Professional demands (professional standards affecting curriculum)
Changes in demand
What changes in demand (growth rate) has your unit experienced in the past 3 years and what
changes do you anticipate in the next 3 years? Please describe.
Space constraints
Is your unit having trouble increasing programs or services due to the lack of available space?
a) Please describe the types of spaces you would need to meet increasing demand.
b) What programs and/or services would be supported by any added space?
Collaboration
How do you collaborate with other programs to deliver services and meet demand?
Essential programs/services from other units
Identify other units on campus (if any) providing your unit with essential programs/service.
External demand
Describe external demand for professional expertise in your unit. (Please include any that
apply.)
a) White papers written
b) Technical reports prepared
c) Consultancies
d) Professional or expert testimony
e) Device fabrication
f) Commissioned artistic works
g) Other
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Services Provided
Describe the range of services provided to internal and external users: (external users include
alumni, donors, outside agencies, etc.; internal users include students, employees, other units,
etc.).
Demand Factors
Describe the factors affecting demand within your unit. Examples may include:
a) # of contracts, clients, constituents or transactions processed
b) University policy
c) Volume of goods and services sold
d) External regulatory and public policy requirements (health or fire regulations, for
example), legal commitments or agreements with external partners (contracts, MOUs,
outreach efforts, corporate partnerships, etc.)
e) Reporting requirements to external agencies (research contracts with external funding
agencies, provincial, federal or local governments)
f) Environmental factors (demographic, local, regional)
Gaps in Essential Services
Based on best practices at other universities or institutions, are there gaps in the range and
scope of essential services offered by your unit compared to services offered at other
institutions?
Productivity and Efficiency
Benchmarks
Are there benchmarking measures (comparisons with other universities, or other metrics
including accreditation standards) your unit is able to provide to assess the productivity,
efficiency and effectiveness of services provided? If so, what are the results of your analysis
and what does it tell you about your operations?
Three year plan
Do you have a three year plan for maintaining or improving the productivity, efficiency and
effectiveness of programs/services offered by your unit (combining forces with other units on
campus, partnerships with the external community, curriculum reform, budget reallocations,
etc.)?
Process and Procedure Documentation
Does your unit have well defined and documented processes, procedures, governance
documents, and/or learning outcomes? When did your unit last update your Evaluation Policy
and Duties and Responsibilities documents?
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High quality research personnel
High Quality Research Personnel (all that apply)
a) Average supervisory load of MA level graduate students (working on a thesis or research
project) per research faculty member
b) Average supervisory load of PhD graduate students (working on a dissertation) per
research faculty member
c) Average supervisory load for other MA students per research faculty member
d) Average supervisory load of undergraduates (working on research projects) per research
faculty member
e) Average post-docs (supporting faculty research projects) per faculty member
f) Number of grant-funded employees
g) Other High Quality Research Personnel in your unit
Research productivity plan
Do you have plans in place or under development to assist faculty in increasing their research
productivity and/or to make research administration more efficient in your unit? If so, what are
the main points of your plan? If not, would your unit benefit from such a plan?
Research collaborations with other units
To what extent is the research in your unit interdisciplinary? Please provide 3 examples of
research activities that involve collaboration with other units (departments, schools, research
centres)?
Efficiency review process
Has your unit undergone an efficiency review process (such as an internal audit, peer review
etc.) within the last 3 years? If so, what were the results? If not, would your unit benefit from
such a review?
Continuous improvement plan
Do you have a plan for maintaining or improving the productivity, efficiency and effectiveness
of services offered by your unit?
(streamlining or initiating new processes, innovative changes, process/unit reviews, etc.)?
What do you hope to achieve (reduce unit operating costs, improve processes and program
productivity?
(Ways to improve efficiency might include simplification, removing bottlenecks, eliminating
shadow systems, and/or removing redundant processes.)
Impact and Contribution
Alignment with university strategic plan
Briefly describe the top 3-5 ways your unit’s programs and services: Align with the university’s
mission, strategic initiatives, integrated plans and goals; and make use of the UVic Edge
components.
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Differentiation
How does your unit help the university differentiate itself from other institutions?
Contributions to community
What benefits, or contributions, does your unit offer to communities?
Support of equal rights and dignity
List the ways your unit supports the strategic plan value statement of equal rights and dignity
for all persons (policy link
http://www.uvic.ca/universitysecretary/assets/docs/policies/GV0200_1105_.pdf )
Relationship to other units
What is the relationship of your unit to the success of other units?
Context and Opportunity Analysis
Unique features
Are there unique features of your unit or important contexts for the work of your unit that are
not captured in the questions and data above? If so, please explain.
Unique opportunities
What unique opportunities is your unit planning to pursue over the next five years?
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