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Exercise: ‘Closing the Loop’ in Strategic Planning and Annual Progress Reporting
Instructions: Review a unit’s annual progress report. This review sheet may be completed as an assessment of each objective or as an overall assessment of a
unit’s annual progress report.
1.
Indicate whether the reporting field is ‘Complete’ (the reporting addressed all characteristics of the field) or ‘Incomplete’ (the reporting is missing
one or more characteristics of the field).
2. Write at least one strength and one improvement (if applicable) for each reporting field.
3. After reviewing each reporting field, assess how well the unit “Closed the Loop” and provide an Overall Quality Rating of reporting.
Field Status
Reporting Fields
Review of Progress
(C ) =
Complete
(IC) =
Incomplete
Objective statement(s): Clearly articulates what the
unit plans to do to achieve the goal, and the
statement is measurable
Alignments: Matches the objective(s)
 (UK Goal(s), Unit Goal(s)
_________
_________

Unit Standard/Metric(s): Clearly stated
target that is an indicator of progress toward
achieving the objective (e.g., annually
increase enrollment by 10% ); matches the
objective and aligns to a stated strategy (if
applicable)
Implementation/Strategies: The defined action(s)
will assist the unit in achieving the stated objective
(e.g., type of project and its completion date)—this is
not a required field; if there are no implementation
strategies, write “NA”
Assessment Method(s): Data collection (e.g.,
surveys, focus groups, exams, tracking, etc.) are
appropriate for the objective(s)/assessment method
(s)/ implementation strategy (s) and will yield useful
information for assessing improvement or progress.
_________
_________
________
Noted Strengths
Suggested Improvements
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Field Status
Reporting Fields
Review of Progress
(C ) =
Complete
(IC) =
Incomplete
Actual Results: Reported results are appropriate for
the objective(s) /assessment method (s)/
implementation strategy (s) and provide necessary
details for interpretation/evaluation (e.g., number of
people surveyed, # of respondents and % for each
item, # and type of publications/ workshops/courses
development/recruitment activities, etc.)
Reflection and Analysis: Narrative focused on the
discussion of the results. Answered such questions
as: Did the results yield the expected metric, why or
why not? What adjustments need to happen to
achieve the goal or for improvement?
Improvement Action (s): The actions come directly
from the reflection and analysis. They are the next
steps. Next steps involve the
modification/elimination/addition of strategies,
metrics, assessment methods, or objectives
“Closing the Loop” *
Overall Reporting Quality**
Noted Strengths
Suggested Improvements
_________
_________
_________
_________
*Closing the Loop: How well has the unit demonstrated the use of results for improvement? Key indicators would be “reflection and analysis” and
“improvement actions (i.e., How well did reflection and actions inform the next year’s reporting? Were the improvement action(s) in year 2009-10 reported
on in year 2010-11, and the improvement actions of 2010-11 reported on in year 2011-12?)
**Overall Reporting Quality: M (Model): Overall reporting demonstrates ongoing, integrated planning and evaluation processes; there are areas of
excellence in one or more reporting fields: objectives & alignments, implementation/strategies, assessment methods, results, and improvement actions; C
(Comprehensive): Overall reporting has specific and measurable objectives, consistent and appropriate objective alignments and assessment methods,
defined targets, and comprehensive reporting and improvement actions. E (Emerging): Overall Reporting reflects a good effort; the unit needs to improve
reporting related to one or more required fields: objectives & objective alignments, strategies (if identified by the unit), assessment methods, results and
improvement actions. Improvement will be noted when a unit achieves a comprehensive or model rating. NI (Needs Improvement) : Overall reporting is
lacking; needs assistance .
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