Metrics and Indicators of Progress

The university is committed to ongoing, focused measurement and assessment of activities in support of the plan.

Each tactic implemented as part of the strategic plan includes metrics and indicators for assessing its effectiveness, guiding its ongoing implementation, and recognizing its success. These indicators will be monitored, updated, supplemented, and reported on throughout the life of the plan. Since the five priorities of the strategic plan are interconnected, all our metrics and indicators are tied to multiple areas and reflect work taking place across the university.

In alignment with the strategic plan of the Board of Regents, the university has set specific five-year targets for several high-level indicators, and will report on progress toward meeting these targets annually.

Year 1 Update

In our first year, we made significant progress toward the goals outlined in the 2022-2027 Strategic Plan. We built upon our strengths in research, advanced teaching methods that promote student success, encouraged a more respectful and welcoming campus culture, and enhanced well-being for our students, faculty, and staff.

Over time, success in implementing our plan is expected to contribute substantively to improvements in the targeted progress indicators below and in many other key indicators of institutional progress, such as AAU membership indicators, faculty and staff retention rates, demographic data and diversity measures, and more.

All baselines and numbers below are three-year averages unless otherwise noted.

Targeted Progress Indicators

	Baseline¹	2023¹	2027 Target
Fall-to-fall retention for first-year undergraduate students	87%	89%	Increase to 90%
Four-year undergraduate completion rates	56%	59%	Increase to 58%
Six-year undergraduate completion rates	73%	74%	Increase to 75%
Attainment gap² in fall-to-fall retention of underrepresented minority³ undergraduate students	4%	4%	Decrease to 2%
Attainment gap² in fall-to-fall retention of first-generation⁴ students	10%	10%	Decrease to 6-8%
Attainment gap² in four-year graduation rate of underrepresented minority³ undergraduate students	11%	10%	Decrease to 7-9%
Attainment gap² in four-year graduation rate of first-generation⁴ undergraduate students	13%	15%	Decrease to 9-11%
Attainment gap² in six-year graduation rate of underrepresented minority³ undergraduate students	11%	12%	Decrease to 6-8%
Attainment gap² in six-year graduation rate of first-generation⁴ undergraduate students	12%	15%	Decrease to 7-9%
Need- and merit-based philanthropic scholarship support for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students	$27.4M	$25.4M	Increase to $32.4M
UI Health Care Vizient Quality and Accountability Study ranking of comprehensive academic medical centers	Ranked 71 of 101⁵	Ranked 80 of 116	Rank in top 50
Annual increase in research expenditures⁶	3%	5%	5%
Philanthropic support for faculty prizes/awards, fellowships, professorships, chairs, and deanships	$18.3M	$21.5M	Increase to $21.6M
Percentage of students reporting participation in a high-impact, experiential learning opportunity in responses to the Senior Exit Survey	87%	86%	Increase to 90%

Additional Targets for 2027

Maintain 95% or greater success rate for online courses
The success rate for online courses from 2020 to 2023 is 95%.

Increase UI Health Care patient capacity by 10%⁷
UI Health Care measured an average of 2.49 million annual patient encounters in FY21-FY23⁷, a 14% increase
over the baseline measurement.

60% participation in the campus climate surveys
The response rate for the 2022 survey was 30%. The next survey will be administered in fall 2024.

75% of undergraduate students completing a sustainability-focused course
A baseline of 24% was established in the 2022-23 academic year.

Achieve a 47% campuswide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
The university recently deployed a new carbon accounting tool (SIMAP), which will provide carbon reduction numbers for future years of the plan.

Maintain 79% or greater of a Net Asset Value⁸ index score of GEF facilities
The index score is updated every two to three years.

100% of new buildings and renovations meet or exceed LEED design certification thresholds
UI Design Standards and Procedures ensure quality standards for campus projects.

Include employment outcomes of graduates in academic program reviews
The university updated its Operations Manual in October 2023 to require employment outcomes as part of departmental and academic program reviews.

_{¹3-year average unless otherwise noted

²The disparity between groups of students on a given academic performance goal.

³In the narrow context of monitoring gaps in retention and graduation rates between underrepresented students and other students, this plan defines underrepresented minority (URM) to include members of the following federally-defined race/ethnicity categories that have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education: Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races (where at least one race is included in the preceding list). URM counts include only U.S. citizens and permanent residents (international students are counted separately).

⁴A student is considered to be of first-generation status if neither parent or guardian holds a four-year degree. This is self-reported information collected on the undergraduate admissions application.

⁵Baseline period is 2021 Vizient Quality and Accountability Study

⁶Based on NSF HERD data

⁷Average annual encounters, excludes COVID-19 clinic and telehealth activity during the pandemic.}
_{⁸A measure of building stewardship and condition, calculated using a dollar value of facility needs and replacement value.}

Progress by Priority Area

Reaching our five-year goals is not something that will happen overnight. It requires multi-level change within our institution and the continued commitment from the entire university community. Each tactic implemented within the different priority areas includes its own metrics and indicators of progress. The pages below highlight some measures from Year 1 of the plan that show we are making progress toward our high-level goals.