Quality measurement and quality assurance in higher education

This paper discusses the notion of quality measurement and describes the role of an enterprise‐wide, technology‐based continuous Quality Measurement System (QMS2000) in the quality assurance program at the University of Louisville. QMS2000 is a relational, interactive information system that includes data from 273 student, alumni, faculty, staff, and employer satisfaction surveys that are linked to corresponding databases at the university. QMS2000 is on‐line, operating in a networked, client‐server environment that permits licensed users access to designated components of the system at any time from designated desktops at the university. QMS2000 users generate reports and perform advanced statistical analyses drawing from the databases. The data and reports are integrated into the accreditation, strategic planning, budgeting, outcomes assessment, and program review processes at the university. The paper closes with a discussion of the initial impacts of QMS2000 on the university’s efforts at quality assurance.