While Oregon’s seven public universities are governed by independent governing boards, the Oregon Legislature requires a regular evaluation of each university. The information here will help you learn about the scope of these evaluations and our public processes for this work.
The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) is charged by statute with the public university evaluations. The public university evaluations focus on contributions related to the state higher education goals.
Read the latest institutional evaluations on our Reports page.State statute (Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 352.061) gives the HECC specific directions on the reporting requirements for these evaluations. They must be completed for each university once every two years and must include the following.- A report on the university’s achievement of outcomes and measures of progress, goals, and targets
- An assessment of the university’s progress toward achieving the mission of all education beyond high school as described in ORS 350.014, or the 40-40-20 goal
- An assessment as to how well the establishment of a governing board at the university comports with the findings set forth in ORS 352.025
The University Coordination unit of the HECC Office of Academic Policy and Authorization develops the evaluations for HECC Commission review before providing them to the Legislative Assembly. To prepare the evaluations, we rely on regularly conducted academic accreditation reports, self-assessments by the institutions prepared for these accreditation reviews, and state and federal data. We focus these evaluations on statewide strategic objectives of higher education as outlined in state law, in the HECC’s Strategic Plan, and in the
Strategic Roadmap for Oregon Postsecondary Education and Training, including the following.
- student success as measured by degree completion
- access and affordability as measured by equity across socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and regional (urban/rural) groups
- academic quality and research
- financial sustainability
- continued collaboration across universities in support of the state’s mission for higher education
The evaluations may include recommendations to the Legislative Assembly on the ability of the university to meet academic goals and fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities.
Stay Engaged in the Public Institution Evaluation Process
These review of public university evaluations is done at
public meetings of the HECC. Learn
how to stay engaged with us, or
subscribe to public meeting notice here. We welcome public comment at all public meetings.
Read past evaluations here.