Counting Out the Scholars: How Performance Indicators Undermine Universities and Colleges

Canada' s universities have lost their autonomy. Under the guise of accountability, reformers from government and large corporations have undermined the original purposes of these institutions, insisting that they operate according to a business model. The chief tool used to effect this change is the performance indicator, a method of evaluation and ranking well suited to measuring sales per square foot, for example, but useless in assessing qualities such as critical thinking, creativity and wisdom. Evaluating use of performance indicators in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand, the authors challenge readers to look beyond this narrow, business-based measure of value, and to consider more creative and effective methods of evaluation. "Counting Out the Scholars" is a penetrating analysis of current methods of performance evaluation in the university, one that offers alternatives to the prevailing orthodoxy.