Efficiency and Quality in the Current Higher Education Context in Europe: an application of the data envelopment analysis methodology to performance assessment of departments within the University of Zaragoza

Abstract

Since the Bologna Declaration, improving the efficiency and transparency of the systems of higher education has become one of the principal challenges for all European countries. In fact, the establishment of evaluation processes in programmes and institutions is a current practice. For this purpose, several mechanisms of evaluation are being developed with the aim of accurately measuring the performance of these institutions. This paper applies the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology to assess the performance of the departments of the University of Zaragoza (Spain). The selected indicators concern both the teaching and the research activity of these departments. The results reveal the departments that carry out these activities more efficiently according to the variables included in each analysis. Finally, I discuss the existence of differences in the strengths and weaknesses among departments covering different areas, suggesting several initiatives aimed at improving their performance in the light of current Spanish higher education reform.

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted with the financial support of the Spanish National R&D Plan through research project SEJ2004‐0791‐ECON.

Notes

[1] For a deeper understanding of the DEA model I recommend visiting the web site edited by Dr. Ali Emrouznejad of the University of Warwick (http://www.deazone.com), where a comprehensive vision of the methodology is offered.

[2] Concretely, we include the following items detailed in the resolution.

  Amortization period

 Furniture, tackle and other office equipment   20

 Photocopier and reproducer machines     14

 Information processing equipment    8

 Computer systems and software     6

 On average, we considered 12 years as the pay‐off period. This means an amortization rate close to 9%.

[3] The coefficients used have been drawn up by the University of Zaragoza to calculate the teaching capacity of each area. They fluctuate between 1 and 5.

[4] The results of the assessment can be found on the Avempace Project web site (http://wzar.unizar.es/invest/sgi/avempace00_02/EvalAvempace.pdf).

[5] The idea of DEA is that each DMU chooses its own criteria when there are none previously defined. In this case there are no criteria in the University of Zaragoza to prioritize the outputs of teaching versus the outputs of research. For this purpose the DEA methodology was used so each department decided its own criteria. However, the University of Zaragoza has been working to develop an index that allows the aggregation of a series of research outputs into just one measure. In consequence, the model has to assume this criterion and introduce this complex indicator as an individual variable. As noted above, before deciding the variables to introduce into the model it is essential to take into consideration the opinion and preferences of the institutions being evaluated