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Benchmarking and Community Colleges

ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges
EdInfo 99-04

Benchmarking is a process by which an organization identifies peer institutions with a reputation for excellence in a specific functional area, and examines their policies and operations for the purpose of developing or improving its own standards. Since IBM developed benchmarking in the 1980s, the process has been utilized in higher education primarily by four-year institutions. Recently, two-year institutions have begun using it as well. Benchmarking attempts to answer the following questions:

How well are we doing compared to others?
How good do we want to be?
Who is doing it the best?
How do they do it?
How can we adapt what they do to our institution?
How can we be better than the best?

Researchers from Pima Community College (Arizona) compiled a review of the literature on benchmarking for use in their institution’s first attempt at the process. They also created a list of previous benchmarking projects in higher education at both four-year institutions and community colleges. The researchers recounted Pima’s benchmarking efforts as well.

This information was reported in ED 423 014, "The Craft of Benchmarking: Finding and Utilizing District-Level, Campus-Level, and Program-Level Standards," by Ellen N. McGregor and Louis C. Attinasi, Jr. A full-text copy of this document may be obtained from ERIC Document Reproduction Services (EDRS), 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, Virginia 22153-2852; or by calling (800) 443-ERIC.

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Citations preceded by an asterisk (*) refer to journal articles or other material unavailable from EDRS. Journal articles may be acquired through regular library channels, or purchased from article clearinghouses such as CARL Uncover at (800) 787-7979. Other material may be available either directly through the publishing agency, or from out-of-print vendors. ERIC documents (references with "ED" numbers) may be read on microfiche at approximately 900 libraries worldwide. To identify your local ERIC Resource Collection, connect to: http://www.ed.gov/BASISDB/EROD/eric/SF. Most documents may be ordered on microfiche or in paper copy from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS) at (800) 443-ERIC. For more information about our products and services, please contact the ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges by telephone at (800) 832-8256, or via the Internet at ericcc@ucla.edu.

Please help us keep the ERIC database current and comprehensive by submitting your written works to the Clearinghouse for review for inclusion in the ERIC system. Send two copies of each manuscript to the attention of our Acquisitions Coordinator.

ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges
University of California, Los Angeles
3051 Moore Hall
P.O. Box 951521
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Updated 10/10/01
Maintained by ericccus@gseis.ucla.edu