Performance measurements for the CREWES Project

Jeffrey Blair Thurston, Robert R. Stewart

Performance measurements are a useful tool for measuring and encouraging progress towards desired goals. The mandate of the CREWES Project is to educate students, and to produce valuable research results. We have designed a quantity that encapsulates our progression towards these two aims. Research results are evaluated primarily on the basis of publications, as documented studies of research organizations indicate that this is amongst the most reliable indicators of output. Numbers of graduates are the foundation of the measure of meeting the educational goals.

The output measure, as a function of time, shows that The CREWES Project appears to be on track with respect to succeeding in its two-fold mandate. In addition, while output has risen steadily over the lifetime of the project, productivity has remained fairly constant. Additional financial analysis suggests that diffusion of CREWES technology has followed a pattern typical for new technology offerings in the marketplace, and that both revenue and costs can be correlated to external factors.