The purpose of this review is to identify opportunities to improve the performance of Smith County on behalf of its customers — the taxpayers. In the course of the review, issues of superior performance are also analyzed with the intention of encouraging replication in similar public agencies. Finally, an opportunity analysis evaluates results both in relation to internally established objectives and externally established public purposes, both implicit and explicit. The underlying question addressed by the opportunity analysis is “how good is the public agency compared to what it could be?”
How Well Are Texas Public Universities Serving Their Students?
This paper represents the first installment of what will be an ongoing study of Texas public universities. This first phase, released in March 2024, is a review of three leading, existing ranking protocols, which measure free speech, academic quality, and Return on Investment by major and program. Our next installment will measure and report on...