Assessment Of Higher Education Institutions Research Articles

A fuzzy model for the assessment of factors affecting the choice of an institution of higher education

The proposed approach to the formalization of models of development projects and the development of a higher education institution (HEI) provides the possibility of modeling (research), processes of training future specialists and development with the selection of points of origin of projects for the implementation of management tasks. This makes it possible to simplify the description of the main processes of vocational training and to build models for the analysis of improvements through the system of quality and development in the training of specialists in vocational training. In order to conduct higher education diagnostics and form harmonized decisions in higher education development programs in the system of higher education, it is advisable to use programs for the development and management of business processes, the management functions of which are focused on the analysis of the state of the higher education institution and management functions that ensure a successful and less expensive result of higher education development with taking into account the increased requirements of the external environment and the labor market. One of the conceptual provisions of the development of information technologies and education management systems is the further development of information provision in the formation of a single perfect information environment, informatization of education management systems, and evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of training specialists for the production industries, taking into account the requirements of the labor market, production and modern development of science. The proposed technique and method of comprehensive assessment of the quality of education of graduates of higher education institutions with the help of IT on the basis of indicators and indicators of quality, according to quantitative and qualitative factors, their composition, taking into account the needs of production, the requirements of the external and internal and educational environment. Thus, the main technology of education quality management is the most widespread component of artificial intelligence - fuzzy systems. Thanks to its combination with classical models and methods of ensuring the process of management of higher education institutions, it was possible to obtain wider opportunities for working out those parameters that until then had not been considered due to their qualitative nature. It is advisable to include the following input components to the main indicators: finance, training and development, competence, satisfaction, requirements and assessment of higher education institutions, etc.

Formative Assessment of Professional Competencies of Future Geography Teachers

The article deals with modern trends in the modernization of control and assessment of educational achievements of future geography teachers, which contribute to increasing the motivation of their educational and cognitive activities and improving self-organization skills. It is established that the competency-based approach to the organization of the educational process includes determining the level and quality of professional competencies. The problem of finding new approaches to the assessment of educational activities and educational results of students is analyzed. It is proven that one of the ways to solve the outlined problem was the systematic implementation of formative assessment of educational achievements as a component of competency control technology. The concepts of “formative assessment”, “competency control”, “competency-oriented tasks” are explained and their place in the educational process is outlined. The model of the process of realization of formative assessment in higher education institutions, the algorithm for applying competency-oriented tasks, the structural components of the technology of competency control and formative assessment are presented. The work identifies and characterizes diagnostic, current-formative, self-assessment-formative, modular-formative, summative-normative and qualification types of assessment of students’ educational achievements. Based on the experience of implementing the technology of competency control and formative assessment, it was proven that it contributed to increasing the motivation and self-organization of students, allowed the teacher to diagnose and make positive changes to the educational process, and maintain feedback with students. Comparison of traditional assessment and the technology of competency control and formative assessment demonstrated its ability to comprehensively assess and determine the level of competency formation of future geography teachers. It was concluded that the introduction of this technology, on the one hand, enables teachers to ensure effective educational activities of students at a high level of motivation, self-organization and in accordance with their interests. On the other hand, it will contribute to the professional development of future geography teachers, who will teach students in the conditions of reforming national education.

A systematic review of the implications for teaching, learning and assessment at South African universities after the Covid-19 pandemic

This paper presents the results of a systematic review of literature, reported in research journals, on the experiences of higher educational institutions regarding teaching, learning, and assessment during the Covid-19 pandemic. Different studies related to the Covid-19 pandemic have been conducted within the South African context, but there has not been a systematic review of these studies highlighting the lessons learned, how these lessons have affected education in higher education institutions (HEIs), and how these lessons can inform future planning. This study aims to summarise literature on teaching, learning and assessment in higher education institutions and to conceptualise possible guidelines for future planning. An analysis of 52 research articles revealed 7 implications for the lessons learnt from the pandemic for future teaching, learning and assessment (TLA) in South African HEIs (realisation of the affordances of technology for TLA, institutional changes related to online TLA during the pandemic, students’ experiences related to TLA, lecturer’s experiences related to TLA, the need for care, assessment related matters, approaches to teaching, learning and assessment) and several recommendations for how these lessons can be leveraged to help HEIs to prepare effectively for future catastrophic disruptions to education in South African HEIs. The discussion shows the digital divide that exists within the South African population and other contextual challenges faced by higher education institutions during the pandemic, and the different sacrifices by both institutions and students to survive the pandemic. Overall, the findings of this review provide valuable guidance for HEIs and stakeholders involved in TLA, offering insights on how to integrate the lessons learned from the pandemic into their future planning and strategies.

Life cycle assessment of higher education institutions – method and case study

Against the backdrop of climate change and resource depletion, sustainability and sustainable development has been brought in the focus of industries and organisations. To quantify the environmental impacts of products and organisations the methodology of life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied area-wide in many different sectors. The higher education sector in particular has an important role to play in sustainable development due to the multiplier role by educating the academic employees of the future. Additionally, higher education institutions (HEIs) are a relevant sector by themselves due to their size and number of employees as well as their impact on innovation and future technologies. Therefore, HEIs should be at the forefront of assessing and reducing their environmental impact. In contrast to this an analysis of the available LCAs of HEIs shows significant limitations with regards to availability of assessments as well as guidelines on assessment methodologies. To contribute to closing this gap and increase the availability of LCA information for HEIs, a guideline is developed based on current LCA standards, which contains assistance regarding the goal and scope definition, life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment. The guideline is applied in a case study for Leibniz Universität Hannover (LUH), one of the nine leading technical universities in Germany. Results of the case study show that the major contributors for the impact of the LUH are the transport activities, infrastructure and energy supply. In 13 of the 16 assessed impact categories, transport activities account for the largest share of potential environmental impacts, ranging from about 43% to 82%. However, the results of the case study must be considered with care as primary data availability from the LUH has been limited and therefore must be extended in the future.

Bibliometric Analysis and Benchmarking of Life Cycle Assessment of Higher Education Institutions

Higher Education Institutions (HEI), such as Universities and Institutes worldwide, are making efforts and setting goals to assess and minimise their environmental impacts, and to become more sustainable. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been considered a powerful approach to deal with environmental impacts of products and services. Thus, in this paper, a bibliometric analysis was carried out to benchmark the sustainability of HEI in terms of key areas, impacts, and barriers. Results indicate that, although some HEI are concerned with sustainability, LCA has not been systematically adopted in their assessments, and the main focus is on the calculation of carbon emissions. The lack of available internal information and managing commitment are the main barriers to adopting LCA in HEI. In the few cases where LCA was considered, it was observed that differences in scopes, functional units, intensities, and data reliability hamper comparisons, and lead to biased conclusions. In the end of the paper, the results of some Portuguese HEI are provided and discussed, showing the need for a better understanding of environmental assessment results.

Performance evaluation of scientific research system in Chinese universities: A view of goal congruence

The performance of scientific research system is a key element in the assessment of higher education institutions (HEIs). The scientific research system mainly be constructed by two sub-systems: scientific research achievements production and the transformation of these achievements. Different from prior literature, this paper attempts to evaluate the performance of scientific research system of HEIs from a view of goal congruence. Specifically, it examines how and to what extent such two sub-systems are consistent with the goal of overall scientific research system. To this end, this study employs data envelopment analysis (DEA), a non-parametric frontier analysis approach, to present a goal congruence model which is used to measure the degree of both the overall goal congruence and the internal goal congruence. Then, the proposed model is applied to evaluate the performance of scientific research systems of 40 “first-class” universities and 62 “first-class disciplines” universities in China. Results show that only the scientific research systems of Tsinghua University and Central China Normal University achieve the goal congruence. Finally, both higher education policy recommendations and implications are discussed.

Redesign of online proctored exams for STEM learners in HEIs: proposal for incorporating higher-order thinking skills and democratic pedagogy via OPERHOT platform.

In response to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper proposes an exam system for STEM students that effectively test higher-order thinking skills, such as the ability to apply, create, evaluate, and analyse. Higher education institutions (HEIs) must incorporate all three strands of democratic STEM pedagogy, namely student voice, shared and transformational authority, and STEM criticality, according to empathy interviews with educators. It is imperative that these strands are reflected in the assessments of students within HEIs. During the pandemic, it became evident that the lack of a suitable proctored online examination system impeded the accurate and fair evaluation of students. This circumstance was in stark contrast to the offline mode of examination, which permitted monitoring and control. Notably, many students struggled to answer questions requiring higher-order thinking, with responses frequently identical in unproctored online examinations or settings with insufficient proctoring mechanisms, especially in contexts with limited resources. Consequently, there is an urgent need to redesign the online proctored test system in accordance with STEM criticality and student voice. To address this need, this paper proposes the creation of OPERHOT, a proctored online exam system integrated with random questions requiring higher-order thinking. This system employs a timed assessment methodology and requires students to keep their cameras on throughout the examination. By implementing OPERHOT, a proper and secure online evaluation of students can be made possible. In addition, this system will strengthen the online education and assessment systems in higher education institutions, thereby promoting integrity and enhancing the learning experience. In addition, the adoption of OPERHOT will also improve the assessment process and contribute to the enhancement of online education and assessment in HEIs as a whole. This reimagined system will catalyse the development of a robust and inclusive learning environment that encourages students' voices and equips educators to foster the growth of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This perspective aims to address the pressing need for an updated and effective proctored assessment system in the online educational landscape while promoting STEM critical thinking and student voice. The OPERHOT platform is at the ideation stage, and once developed, it may be tested in a few HEIs. Based on the feedback from educators and other stakeholders it can be further modified to make it more inclusive and accessible and can be offered to other HEIs for wider piloting.

Higher education teachers' and students' perceptions of open-book and proctored examinations in the COVID-19 pandemic

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education was forced to review its assessment processes. Competency achievement and academic honesty should be ensured in online assessments. In the Master of Educational Technology and Digital Competences of a Spanish University, the open-book examination model was implemented to respond to the new situation considering the characteristics of authentic assessment (adapted to students, intellectually challenging, related to practice, coherent with the didactic methodology, makes plagiarism difficult). We wanted to analyze the relevance of this change in evaluation. The main objective is to analyze the differences between traditional face-to-face exams from before the pandemic and open-book exams with and without proctoring according to the perception of teachers and students. The research is of an empirical nature and quantitative approach and is based on the responses of 66 teachers and 301 students to a questionnaire with sufficient validity (chi-2/Gl: 2.453, RMSEA: .069, CFI: .99 and TLI: .99), and an Omega reliability coefficient of .882. Comparisons were made between model A: traditional face-to-face examination, model B: open-book examination with proctoring, model C: open book examination without proctoring. The results show that for teachers and students open-book exams with or without proctoring had no significant differences and are more in line with an authentic assessment than face-to-face exams. It is concluded that open-book exams with or without proctoring are suitable for authentic online assessment in higher education. It is recommended to contrast the results in other online university courses and to encourage authentic assessment in higher education institutions.

FORMATIVE USE OF AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN COMPETENCIES ACQUISITION AMONG UNDERGRADUATE SCIENCE STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN TANZANIA

ormative use of authentic assessment is regarded as a key aspect of competence acquisition among undergraduate science students. The study employed a pragmatism research paradigm with the mixed-method research approach. The research design used was an explanatory sequential research design. The target population for the study was 650 third-year undergraduate science students from the two Higher Education Institutions. The sample for the study was 231 undergraduate science students who were selected by proportional stratified random sampling technique. In addition, six (6) instructors were selected by using purposive sampling based on their areas of specialization. Data analysis was done by using descriptive survey and thematic analysis for quantitative and qualitative research approaches respectively. The findings indicated that the formative use of authentic assessment in general and authentic assessment tools, in particular, was not well realized. Authentic assessment tools such as portfolios, projects, and practical work were not used on a formative basis. The concern was grading the achievement of learners through those tools rather than for the improvement of learning processes among them. However, teaching practice or fieldwork as one of the tools of authentic assessment was found to be used on a formative basis since the emphasis was the acquisition of competencies through the active engagement of students. Undergraduate science students were exposed to real-life situations accompanied by the provision of oral and written feedback for the sake of improvement. It is concluded that formative use of authentic assessment in general was not well realized leading to the persistence of criticism among education stakeholders on the inadequacy of competencies to the graduates. The study recommends the formulation of clear policies on the implementation of authentic assessment in Higher Education Institutions on a formative basis.

Detailed Review of National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) India Rankings including Uncertainty and Sensitivity

The Higher Education System in India is the world’s third-largest in terms of students, which is just next to China and the United States. Quality teaching, learning and research is the primary issue in Higher Education System. The Ranking and Accreditation process, both are considered as assessment tools, for quality assessment of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and both will give significant impact on the performance outcomes in-term of quality education and research. The quality of education and research will contribute to the sustainable development. In this research paper, a thorough systematic and sequential study of NIRF India Rankings is done considering ranking results up-to year 2020. The paper has also discussed in detail about the ranking process being undertaken and various ranking parameters which are considered in the NIRF Rankings framework for the overall category during the year 2020. The research article is mainly focused on uncertainty and sensitivity issues including some self-explanatory tables which are based on in-depth analysis of scores published on the NIRF public domain for the year 2020 and with a very positive approach in favour of students and their parents, Institution Policy Makers and the Academic Leaders. Some flaws in the rankings have also been observed based on the published documents and educational news. Some additional measures have also been suggested to consider them in the forthcoming years so that the existing ranking framework will become more robust and stable and finally a paper is summarized. Some abbreviations are also included at last of the article.

Uses of Authentic Assessment Tools: Implications towards Competence Acquisition among Undergraduate Prospective Science Teachers in Tanzania

The study was concerned with the uses of authentic assessment tools in higher education institutions, particularly portfolios and practical work. The study employed the mixed method research approach with the explanatory sequential research design. The sample for the study involved 231 third year undergraduate prospective science teachers who were selected randomly and 6 instructors who were purposively selected from two higher learning institutions. Data was collected by using a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The findings indicated that authentic assessment tools namely portfolios and practical works were used both formatively and summatively though summative use was dominant. Portfolios were found to be minimally used both for formative and summative purpose. Findings from interview indicated that awareness on the formative uses of authentic assessment tools among instructors was minimal since summative use of such tools was observed to be dominant. It is concluded that the use of authentic assessment tools ranged from formative to summative, though summative was more dominant. Therefore it is recommended that there should be policy on the authentic assessment in higher education institutions to guide the effective use in both summative and summative aspects.

Combining reference point based composite indicators with data envelopment analysis: application to the assessment of universities

In our knowledge society, where universities are key players, the assessment of higher education institutions should meet the new demands of the present complex environment. This calls for the use of techniques that are able to manage this complexity. In this paper, we propose a novel combination of methodologies, jointly using a multi-criteria reference point scheme and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) for the assessment of universities. This combination allows us to take into account all the aspects regarded as relevant to assess university performance, and use them as outputs in the efficiency analysis. Our findings highlight the convenience to assess the university performance by using both compensatory and non-compensatory schemes. This way, the information provided allows to detect the actions needed to improve the performances of the universities, rather than just giving an overall performance measure. Furthermore, combining the use of composite indicators with the DEA analysis provides a more complete picture of the institutions assessed, allowing universities to check their efficiency and to detect their weaknesses and strengths accordingly. The approach is illustrated using data of 47 Spanish public universities for the academic year, 2016–2017.

Measuring the Maturity of the Business Intelligence and Analytics Initiative of a Large Norwegian University

Maturity models of Business Intelligence and Analytics (BIA) have been previously used to assess BIA development progress in organizations in many sectors, such as healthcare and business. However, there is a lack of studies reporting up-to-date knowledge on applying maturity assessment in Higher Education Institutions (HEI). It remains unclear precisely to what extent and how HEI employ maturity assessment and the benefits of such exercises. This paper addresses this gap by reporting a case study at a large Norwegian university. A domain-specific maturity model is used as a lens to observe and reflect on the BIA implementation at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. This paper reports the assessment results and discuss the implications of the maturity assessment. The findings and discussions in the case can cater to a broader audience of BIA practitioners and researchers, contributing to understanding the value and adoption dynamics of BIA in Higher Education.

Using Digital Technology in Transforming Assessment in Higher Education Institutions beyond COVID-19

Purpose: This paper explores the dominant practices by integrating the use of technology to enhance assessment practices to better respond to the learning needs of the 21st century and the imperatives of the 4th industrial revolution. Objectives: 1) To explore how digital assessment could support diagnostic assessment in post-COVID-19 assessment practices. 2) To develop a digital assessment tool that supports the uptake and appropriate use of diverse digital assessment techniques. 3) To strengthen lecturers’ awareness of Constructive Alignment and implement it in digital-assisted assessment to promote the integration of graduate attributes in students. Method: The paper adopted the three elements of criticality, reflexivity, and praxis to address the use of digital technology to transform assessment of and for student learning within an institutional context. Criticality was used to provide a constructive reflection aimed at transforming the context; reflexivity enabled introspection and self-awareness regarding assessment as a pedagogical component that enhances student learning, and praxis helped to relate theories, concepts, and ideas to practice. The three elements informed the development of the model for enhancing and transforming digital enhancement assessment at the University of Namibia. Findings: The main findings revealed that higher education institutions could benefit from the forced COVID-19 migration to digitally-enabled assessment. The paper also revealed that for the digitally enabled assessment to be enhanced it requires collaboration between various institutional stakeholders. Conclusion: The paper concluded that there are opportunities for further collaboration among different institutional departments such as the faculties, quality assurance, innovation in learning and teaching, and research units, towards investigating, improving, and implementing new ways of assessing that are forward-looking and more supportive of student learning beyond their university careers.

Cybersecurity Risk Assessment: Modeling Factors Associated with Higher Education Institutions

Most universities rely heavily on Information Technology (IT) to process their information and support their vision and mission. This rapid advancement in internet technology leads to increased cyberattacks in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). To secure their infrastructure from cyberattacks, they must implement the best cybersecurity risk management approach, which involves technological and education-based solutions, to safeguard their environment. However, the main challenges in existing cybersecurity risk management approaches are limited knowledge of how organizations can determine or minimize the significance of risks. As a result, this research seeks to advance understanding to establish a risk assessment model for universities to measure and evaluate the risk in HEIs. The proposed model is based on theoretical aspects that we organized as follows: First, we review the existing cybersecurity frameworks to identify the suitability and limitation of each model. Next, we review current works on cybersecurity risk assessment in HEIs to evaluate the proposed risk assessment approaches, scope and steps. Based on the information gathered, we developed a risk assessment model. Finally, we conclude the study with directions for future research. The result presented from this study may give an insig1ht for HEIs staff to analyze what is to be assessed, how to measure the severity of the risk, and determine the level of risk acceptance, improving their decision-making on risk management.

ACADEMIC AUTONOMY: RESPONSIBILITY OF THE UNIVERSITY FOR THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION

Dynamic changes in socio-political life, European integrative aspirations of Ukraine and the development of a democratic society determined a number of reform changes in the system of national higher education, which affected the spread of academic freedoms and the universities institutional autonomy. The article points out the role of university autonomy and its measuring; the content of academic autonomy is revealed; it is the focused on one of its components – the rating assessment of research and teaching staff professional activities. The aim of the article is to determine the role of academic autonomy as a necessary condition for the evaluation of scientific and pedagogical activities of university teachers and justify the importance of such self-esteem in the system of internal quality assurance of higher education. The article points out the connection between the rating assessment of scientific and pedagogical staff of the university with its mission, vision and development strategy. It is noted that the rating of the university teachers’ professional activities is a multilevel, integrated and complex process, which aims to study the level of quality assurance in higher education at the university and develop and justify management decisions to improve it. Based on the comparison of normative documents and open sources on the Internet of Ukrainian universities from different Ukraine regions and universities included in the QS World University Rankings 2022, it was carried out the analysis of the rating assessment the professional activity of research and teaching staff of higher education institutions. The analysis of self-assessment methods made it possible to identify both common criteria and approaches, аnd certain specifics in the rating policy of higher education institutions, which indicates the institutional autonomy of Ukrainian universities. Generalization the rating assessment practice of research and teaching staff in higher education institutions of Ukraine provides a key to understanding the existing problems and unused reserves in the internal system and the process of ensuring the quality of higher education. Further study the practice of teaching staff professional activities' rating assessment in higher education institutions and taking into account the experience will help to optimize the internal providing system of higher education quality.

Service Communication On Unisba Student Satisfaction During The Covid-19 Pandemic

One of the indicators of stakeholder assessment of higher education institutions is the service factor provided by the institution. Online lectures and lecturer services – educators to students – are part of the communication services that Unisba provides to its students. Student dissatisfaction with the services that faculties and universities provide is usually conveyed on social media and it can be a boomerang effect for Unisba. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a form of service communication that is based on building relationships with customers. The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the effect of service communication on student satisfaction. This study uses quantitative analysis method to test the influences. The population is Unisba strata-1 (S1) active students in the 2020/2021 academic year, totaling 12,854 students. To determine the sample size, the authors used the Slovin formula with a margin of error of 0.09 and the number of samples is 132 students. The sampling technique that the authors used was the stratified probability one. The data analysis that we used was simple linear regression to see the influence of people, process, and technology aspects on Unisba student satisfaction. The research results show that human, process, and information technology aspects have a significant influence on Unisba student satisfaction.

УПРАВЛІННЯ ЯКІСТЮ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ В УКРАЇНІ НА ШЛЯХУ ІНТЕГРАЦІЇ У ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКИЙ ПРОСТІР (ДОСВІД ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОГО СОЮЗУ)

Quality assurance and quality management are the main challenges in the management of higher education institutions not only in Ukraine but also in the world in the context of sustainable development and the coronavirus crisis. In this context, the need to promote a culture of quality at university level is becoming increasingly important. The concept of quality culture expands traditional approaches to quality assurance, focusing on aspects of organizational psychology such as shared attitudes and commitment to quality. However, studies of methodological approaches to the problems of quality assurance management in higher education have not been sufficiently reflected in domestic research. That is why, at the present stage, there is an urgent need to study the problems of quality management in higher education at both internal and external levels. The article considers the theoretical foundations of the culture of quality of higher education, its necessity and role in the development of higher education in Ukraine. Conducted research on the experience of EU countries in external evaluation of the quality of higher education. Research of the experience of institutional accreditation in the European Union, because institutional accreditation is currently absent in Ukraine, despite the fact that it is prescribed in the Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education". Evaluation and construction of the Gap model, which identified the basic requirements for high-quality educational services based on the identification of contradictions that lead to consumer dissatisfaction with the quality of educational services received, including various contradictions. However, a study of the Ukrainian experience in assessing the quality of educational services allows us to conclude that in most cases a general rating assessment of higher education institutions that provide educational services, rather than the quality of services directly provided by them. And internal quality assurance systems in Ukrainian universities are in the process of formation and need significant development, taking into account the experience of universities in the European Union.

Overview of technology enhanced assessment in higher education institutions

Overview of technology enhanced assessment in higher education institutions

Ranking distribution and formula funding of Ukrainian Universities: the problem of subjectivism and mistrust

Domestic practice of University ranking in 2006-2020 and formula funding of higher education institutions in 2019-2020 was analysed in the article taking into account the objectivity, validity, reliability, accuracy, precision, transparency and clarity of the applied mechanisms. It was considered rankings: Compass , National system of ranking assessment of higher education institutions, Top-200 Ukraine, Scopus, External Evaluation Score for contract learning, External Evaluation Score for budget funding of learning, Consolidated ranking, and Ranking of national higher education institutions according to the Government’ criteria, as well as the formula mechanism for public funds distribution between institutions. Taking into account the world ranking experience and using a large array of factual data, it is proved that all past and current Ukrainian rankings, as well as the current funding formula, are affected by the excessive subjectivity, high discrimination of institutions and are not credible. Therefore, these mechanisms disorient stakeholders, citizens, employers, society as a whole regarding the actual state of higher education. The origins of the lack of objectivity, validity, reliability, transparency, clarity and other important characteristics of ranking and formula mechanisms have been identified. The main reason is the dominance of double subjectivism – the subjective selection of subjective criteria and indicators, which leads to manipulative results, inadequate perception and ultimately to distrust. Conceptual principles of overcoming the current crisis situation are proposed. It is argued that ranking and formula criteria and indicators according to their list and weight should primarily meet the best world practice / methodology of objective ranking and the key components of the three-part University mission – 1) education, 2) research, 3) innovation / creativity or service. At the same time, research serves to education modernizing, and innovation / creativity or service – according to its focus on ensuring long-term development or the current complicated functioning. In addition, ranking and formula developments should be tested by experimental exploitation, verified by testing on benchmarks of excellence, and appropriately adjusted to ensure an objective, valid, and reliable diagnosis of the essential characteristics of higher education, its institutions, and its network in Ukraine before their large-scale application. The article calls for attention and caution with the proposed rankings, in particular Ukrainian ones, and at the same time calls for the creation of an adequate national ranking of higher education institutions, which is important for the formation of an effective strategy for higher education development.