Design, Development and Validation of a Digital Performance Based Appraisal System: A Planned Approach in Change Management

Abstract

Objectives: In India, the professional performance of the academic faculty is assessed annually using Academic Performance Indicator (API) as per the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India. This is a manual model is cumbersome in filling, and time-consuming. As a planned change and a measure to introduce technology-based platforms in JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research (JSSAHER), Mysuru, India, we have designed, developed, and validated digital platform technology to evaluate the annual performance of faculty working in medical, dental, pharmacy, life sciences fraternities. Methods: Academic Performance Indicator (API) guideline as per the University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India, was used to design and develop the digital performance-based appraisal system (d-PBAS), and its performance was validated (20% random sampling) by comparing the manual and digital data entered by the faculty from different disciplines of JSSAHER. Findings: The present manuscript demonstrates the designing and validation methodology of d-PBAS. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process and Waterfall model was adopted to develop d-PBAS. The digital platform was assessed for the performance and ranking of the faculty. More than 96% of the users expressed satisfaction and 4% expressed dissatisfaction in d-PBAS. Novelty: For the first of its kind in a university set up in India, JSSAHER designed and validated the digital performance-based appraisal system to evaluate academic performance. Since d-PBAS was developed using the SDLC process and Waterfall model it is easy and consumes less time to enter the data. The most important highlight is d-PBAS helps to rank the faculty performance automatically. The design and validation of d-PBAS described in the present manuscript are simple, robust, cost-effective, and have a go-green value. Keywords: Change Management, Higher Education Institutions, Performance­based, Appraisal System, academic Performance Indicator, digital technology