The nine AQIP Categories provide a framework that colleges and universities can use to examine their key processes to make sure they are investing energy and resources in ways that will help achieve their goals.

Each AQIP Category deals with a related group of key processes and allows an organization to analyze, understand, and explore opportunities for improving these processes and the interrelationships among them. Because each Category analyzes processes present in all higher learning organizations, the Categories promote critical reflection that allows colleges and universities to share and learn from other organizations' experience and insight.

AQIP expects each institution to use the Categories to structure its Systems Portfolio, an organizational resource that describes key institutional systems and their performance results. A repository for information that is shared throughout an institution, the Systems Portfolio becomes a key management and communication tool for continuous improvement.

Each Category includes Context, Process, Results, and Improvement items, which pose questions asking:

• How does your organization approach its key systems?
• How do you design robust processes that consistently to achieve your goals?
• How broadly have you implemented effective approach across your different departments, operations, and locations?
• How do you measure your processes and evaluate your results?
• How do your results and trends compare with those of other organizations that are trying to achieve similar goals?
• How do you use information about your processes' performance results to improve your own approaches?
• How do you learn to improve continuously from your experience with these processes?
• How effectively are your processes meeting your students' and other stakeholders' needs?

To view the specific items and questions under each Category, select the Category from the links on the left.