Performance Appraisal of Selected Departments in Kerman University of Medical Sciences: A Quantitative Study

Introduction: Today, one of the main indicators in the assessment of development in countries is their share in producing knowledge .Thus, performance evaluation of educational units, which in turn leads to efficiency enhancement, has gained significant importance. This study examined the efficiency of educational departments in Kerman University of Medical Sciences through the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. Methods: This descriptive analytical study was done in 2010. A researcher-designed form was used for data collection, and data entry was done through Excel software. Finally, efficiency of the six departments was estimated by Deap 2.1 software. Results: The average of total efficiency, managerial efficiency and scale efficiency for departments was 0.847, 0.918 and 0.91, respectively. Half of the departments were functioning efficiently. Conclusion: To achieve maximum efficiency (=1), departments should increase their research output through more research projects, articles or books. These departments should establish a long-term program to reduce training inputs (students) and funds based on the specified surplus amount.