Your institutional objectives result from the difference between where you are now and where you would like to be in 3 - 5 years (your vision & mission). Objectives define what intermediary steps needs to be achieved in order to fulfill the mission statement?

Your institutional objectives will mainly focus on three key areas:

• Client base and satisfaction
• Sustainability, profitability and other institutional development objectives
• Quantity and quality of programmes and services

Objectives should be SMART : *) Specific *) Measurable *) Achievable *) Relevant *) Time-bound
This ensures that the objectives are understood, translated into clear actions and that their achievement can be verified. The measurabiltiy of objectives should be in terms of 1) What? 2) How much? 3) By when?

For example: The institute will increase (what?) its share of repeat customers (how much?) by 20 % (by when?) over the next 3 years. The institute will have developed an active partnership with university xy (offering at least 3 joint training courses per semester) by 2007. The institute will increase its income by 10 % and its self financing by 5 % every year.

In short, objectives serve as quantitative measures within a fixed time frame that propel your institution towards accomplishing its mission.