RADFORD -- Radford University's performance in one of the key benchmarks of U.S. News & World Report rankings has increased to the highest level in memory.

Fifty-six percent of students who enrolled as freshmen in 2000 have graduated, up from 51 percent who entered in 1999 and had finished by last school year, Rick Slavings, RU's vice president for planning and research, told the school's governing Board of Visitors on Monday.

The average six-year graduation rate in Radford's state-defined group of peer schools was 49 percent, Slavings said. The rate does not distinguish between dropouts and outgoing transfers.

Slavings made his announcement in a board committee meeting. In another committee meeting, Provost Ivelaw Griffith said he wants to change RU's tenure review process to incorporate "external peer review" of candidates.

Griffith acknowledged that some faculty members will probably oppose the change but said "tenure is a significant decision" and "self-approbation is good, but for me that is not good enough."

Faculty Senate President Claire Waldron, who was at the meeting, said she expected opinion on the measure to be divided.

"It would be a substantial change," Waldron said. "Significant dialogue about it, talking about it, will be important."

On Thursday, Radford's faculty senate voted 30-11 against changing the way Radford hires deans in a manner Griffith supported.

Griffith also indicated Monday that a decision could come next week on whether to launch the school's first doctoral program in fall 2007 or fall 2008. The program, in psychology, was approved by the State Council on Higher Education for Virginia in October. But it also requires approval by the Virginia General Assembly.

In other matters, RU's governing board voted in favor of increasing its membership to 15 from 11 and increasing from two to five the number of members who can live outside Virginia.

RU President Penelope Kyle said "we're doing this because we think it allows us to create a more diverse board" and bring in people with talents that might not otherwise be available.

Legislators would have to approve the change for it to take effect.