October 09, 2003
Board of Governors awards $12.5 million in performance funds
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
ThePennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors today approved the distribution of $12.5 million in performance funding to the 14 state-owned universities.
The Board established the performance funding program four years ago to reward the universities for demonstrating success and continued improvement in key areas related to student achievement, university excellence and operational efficiency. The amount of funding awarded to the universities has been increased every year, from $2 million in the first year to an amount equivalent to 3 percent of the State System’s educational and general fund appropriation this year.
“In these difficult economic times, financial rewards for university performance are more important than ever,” said Chancellor Judy G. Hample. “This program has helped drive our universities to a higher level of excellence, to the benefit of our students and the Commonwealth.”
The performance funding program has been refined each year since its inception, but the focus has remained the same – encouraging the universities to improve both in the classroom and in all of their daily operations, and rewarding them when they do. In each year of the program, the universities have had to demonstrate an improved level of
Performance based on a series of “indicators, ” which this year included student retention and graduation rates, degrees awarded, instructional cost per student and the percentage of instructional faculty with terminal degrees in their discipline, among others.
The universities qualified for funding this year based on their improvement in meeting specific performance targets and on how well they fared compared to peer institutions outside of the State System. This year’s program distributes the performance awards proportional to full-time equivalent students enrolled at the qualifying institutions.
The $12.5 million pool for 2003-04 will be distributed as follows:
Bloomsburg, $1,190,156; California, $1,126,865; Cheyney, $325,085; Clarion, $624,979; East Stroudsburg, $396,028; Edinboro, $433,818; Indiana, $1,677,492; Kutztown, $1,015,755; Lock Haven, $612,410; Mansfield, $562,852; Millersville, $1,105,926; Shippensburg, $1,272,294; Slippery Rock, $796,765; and West Chester, $1,376,234.
With more than 104,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. More than 375,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.