University Students Concerned with Performance-based Funding

Today, the Minister of Advanced Education announced a new “outcomes-based post-secondary funding approach” that will take effect on April 1, 2020. Instead of block grants, institutions will be held to performance-based funding (PBF) metrics that they must meet to receive their full annual funding. 

This fundamental shift of how funding is allocated is concerning to CAUS, especially given the cuts that have already been implemented by the government. It is currently unclear whether funding will remain in the PSE system or be allocated elsewhere if an institution does not meet their minimum PBF targets. The latter would ultimately translate to an additional cut to post-secondary in Alberta and would negatively impact students and institutions in our province. 

CAUS is calling on the government to learn from jurisdictions where PBF models have been introduced with questionable success, specifically to ensure that the process of developing and implementing metrics is transparent and open to public scrutiny. CAUS member schools expect that PBF indicators will be data driven, and that the government undertake meaningful consultation, wherein suggestions from students are directly incorporated into the final PBF metrics. 

“While post-secondary funding in Alberta needs transparency, university students fear this punitive funding model could be detrimental to their education if metrics are not equitable,” CAUS Chair Sadiya Nazir stated. “CAUS again calls on the Government of Alberta and Minister Nicolaides for thoughtful, evidence-based post-secondary institutional funding.”

Background:

Changes include:

  • Moving from annual Campus Alberta Grants and Comprehensive Institutional Plans to 3-year Investment Management Agreements with individual post-secondary institutions

    • Each institution will have their own agreement with the government

    • Institutions will not compete against one another, but against targets they set through negotiation with the government

    • In 2020/21, 15% of funds will be based on PBF metrics

    • By 2022/23, 40% of funds will be based on PBF metrics

  • There will be a total of 20 key indicators (PBF metrics) for each institution, gradually introduced over three years.

    • Indicators will be weighted differently at each institution based on consultation 

    • Consultation with stakeholders, including student groups, will start immediately

    • Metrics including graduation and completion rates, research capacity, and commercialization of intellectual property are being considered.

    • Students and institutions at each institution will be able to define one indicator

Gov’t press release: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=67447A51C2BC1-CBF8-78E9-C6759CE8A736486C

CAUS ED