The foundation elements of the funding model should be accessibility, accountability, and quality.

Accessibility

• As defined in the Virginia Plan draft document, provision should be made to address the unmet financial need of Virginia students and their families who are unable to fully cover the cost of attending a Virginia college or university. An appropriate immediate target should be 50 percent of unmet need.

• Virginia's institutions compete for the nation's best graduate students with universities in other states. Any new funding plan should incorporate an informed policy regarding graduate assistance.

• The model should be flexible enough to recognize and promote institutional diversity and autonomy.

Quality and Accountability

• The model should be flexible enough to recognize and promote institutional diversity and autonomy. The commitment to research and scholarship, service, and instruction may vary across institutions, but all are staples in a healthy higher education system. Existing work in peer group analysis may be relied upon to support differentiation in funding based upon mission and program mix.

• The funding process should encourage the pursuit of quality and rely on measures of effectiveness.

• Incentives should be incorporated into the funding methodology tied to mission, program quality and student outcome performance measures.

• Whether through sufficient recognition in the funding base or through supplemental awards, the model's principles should reflect a commitment to investment in innovation and change.

• Because our enterprise is so dependent upon people, the funding approach should recognize the need for competitive faculty salaries at or above the 60th percentile, should adequately reward performance annually, and should include a personnel development fund.

• Enrollment growth is accomplished at a cost, the incremental cost may be debated, but enrollment growth must be funded if quality is to be maintained.

• Any model needs to recognize that base operating budgets must be competitive, and should be adjusted for approved mission modification, inflation, and externally imposed mandates.

• Support needs to be provided to ensure an adequate and up-to-date inventory of instructional and scientific equipment.

• Finally, while we understand that this discussion has primarily revolved around operation budgets issues, the Commonwealth needs to seriously consider the development of a predictable and continuous capital outlay vehicle to address major maintenance, renovation, facility renewal and new construction.

06/07/99

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Posted: June 10, 1999
By The Educational Policy Institute of Virginia Tech
sjanosik@vt.edu