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Category: Funding and Finances

Performance-Based Funding (Part 1)

I was reading the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association (OCUFA)’s position statement on a new funding formula for the province.  Two things caught my eye.  One, they want money to make sure Ontario universities can do world-class research and teaching; and two, they demand strict opposition to any kind of performance-based funding formula (PBF).  Put differently: OCUFA wants great teaching and research to be funded, but are adamantly opposed to rewarding anyone for actually doing it. Except that’s slightly uncharitable.

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February 17, 2015 11 Comments

Free Election Manifesto Advice

OK, federal political parties.  I have some election manifesto advice for you.  And given that you’ve all basically accepted Tory budget projections and promised not to raise taxes, it’s perfect.  Completely budget neutral.  Here it is: Do Less. Seriously.  After 15 years of increasingly slapdash, haphazard policy-making in research and student aid, a Do Less agenda is exactly what we need. Go back to 1997: we had three granting councils in Canada.  Then we got the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. 

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February 12, 2015 3 Comments

Classroom Economics (Part 2)

Yesterday, I introduced the equation X = aϒ/(b+c) as a way of setting overall teaching loads. Let’s now use this to understand how funding parameters drive overall teaching loads. Assume the following starting parameters:       Where a credit hour = 1 student in 1 class for 1 semester. Here’s the most obvious way it works.  Let’s say the government decides to increase funding by 10%, from $600 to $660 (which would be huge – a far larger move

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January 20, 2015 4 Comments

Classroom Economics (Part 1)

One of the things that continually astonishes me about universities is how few people who work within them actually understand how they are funded, and what the budget drivers really are.  So this week I’m going to walk y’all through a simplified model of how the system really works. Let’s start by stating what should be – but too often isn’t – the obvious: universities are paid to teach.  They are paid specific amounts to do specific pieces of research

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January 19, 2015 5 Comments

Adult Discussions About Research Policy

Over the winter break, the Toronto Star published an editorial on research funding that deserves to be taken out to the woodshed and clobbered. The editorial comes in two parts. The first is a reflection on whether or not the Harper government is a “caveman” or just “incompetent” when it comes to science. I suppose it’s progress that the Star gives two options, but frankly the Harper record on science isn’t hard to decode: The Conservatives like “Big Science” and have

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January 6, 2015 1 Comment

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One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

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