The agenda for the upcoming Board of Regents Meeting is now available. The meeting will be this Friday, November 14, 2014 at Utah Valley University in Orem. There are several agenda items of interest:

Performance Funding
Performance funding is one of the five 2015-16 Budget Priorities approved by the Board of Regents at its previous meeting. Several states have adopted performance funding models in varying forms in recent years. This is part of a trend due to tighter state fiscal restraints and improvements in reporting outcomes in higher education.

In 2013, the Utah Legislature provided $1 million in one-time funds to incentivize USHE institutions to meet specific metrics that aid college completion. Similarly, the Legislature in 2014 appropriated an additional $1.5 million on one-time funds for performance funding.

The Board of Regents is requesting $5 million of its overall budget request be allocated to performance funding. The proposed model is made up of 4-5 metrics for each institutions – three common metrics, and one or two additional metrics from a list of options provided in the plan. With one exception, the metrics are aimed at bringing institutions to “best in class” performance as defined as the top quartile (75 percent or better) of their national Carnegie peers with the goal of improving at least 10 percent annually toward “best in class.” The one exception to using national comparisons is a metric encouraging institutions to develop a meaningful graduation plan for each student, since this is a best practice of the Regents’ Completion Initiative and is a significant barrier to students completing college.

Annual report on Contracts and Grants
USHE institutions participate in hundreds of grants and contracts each year. The funding sources vary from government, private business, and community partners. The initiatives associated with these grants and contracts also vary. For example: electric vehicle testing, improving student services, and better bomb-sniffing technology. Funding for contracts and grants are defined in 4 main categories: research, instruction, clinical, other. Overall USHE contracts and grants increased by 11% over last year.

Annual report on the Federal Pell Grant Program in Utah
The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduate students to promote access to higher education. A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. Pell Grants are a significant source of funding for higher education expenses for thousands of Utah undergraduate students.  The report shows how many students receive this federal, need-based funding per institution and institution-type (nonprofit, for-profit, private, etc.)

Other agenda items of interest:

• StepUp  READY Grants (additional info)
• State Scholarships report (additional info)
• Monte and the World of Possibilities (additional info)