For Release 19 March

MADISON—Today at its regular business meeting at Dakota State University in Madison, the Board of Regents allocated revenues to the state universities based on pay for performance. They also set targets for performance in certain areas for the 1999-2000 academic year. The areas for targeted performance are tied to goals the Regents want the universities to achieve.

The performance targets and state policy goals are a part of the new funding distribution plan that the Regents adopted in December 1997. "In the past the universities were allocated revenues from general funds and from tuition, based on the number of credit hours generated by the students enrolled in their programs," said Regents President James O. Hansen. "We felt that in order to manage for policy goals we had to change the method of distributing the money."

The result is a plan that guarantees each university an annual base budget. This amount will remain stable from year to year, unless a university sees dramatic enrollment growth or decline. "A base budget enables the universities to make long-range plans for programs and facilities," said Regents Executive Director Robert T. Tad Perry.

Each university contributes to five separate incentive funds. Each fund is tied to a state policy goal. The incentive funds support:

• increased access to education for South Dakota residents
• expanded enrollment in academic programs identified as important for the economic growth of South Dakota
• demonstrated improvement in academic performance of undergraduate students enrolled in the universities
• enhanced collaboration among the universities and with the state’s high schools to share scare resources
• augmented non-state financial support generated from grants, contracts, gifts, and contributions

"Based on the performance in 1998-99, our first year under the new funding plan, the universities are striving to achieve the goals set for them in these areas. Of course, performance varied, not only between institutions, but also within a single university toward the different goals. Not every university reached its goal in every area. But the important point is that they are changing their behavior to accomplish the goals set by the Board, goals set in consultation with state legislators, the Governor, and other state policy makers," said Hansen.