President Michael Crow’s green thumb has nurtured a University from about 55,000 students to over 70,000 in eight years, anchored by one of the largest freshman classes this semester. With that, and the highest freshman retention rate in ASU history, the University is in the perfect position to start reaping the harvest of hard work, and a new funding plan may do just that.
Beginning next week, the Arizona Board of Regents plans to reevaluate the way Arizona universities receive funding from the state.
The goal, says University Planner Richard Stanley, is to focus less on growth and student enrollment numbers, and instead put more emphasis on performance. While the discussion on the new model has barely begun, administrators and regents have discussed basing money on retention rates, graduation numbers, research endeavors and other measures of productivity.
After finalizing a plan, ABOR will present it to the Legislature, where we hope it will be welcomed as a logical and much-needed solution. (But we won't hold our breath.)
Since legislators in recent years have been so reluctant to give money to the universities — or even let them keep the money they had the year before — a new model might give them reason to consider funding higher education before slashing budgets even further. Maybe some legislators can even be persuaded to support increased funding if the money they allocate shows real improvements in performance.
It all makes sense. College is certainly more than a place for overcrowding and becoming just another brick in the wall. The current model, in which ASU theoretically receives more money every time enrollment shoots up, doesn’t necessarily encourage academic advancements. This doesn’t mean that productivity was on the backburner until now, but the current funding model, which allows one faculty member for every 22 students, isn’t necessarily where the priorities should be.
ASU has evolved into a research-oriented university, raking in millions of dollars of grant money every year, and it would be like double-dipping into the Community Chest. Not to mention, branding ourselves as a more productive university will be like a gold star on your degree.
Despite the perception of degree inflation or lowering standards to allow more students to graduate for the sake of cashing in, it’s more fulfilling to see the guise of genius than feel the heat of overcrowded lectures warming our cheeks. With this plan, the funding situation is no longer akin to universities using Arizona’s gas card to go grocery shopping.
It’s good to know the state is responding to this shift in academic goals. The recession forced the University to look at holes in spending, over-funding and had to tighten its belt a little when it came to faculty and administrative jobs. Including performance as justification for funding holds universities responsible and could be a positive outcome of the state’s financial crisis.
Maybe we’ll actually see Arizona starting to put its money where its mind is.
