Long-Term Effects of Performance Funding: A Case Study of 20 Years at Tennessee Technological University

In this study, the principal investigator sought to determine what effect, if any, that performance funding has had on academic decision making at a public higher education institution in Tennessee. In conducting a case study, the principal investigator interviewed 18 current and former administrators and faculty members to determine attitudes and perceptions about performance funding at the institution. An extensive review of campus documents provided additional information for the study. Findings of the study focused on institutional policy changes since the performance funding policy was implemented, strengths and weaknesses of the policy, and recommendations for future actions relative to the policy.

General findings indicate that few academic policy decisions occur as a direct result of the performance funding policy, but it is also apparent that the policy significantly influences activities related to preparation for accreditation and peer review visits. The policy also helps: I) place increasing emphasis on outcomes and value-added components of a college education, 2) identify areas of weakness, and 3) provide additional operational money that may have not otherwise been available. Alternately, the performance funding policy accentuates: 1) communication blocks that exist between administration and academic departments, 2) dissension about how money earned from performance funding is utilized, and 3) the realization that performance funding has increasingly become a paperwork exercise for administrators rather than a process that involves the entire campus community.