The Illinois Board of Higher Education will vote today on the performance-based funding proposal to pool 0.5 percent of public university budgets and reallocate them based on the level of achievement in terms of certain metrics.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education will meet at 1 p.m. today at Kendall College in Chicago.

The Higher Education Performance Funding Steering Committee met on Jan. 6 at Chicago State University to present the committee’s recommendations.

According to the presentation, the pool of combined funds totals about $6.5 million.

President Bill Perry said universities will compete for portions of the pool funds through the proposed performance-based funding metrics.

“From my understanding, some universities will get more than half a percent back and some will get less depending on how well they perform,” Perry said.

Les Hyder, a journalism professor who has been a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education Faculty Advisory Council for about 12 years, said the council’s 0.5 percent should have a minimal effect, but could present a problem if it is raised.

“We don’t think a higher amount can be justified because state appropriations for universities are at mid-1990s levels right now, and it could potentially become hurtful for universities,” Hyder said.

Jarrod Scherle, the student executive vice president of student government and a member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education Student Advisory Council, said performance-based funding pool was discussed during the council meeting Saturday at Joliet Junior College in Joliet.

“We discussed how the amount will be (small) in terms of funding so there is not a huge culture shock, but it will most likely gradually become more intense,” Scherle said. “I am not worried about Eastern’s performance though because we do more with less as we have high graduation and retention rates even though we receive low funding.”

The performance measures that will determine funding for four-year universities are based on three-year averages of bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate and professional degrees, total undergraduate degrees, education and general spending, and research and public service expenditures.

According to the presentation, the steering committee decided upon seven steps for the performance-based funding model, including collecting data, scaling it and weighting the results to distribute the funds.

Hyder said the council members expressed concern with the steps because they do not think that accurate, complete data is readily available to make the funding determinations.

“Each institution has its own unique mission, and the data for all institutions could be comparing apples to oranges,” Hyder said.

A representative from the Illinois Board of Higher Education told the council that the performance criteria revolve around the three major categories of retention, graduation and the student-achievement gap, Hyder said.

The council members displayed concern on whether the graduation criteria would be based on eight consecutive semesters or 10, Hyder said.

Some circumstances include non-traditional students who have jobs and families and do not live on campus who cannot commit to being a full-time student, Hyder said.

“We don’t think four years is realistic because some issues and circumstances are beyond university control,” Hyder said.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].