NSHE Funding Formula

Last session the Nevada legislature created an interim committee to examine the formula that funds the Nevada System of Higher Education.  The committee hired an outside consultant to investigate how other states fund higher education and to recommend an improved funding model for Nevada.  At the June 27^th meeting the consultant recommended defining what the state expects from higher education and then building a funding model that rewards NSHE for meeting those expectations.  On the higher education side of the equation, the consultant stressed that NSHE must be transparent in all its expenses and must hold administrators, faculty, staff and students accountable for improving outcomes.  This sounds so simple it boggles the mind and it begs the question: Why hasn’t this been the funding model all along?  Part of the answer is that providing access was the main focus over the past two decades, and part of the answer is that complex funding models based solely on inputs and not on outcomes makes it easier to hide incompetence and malfeasance on both sides.  Moving forward, if the state adopts the SRI recommendation, it will fall to NSHE to hold the state accountable for sufficiently funding higher education and to the state to ensure that NSHE becomes transparent and accountable.  Not just NSHE faculty, but also NSHE administrators. While this may sound obvious, it won’t be as easy as it seems because old habits die hard.