TAMPA, Fla. (June 22, 2017) – The University of South Florida System has once again achieved academic excellence, placing second among all state universities in the 2017-2018 Board of Governors (BOG) performance-based funding scores announced Thursday. The performance-based model includes 10 metrics that measure key aspects of the institution's performance in student success and post-graduation productivity.
“Student success continues to be the number one priority for the USF System, a focus that has led to sustained excellence in performance-based funding,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “We remain incredibly grateful for the investments we have been able to make as a result of performance-based funding over the past several years and will continue to stay laser-focused on our commitment to meeting the needs of our students while maintaining our unmatched upward trajectory.”
USF System highlights this year include:
· Increase in undergraduate (59 percent) and graduate (74.6 percent) degrees awarded in programs of strategic emphasis, including STEM, health, accounting and education.
· Nearly 10 percent increase of degrees awarded without excess hours (75.6 percent).
· State leader in the percent of baccalaureate graduates employed full-time or continuing their education within one year of graduation (69.6 percent).
“Our continued efforts in student success are only matched by our commitment to graduating career-ready students who possess the skills, experiences, and knowledge to succeed in an ever-changing global work environment,” said Ralph Wilcox, USF Provost and Executive Vice President.
Based on their excellence or improvement on the BOG’s metrics, universities are eligible for a share of $520 million allocated by the Governor and Legislature during the 2017 legislative session. Each university contributed a portion of its institutional budget, for a total of $275 million, and the state set aside an additional $245 million, to be allocated based on performance.
By placing second, the USF System will have its full portion of institutional funding restored ($39 million) and will receive an additional $45 million in state investment, for a total of $84 million in performance-based funds.
This week the BOG also approved USF’s annual update to its Emerging Preeminence plan. The approval comes with $8.7 million in additional funding for targeted investments to help USF meet the benchmarks required to achieve full Preeminence.