President Bill Perry will be testifying on behalf of Eastern and other state universities to be partially funded based upon performance in front of the Senate Appropriations II Committee on Wednesday.

Previously, Perry has spoken on behalf of this outcome-based funding effort to the House of Representatives Higher Education Committee and the Illinois Board of Higher Education Finance Study Commission.

“(The university) is doing everything we can to get informed regarding the bills that are coming forward and its potential impact on Eastern,” Perry said.

During its spring 2010 session, the Illinois General Assembly approved Senate Joint Resolution 88, asking the Illinois Board of Higher Education to organize the Higher Education Finance Study Commission, focused on different implementation methods for outcome-based funding.

This method of funding involves appropriating state monies based on how the school performs at certain criteria, including retention rates, graduation and academics.

Perry said by linking general revenue appropriations to institutional performance, an institution has the opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to continuous improvement.

“The key is, what we do in performance-based funding be aligned with the public agenda with college and career success, which means you want more access for citizens of Illinois and more success (for students),” Perry said.”However, the fact is, it still depends on the student (to be successful).”

Over 20 states in the country have already implemented performance-based funding including Tennessee and most recently Ohio.

On Feb. 14, Rep. Chapin Rose filed House Bill 1503 aiming to reform state funding for Illinois colleges and universities by instituting outcomes based budgeting due to Perry and the FSC’s efforts. In Rose’s proposal, annual budget requests must incorporate performance-based funding beginning in the fiscal year 2013.

The board will have two fiscal years to implement this performance-based funding. Once the deadline passes, the board must update how the funding is calculated every six months and report to the governor and the General Assembly.

“With limited taxpayer dollars, we need to move our funding system for higher education to an outcomes-based system that protects our areas of strength and positions Illinois to be a world leader in higher education,” said Rose in a press release.

In 2008, Eastern received only $4,566 per full-time student, based on university figures. This is the lowest of state funding among the six four-year public master’s institutions in Illinois. However, Eastern had the highest student retention rate and the second highest graduate rate among the six institutions that same year.

Last August, Perry wrote a letter to the FSC highlighting his main reasons for pushing this effort.

Part of Rose’s proposal involves higher education working with the state universities to develop the overall system for outcome-based funding.

Perry agrees with this route.

“It gives the higher education community time to collaborate and contribute what system we end up with,” he added.

Shelley Holmgren can be reached at 581-2812 or meholmgren@eiu.edu