Medicine Hat College receptive to new performance based funding model

“Institutions will not compete against each other for taxpayer dollars,” said Nicolaides. “Rather, they will compete against themselves and seek to improve their own performance against a series of targets.”

The province will be meeting with post-secondary institutions over the coming months to determine what those metrics will look like, including executives with Medicine Hat College.

President and CEO Kevin Shufflebotham said it’s news they’ve been anticipating and are receptive to the change.

“Grad rates are important to us, student satisfaction is important to us, these are things that we already measure,” said Shufflebotham. “So, I think we’re well aligned to this new model.”

The amount of Medicine Hat College’s funding tied to performance will start at 15 percent in 2020-21 and could grow up to 40 percent over the next three years.

Last year, the province received a total of $34.3 million dollars from the provincial government.

Even though funding could fluctuate year over year depending on how they meet their metrics, Shufflebotham said this actually outlines their funding projections more easily.

“The government is telling us that for the next three years, we’ll understand what our funding potential could be,” he said. “So, there’s going to be a lot more predictability that we’ll see with this new model.”

Shufflebotham isn’t alone in those sentiments, as Students Association of Medicine Hat College provided the following statement.

“SAMHC is satisfied to see the government prioritize accountability through the introduction of an outcome based post-secondary funding model, but remains committed to improving the affordability of education,” said president Dalton Ehry.

“Recently, Medicine Hat College has been conducting a strategic planning review which includes goal setting and internal KPI (key performance indicators) measurements. Our hope is that the collaborative work that has been conducted during this process will align with the measurements to be used in the new performance-based funding model.”

As for the students CHAT News spoke to on Monday, they had mixed feelings whether the move to a performance model will benefit Medicine Hat College down the road.

Even if some institutions don’t hit their targets, they will still be eligible to receive at least a part of their usual funding from the government.

“Institutions that meet all of their targets will receive 100 percent of allotted funding,” said Nicolaides. “If an institution does not meet their targets, it will still receive a portion of funding that’s allocated proportionate to the level of achievement.”

Nicolaides cited 35 states in America that have already moved to a performance based model, along with a number of countries around the world such as Great Britain and Spain.

Each institution will be allowed to create one of their own unique indicators alongside the provincial metrics, while the metrics will be weighted differently for each individual school.

“No, I don’t have any concerns,” said Shufflebotham. “I think the new funding model will value our uniqueness, our role as a comprehensive community college, reaching out to our community, and I think the metrics will be gauged that way.”

As for the students, Shufflebotham is aiming for the change to have as little impact on their base as possible.

“I hope the thing that comes out of this is the students either don’t notice it or the students benefit because nothing should change from their lens,” he said. “Every decision that we make, we have the student at our focus.”

Shufflebotham said he’s not quite sure when he’ll be sitting down with the province to discuss the changes, while the model will formally be introduced by the province in time for MHC’s fiscal year on April 1.

by Scott Roblin

Medicine Hat College receptive to new performance based funding model

Our Community