Incentive-Based Budgeting Systems in Public Universities

Reviews / Votes

'The collection of papers in Incentive-Based Budgeting Systems in Public Universities is sure to warm the hearts of university presidents, budget directors, department chairs, faculty, and others who have long suspected that budgeting and education, research and service must somehow be related. It will also serve as a reference for those who have their doubts. . . The benefit of a volume such as Incentive-Based Budgeting Systems in Public Universities is that it provides the reader with the background and basis for thinking about alternatives to the status quo as applied to higher education finance. When the issues are as complex as budgeting in higher education, and when much of the potential audience is likely to be dubious that change might be effective, the discussion must be comprehensive enough to encourage further investigation while keeping an open mind. Incentive-Based Budgeting Systems in Public Universities meets these criteria.' -- Stephen Chaikind, Journal of Education Finance 'This book provides an excellent set of stories on the trials, tribulations and successes of this inevitable university adjustment.' -- Stephen P. Heyneman, International Journal of Educational Development 'Incentive-based budgeting in higher education comes in many guises: and this edited collection, Incentive-Based Budgeting Systems in Public Universities, does a good job in reviewing the theory, describing case studies, and offering analysis of this multifaceted practice. The book is well written, sufficiently rigorous, and insightful of how such budgeting systems work in higher education; it describes a sensible alternative to the more common practices of formula funding, activity-based costing, and incremental budgeting. . . Incentive-Based Budgeting Systems in Public Universities serves as an up-to-date, interesting, and useful treatment of funding systems within US universities. The case studies in particular are useful evidence that, even for complex enterprises such as colleges, incentives can be made to count.' -- Clive R. Belfield, The Economic Journal 'As public universities are facing severe financial pressures due to rising costs and declining revenues, innovations in budgeting formats provide the best hope of coping with the problem. The advantages and limitations of public universities adopting the incentive-based budgeting approach that has been used in private universities are expertly and articulately examined in this book. It is a 'must read' for all university administrators, members of governing boards, legislators, and policy analysts who are seriously searching for innovative ways to increase universities' efficiency in their use of increasingly scarce resources.' -- Charles G. Leathers, University of Alabama, US