Abstract
For public, state institutions that are subject to state-wide, performance-based funding models, being held accountable to meet metrics set by the state affects the work of student services professionals. The state’s goals for an institution can misalign with the goals of the institution and the goals that those who work there have for themselves and their students. The purpose of this project is to explore how the effects of being measured changes the work of student services professionals. Through this qualitative study including 15 interviews with student services professionals who engage with students at a four-year public institution that is subject to performance-based funding, the story of those professionals and their experiences under the transition to the funding model, and continuing adjustment, is told. Findings illuminate how student services professionals understand and respond to performance-based metrics, as well as what this experience is like for them as professionals. Major findings are divided into four themes: Pressures Resulting in Distrust, Advising in Ways Counter to Beliefs (Goal Misalignment), “Cooking the Books” (Gaming and Ambiguity), and Overreliance on Quantitative Data.
Degree Date
Spring 2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Department
Education Policy and Leadership
Advisor
Denisa Gandara
Second Advisor
Michael Harris
Third Advisor
Eddie Tealer
Subject Area
Education
Number of Pages
55
Format
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Rohan, Christa, "How State-Level Performance-Based Funding Policies Affect Student Services Departments" (2020). Education Policy and Leadership Theses and Dissertations. 5.
https://scholar.smu.edu/simmons_depl_etds/5
