Reflections on performance agreements in higher education: practical considerations in delivering system-wide improvements

In this working paper we reflect upon performance agreements in higher education (HE): during the last decade, performance-based steering tools were introduced or reformed in almost every higher education system. They are regarded as a promising instrument to contribute to the achievement of high quality higher education, but in countries that have a longer history with performance agreements (such as many U.S. and German states, Austria, Finland and Denmark) sometimes significant changes have taken place between generations, and we want to understand why this is. With this working paper we highlight a number of key issues to be taken into account when the introduction or evaluation of performance agreements is being considered. We have gathered information (from laws, white papers, websites of governments and institutions, and expert interviews) on a range of higher education systems alongside a general literature review. We argue policy makers should not to copy ‘blindly’ the design and implementation of performance agreements from other countries, as their culture, political and legal system, policy style, size, HE system characteristics and strategic agendas are different. Nonetheless, experiences from elsewhere are an important source for inspiration and a valuable inpu

Improving diversity, quality and efficiency in Dutch higher education using performance agreements

More and more governments have started to introduce elements of performance in the funding mechanisms for their higher education institutions. For instance, through Performance Agreements (PAs), which are contracts signed between funding authorities and individual universities or colleges. The key characteristics of the PAs in place in a number of OECD countries are summarized before turning to the Netherlands, where an experiment with PAs was recently (2016) concluded. The question is whether this experiment actually improved performance in the higher education system, where ‘performance’ is understood in terms of students’ study success, education quality and diversity in the provision of education and research. What has been achieved on these areas? And what can be learned from the Dutch performance agreements experiment in general

Dietary restriction as treatment modality : inducing resistance to ischemic and chemotherapy related stress

There is a pressing necessity for improving the knowledge about the etiology and clinical applicability of dietary restriction to optimize the effects of dietary restriction on surgical and disease-related stress resistance and postoperative outcome. The aims of this thesis were to assess the effects of current and novel short-term dietary regimens in different models, to gain more insight into the mechani

Forfaitaire mestproductienormen voor mestafzetovereenkomsten: 1. stikstofuitscheiding door varkens

Mestafzetovereenkomsten vormen de basis voor het nieuwe mestbeleid. Om de omvang van de te contracteren mestafzetruimte te kunnen vaststellen zijn forfaitaire mestproductienormen nodig. Deze mestproductienormen zijn gebaseerd op het mineraal stikstof (N). In opdracht van het Ministerie van LNV heeft de Commissie Tamminga als eerste stap voor alle in de Meststoffenwet genoemde diercategorieën de stikstofuitscheiding 'onder de staart' berekend

Transparency in higher education:The emergence of a new perspective on higher education governance

Reliable information and transparency on the benefits that higher education institutions offer their students, funders and communities is key for their legitimacy, their funding and their competitiveness. Worldwide, relationships between governmental authorities and higher education institutions are changing, particularly because of the increased demands for transparency about outcomes and impacts of higher education. In our contribution, we discuss three higher education ‘transparency tools’: accreditation, rankings and—briefly—performance contracts. We present some recent developments regarding these tools in the broader context of governance and policy making and analyse how they aim to address the growing need for more transparency. The transparency tools are part of a recently emerging governance paradigm in higher education, networked governance; a paradigm that explicitly acknowledges the diverse information needs of a wide variety of higher education stakeholder groups