Target and performance agreement
Target and performance agreements denote agreements between two administrative bodies, for example between universities and the respective responsible state ministries, which on the one hand grant the universities certain autonomies and on the other hand the state governmentsmake it possible to withdraw from the detailed control of higher education. These agreements do not have a uniform legal character. It is based on the provisions of the content. The agreements are usually concluded for a period of several years, but are subject to regular review and updating. Target and performance agreements are a control instrument that uses the close interlinking of financing and planning.
history
The concept of target and performance agreements goes back to a higher education policy decision in Lower Saxony . At the beginning of 1995, the state granted the University of Oldenburg , the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück and the Technical University of Clausthal a previously unknown wealth of financial autonomy. In particular, from now on they were allowed to deviate from the rules of cameralistics and to decide independently how to use their financial resources.
This step was tantamount to a paradigm shift in the higher education policy of the federal states: away from controlling the universities by means of detailed input and input as well as rules and supervisory instruments towards controlling on the basis of agreements and evaluation of services provided.
concept
By concluding the target and performance agreements, the implementation of the university planning goals of the respective country and the development goals of the universities are to be ensured. They also aim to link state benefits, for example in the form of a further delegation of powers, financial planning security or the granting of special state subsidies, to services provided by universities in the development of research, teaching and studies the universities commit themselves by a certain point in time. In addition, the instrument of target and performance agreements is used to supplement the control instruments of budgeting , flexibilisation and the distribution of resources based on performance and workload and - if necessary - specified and supported for the individual universities. It is also hoped that the introduction of cost and performance accounting will increase transparency when dealing with taxpayers' money .
Classical objects of target and performance agreements are the introduction of bachelor's and master's degree courses, independent faculty formation , evaluation of the course offers, decision on the use of tuition fees , implementation of measures for gender mainstreaming , cooperation with the economy , promotion of business start-ups from universities , Internationalization of academic staff and the student body , development of interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research priorities as well as the promotion of talented students .
In terms of budgetary policy, the target and performance agreements grant extensive freedoms through global budgets . The universities receive a fixed basic budget of 75 percent of their budget. A further 20 percent of the budget is allocated as a success budget according to the results of the performance-based distribution of funds. The remaining five percent of the budget is allocated as a target and performance budget depending on the achievement of the agreed goals and services.
literature
- Hannes Berger: On the legal character of target and performance agreements in higher education , in ZJS 2015, pp. 461–465.
Individual evidence
- ^ Hannes Berger, Lukas C. Gundling: University policy and university law. Using the example of the state of Thuringia. Dr. Kovac, Hamburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-8300-8622-2 , pp. 134ff., 204ff.