What happens to the money?

19 April, 2012

Uppsala University has submitted a proposal for a new model that describes how money will be distributed between different disciplines. At first glance, the model may seem unfair, but is it really? Let's find out how it affects your education!

Uppsala University recieves about 1.3 billion kronor every year from the government to perform education (which is equivalent to total CSN-debt of one of the last Neanderthals if he read thehalf-time at a university). The money will fund education for 40 000 students, divided between 110 education programs and more than 2000 courses.

To be able to distribute all that money the university board needs a model as a starting point. In the currently used model it's hard to follow where the money actually goes, which is important when you want to make strategic descisions. The proposition for the new model may seem unfair because the disciplinary domains of Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Technology loses 27 million koronor to Medicine and Pharmacy.

This happens because the proposed model is based on the government's pricetags for education -- how much the Swedish government pays for at student that register and finishes 60 credits. When a SciTech student finishes 60 credits the university gets 92 335 kr but when a medicine student finishes 60 the university gets 131 896 kr.

By basing the model on the government's price tags will be easier for everyone involved to follow how the university prioritises, something that was very difficult before. With the increased transparency we students get an increased opportunity to influence decisions about our education.

In sum, the model itself doesn't affect our education. The proposed model will be a clear starting point for the money that the disciplinary domains calls for money from the university board each year. Based on the diffrent applications the boards will then decide how to distribute the money.

How have UTN worked with this issue?

Representatives from the UTN, along with faculty managment worked out a reply with comments on the proposed model. The answer sets the faculty endorse a new, more transparent resource allocation model, but also highlights that the redistribution occurs at the direct application of the model is not strategically justified. It is therefore necessary that the university take strategic decisions in the context of the new model.