Performance Incentive Fund

The Performance Incentive Fund (PIF) is a competitive grant program that supports public campuses in creating or strengthening programs that advance Vision Project goals. First funded at $2.5 million in the Commonwealth's FY2012 budget, the Fund provided grants to 18 campuses in the 2011–2012 academic year. The Legislature then increased funding to $7.5 million for FY2013 and FY2014, greatly expanding the impact of the funds. With recent declines in the VP-PIF appropriation, grant making has been greatly reduced. In FY2015, campuses were only offered continuation grants for previously funded projects. FY2016 funding allowed for the introduction of only three new campus grants and four new systemwide grants.

2015-2016 Grants

Download the FY2016 Performance Incentive Fund Report

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2014–2015 Grants

Due to funding constraints, the Fund was cut back to $3.25 million, and grants were only awarded to continue projects from FY2013 and FY2014, including the system-wide transfer project.

Download the FY2015 Performance Incentive Fund Report

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2013–2014 Grants

The Performance Incentive Fund was allocated $7.5 million for FY2014.

The $7.5 million Performance Incentive Fund provided:

$4.4 million in continuation funding for FY2012 and FY2013 projects
$1.3 million for new projects at nine campuses, including:
- Bunker Hill Community College ($215,883): To expand the “Summer Bridge” program, which enables entering students with need for developmental English/math coursework to progress through developmental levels through intensive instruction prior to fall entry.
- Cape Cod Community College ($151,500): To establish an integrated student learning outcomes assessment system that will include professional development for faculty through faculty coaching, summer assessment institutes, fellowships and ongoing professional development events.
- Middlesex Community College ($150,000): To redesign the current advising and course enrollment model, including restructuring of course scheduling, and to develop academic curriculum maps and enhance professional development across the college.
- Springfield Technical Community College ($122,099): To target interventions for Latino students to improve their academic performance and educate faculty and staff about the growing population.
- UMass Boston ($89,406): To collect and analyze data on student success, with a particular focus on identifying and closing gaps for Latino male students born in the U.S., and to develop and pilot new models for learning communities and other retention and completion strategies.
$1.8 million for five consortium projects, including:
- MetroWest Consortium ($375,000): To establish a college access and college-financing support facility, to be named the MetroWest College Planning Center (CPC), to offer comprehensive pre-college counseling services to individuals from local communities where demographics indicate a need.
- Southeastern Consortium ($508,667): To design a seamless pathway for students transferring from Bristol, Cape Cod, and Massasoit Community Colleges to Bridgewater State University through stronger curriculum alignment and transfer advising, as well as the design of a Transfer Institute at Bridgewater State that will facilitate students’ academic and social transition and improve retention of transfer students.

Read the press release
View the Performance Incentive Fund FY2014 Award Fact Sheet for more information, including descriptions of all funded projects

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2012–2013 Grants

The Performance Incentive Fund was allocated $7.5 million for FY2013—$5 million for the community colleges and $2.5 million for the state universities and UMass. The Legislature expanded the purpose of the Performance Incentive Fund for FY2013 to include not only the advancement of the Vision Project key outcomes but also development of operational efficiencies such as consolidation of administrative functions and procurements.

The $7.5 million Performance Incentive Fund provided:

$1.4 million in continuation funding for FY2012 projects
$4.5 million for new projects at 27 campuses, including:
- Bridgewater State University ($197,769): To support the Bridge Partnership initiative, a two-week, on-campus, academic and service learning program for at-risk middle school students.
- Bristol Community College ($299,994): To create or, in some cases, scale up several initiatives aimed at transforming developmental education and increasing student retention and completion.
- Mount Wachusett Community College ($272,000): To establish a Center for Alternative Studies and Educational Certification to help facilitate student entry/re-entry to post-secondary education and accelerate program completion.
- Salem State University ($243,693): To implement an early warning system—including technology, staff, training and marketing—that uses data gathered from multiple sources to help institutions identify and reach out to at-risk students.
- Springfield Technical Community College ($291,058): To enhance and expand the College's student learning assessment and data collection at the course, program and institution levels.
- UMass Lowell ($249,930): To expand experiential learning offered through the Professional Co-op program, service learning courses, and academic and extracurricular programs that engage students in innovative and entrepreneurial problem-solving, and to assess the effectiveness of these programs using common assessment tools.
$533,000 for two system-wide initiatives:
- Common Course Numbering ($340,000; includes funding from PIF and STEM Pipeline Fund): To improve ease of transfer among public colleges and universities by beginning the work of creating a system-wide set of course equivalencies and a common course numbering system.
- Information Technology Assessment ($340,000): To engage an outside consultant to conduct an in-depth study of current IT systems and practices at community colleges and state universities to identify ways to achieve savings by streamlining and potentially reconfiguring operations without losing service quality.

The last $1.05 million of the FY2013 funding was withdrawn by the Commonwealth due to an emergency midyear (9C) funding cut.

>> Read the Governor's press release on the community college grants
>> Read the Governor's press release on the state university and UMass grants
View the Performance Incentive Fund FY2013 Award Fact Sheet for more information, including descriptions of all funded projects.

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2011–2012 Grants

The Performance Incentive Fund was allocated $2.5 million for FY2012.

The Performance Incentive Fund was allocated $2.5 million for FY2012. Among the 18 campus programs chosen to receive PIF funding:

College readiness and attendance: Quinsigamond Community College will partner with the Worcester public schools to “plug the leaks in the math pipeline,” an effort to improve students’ math skills.

Graduation Rates and Student Success: Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will launch 30 in 3, an initiative aimed at helping freshmen complete 30 credits in three semesters in order to remain on track for graduation.

Student Learning: UMass Boston plans to use grant funds to build a program of student learning assessment for both core courses and specific disciplines.

Workforce Preparation: North Shore Community College will launch an academic/career mapping initiative to strengthen connections between workforce training college credit programs.

Closing Achievement Gaps: Worcester State University’s grant will be used to create a Teaching Corps program in its Latino Education Institute.

>> Read the Governor's press release
View the Performance Incentive Fund FY2012 Award Fact Sheet for more information, including descriptions of all funded projects.

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