Strategically managing the budget of higher education institutions in Romania : an experts’ perspective

Abstract

The present study approaches the main performance criteria that underpin the rationale and execution of the budget within the public higher education system. The subsumed research objective is to survey the opinion of Romanian experts in the field of education - representatives of the Ministry of National Education - on the budget foundation and execution within the public higher education system in accordance to the organizational and managerial strategies. Consequently, the following research question was formulated: What are in the opinion of education experts the main issues that should be taken into account in the budgeting and execution of the public higher education system? Six subjects were interviewed (directors and advisors from the ministry, three women and three men) having specific expertise on different components of budget formulation and execution within the public higher education system. The use of interviews in the study aimed to explore in-depth expert opinions on the issues at hand. According to the findings, respondents mainly advocate the application of objective criteria, in accordance with European and national legal provisions, in the approach to budgeting and execution in the public higher education system. As regards performance-based remuneration and the orientation towards a culture of quality, experts in the field consider them to be viable criteria, but at the same time point out that various inadequacies may arise in practice (e.g., the problem of uniform evaluation of the quality of teaching).