Limitations of rule 23 on the allocation of costs of teaching and research staff in Spanish public universities

Abstract

In March 2011, the model of cost accounting for Spanish public universities was approved and published based on the CANOA project of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (MECD 2011). This paper focuses on rule 23 contained in chapter 8 of this document, where which regulates the treatment of the teaching and research dedication of university staff (PDI) and the allocation of corresponding cost to teaching, research and management. A reflection is made on certain points where there is the possibility of making different interpretations or in which satisfactory results are not obtained, with the consequences that this entails in the quality of the information and in the comparisons between universities. Finally, we present the preliminary results that the Universitat de València (UV) has obtained in its first pilot test around this rule. It is observed that 70% of the population analysed belong to the categories of teachers that according to rule 23 carry out research activity, and therefore the cost linked to them will not be fully passed on to the teaching activity. Of the total number of lecturers to whom rule 23 has not recognized any research activity, 83% belong to the body of a sort of lecturers, which is currently a minority and is on the way to extinction.

Keywords

• university
• canoa model
• rule 23
• teaching costs
• research costs
• management costs
• universidad
• modelo canoa
• regla 23
• costes de docencia
• costes de investigación