AAU Membership Policy - Link and Question for Upstater

[CL82]

Periodically we talk about AAU membership as a precursor to joining the B1G. I stumbled on to it (LINK) and it is a little different than the shorthand that we frequently use. I wonder if Upstater or someone else familiar with higher ed. can walk us through the categories and say where UConn stands. It seems to me that the big hurdle for us is federal research dollars. We've seen some talk that the State's 1.5B commitment to the university is a game changer in terms of our B1G chances, but if, as Delaney has affirmed, B1G admission is conditioned upon AAU membership, that doesn't seem to be correct since the linked policy doesn't have state backing as a qualitative measure.

Upstater, have any thoughts on this?

 

[jostar1]

Not upstater, but I can say this. One of the Phase 1 Indicators for AAU membership is:

Membership in the National Academies (NAS, NAE, IOM): The National Academies’
membership database maintains the curent instiutional affilation of its members.

A couple of months ago, I checked into this. I went to the websites of the National Academies. You can look up the members. I looked them up and very few are from UConn.

 

[pj]

Yes, members of the National Academies is UConn's biggest weakness. But, that's something you can fix quickly if you have an influx of dollars while other schools are losing funding. NAS members will move for money.

On federal research funding, UConn is marginal in dollar amounts -- similar to the lower-tier AAU members (Kansas) and behind some upper-tier non-AAU members (e.g. Virginia Tech) - but equally important is faculty quality, measured in dollars per faculty. I haven't tried to calculate that number.

 

[CL82]

Didn't UConn recently have a hiring campaign for STEM? I presume that National Academy member was a target criteria for hiring.

 

[upstater]

PJ knows much more about this than I do. I have only seen documents/criteria about membership in admin. meetings which I reported here. The reports back from people who had meetings with the AAU were that the AAU were aggressively looking to cull membership. I also saw one document that expressly stated this. Schools like Nebraska were forced out because the research dollar totals were largely constituted of non-peer reviewed grants. More like political pork. This is also why a teaching hospital like the one at USF does not count for much in the AAU's eyes. Money for running a hospital is not going to impress the researchers.

On the one hand, Uconn is trying to up its research profile in a time of huge cuts to federal research grants. UConn is also doing this at a time when the bottom fifth of AAU members are scrambling to up their research take in order to avoid being dropped like Nebraska and Syracuse. The plans I saw showed several universities all with strategic initiatives to up their take by 40% in the next 5-10 years.

Good luck with that.

On the other hand, the link that's batted around here about the billions coming to UConn seems to have impressed people at the AAU as a possible future model for all state schools. But there doesn't seem to be any real appreciation for that sort of state funding yet, especially since Connecticut is in the bottom quintile when it comes to state (i.e. taxpayer's) support for the school (in other words, Conn. doesn't spend much per student on Higher Education). Essentially, you're taking money out of the general budget and putting it into more focused and business-oriented projects. The midwestern schools tend to sneer at this sometimes since they really do emphasize comprehensive universities. When you talk to them, they like to make fun of northeastern private schools (one admin. I talked to called them "finishing schools.") That tells you there are no shortcuts. Between the world of a liberal arts college and schools that emphasize tech like GT or Virginia Tech, you have enormous universities that take pride in doing it all. They think of themselves as the models for the word "university" and when it comes to universities worldwide, they are the model.

I know New York state is similarly pouring $1 billion into the Buffalo area for private/university partnerships, as well as biomedical research, but it doesn't seem SUNY is really touting this as a research coup.

 

[buddy]

PJ knows much more about this than I do. I have only seen documents/criteria about membership in admin. meetings which I reported here. The reports back from people who had meetings with the AAU were that the AAU were aggressively looking to cull membership. I also saw one document that expressly stated this. Schools like Nebraska were forced out because the research dollar totals were largely constituted of non-peer reviewed grants. More like political pork. This is also why a teaching hospital like the one at USF does not count for much in the AAU's eyes. Money for running a hospital is not going to impress the researchers.

On the one hand, Uconn is trying to up its research profile in a time of huge cuts to federal research grants. UConn is also doing this at a time when the bottom fifth of AAU members are scrambling to up their research take in order to avoid being dropped like Nebraska and Syracuse. The plans I saw showed several universities all with strategic initiatives to up their take by 40% in the next 5-10 years.

Good luck with that.

On the other hand, the link that's batted around here about the billions coming to UConn seems to have impressed people at the AAU as a possible future model for all state schools. But there doesn't seem to be any real appreciation for that sort of state funding yet, especially since Connecticut is in the bottom quintile when it comes to state (i.e. taxpayer's) support for the school (in other words, Conn. doesn't spend much per student on Higher Education). Essentially, you're taking money out of the general budget and putting it into more focused and business-oriented projects. The midwestern schools tend to sneer at this sometimes since they really do emphasize comprehensive universities. When you talk to them, they like to make fun of northeastern private schools (one admin. I talked to called them "finishing schools.") That tells you there are no shortcuts. Between the world of a liberal arts college and schools that emphasize tech like GT or Virginia Tech, you have enormous universities that take pride in doing it all. They think of themselves as the models for the word "university" and when it comes to universities worldwide, they are the model.

I know New York state is similarly pouring $1 billion into the Buffalo area for private/university partnerships, as well as biomedical research, but it doesn't seem SUNY is really touting this as a research coup.

So basically it seems that UConn's only hope is that some B1G schools get thrown out of AAU, as based on the posts above, new AAU membership seems like an impossibility. If an organization is culling, then it is not expanding. If some B1G schools get thrown out, then it will be more difficult to insist that conference members be also AAU members.

 

[Kolumbo]

We know no one is getting tossed from the B1G if RU doesn't get the boot. The CIC has some interesting info, including the amount of research in the Northeast. But if the AAU is frozen, UCONN's chances continue to decline.
http://www.cic.net/reports
http://www.cic.net/docs/default-source/reports/cic-federal-research-funding-report.pdf?

 

[upstater]

So basically it seems that UConn's only hope is that some B1G schools get thrown out of AAU, as based on the posts above, new AAU membership seems like an impossibility. If an organization is culling, then it is not expanding. If some B1G schools get thrown out, then it will be more difficult to insist that conference members be also AAU members.

I don't think it's an impossibility, since the AAU just added Boston U. But when you look at the last few decades, you have a handful of schools added, and the first ever schools dropped. Before BU was added, I would have totally agreed with your assessment, and it makes sense since the AAU is a lobbying group that presses congress for more research funding. In a time of cuts to funding, something like culling the herd makes sense. And yet, Boston U.'s rapidly increased research profile resulted in an invitation. This will take a very long time for UConn. But anyone who is hiring these days may end up drawing the right cards. Read my post on this board about FSU and how its top researchers are threatening to leave because they just hired a creationist as president. This is an environment in which universities are handcuffed from making competitive offers to top talent when someone else comes calling. If UConn really does hire top researchers, you could see a significant bump in research in a short period. But the process of hiring takes a long time, as do the governor's/legislature's plans.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

PJ knows much more about this than I do. I have only seen documents/criteria about membership in admin. meetings which I reported here. The reports back from people who had meetings with the AAU were that the AAU were aggressively looking to cull membership. I also saw one document that expressly stated this. Schools like Nebraska were forced out because the research dollar totals were largely constituted of non-peer reviewed grants. More like political pork. This is also why a teaching hospital like the one at USF does not count for much in the AAU's eyes. Money for running a hospital is not going to impress the researchers.

On the one hand, Uconn is trying to up its research profile in a time of huge cuts to federal research grants. UConn is also doing this at a time when the bottom fifth of AAU members are scrambling to up their research take in order to avoid being dropped like Nebraska and Syracuse. The plans I saw showed several universities all with strategic initiatives to up their take by 40% in the next 5-10 years.

Good luck with that.

On the other hand, the link that's batted around here about the billions coming to UConn seems to have impressed people at the AAU as a possible future model for all state schools. But there doesn't seem to be any real appreciation for that sort of state funding yet, especially since Connecticut is in the bottom quintile when it comes to state (i.e. taxpayer's) support for the school (in other words, Conn. doesn't spend much per student on Higher Education). Essentially, you're taking money out of the general budget and putting it into more focused and business-oriented projects. The midwestern schools tend to sneer at this sometimes since they really do emphasize comprehensive universities. When you talk to them, they like to make fun of northeastern private schools (one admin. I talked to called them "finishing schools.") That tells you there are no shortcuts. Between the world of a liberal arts college and schools that emphasize tech like GT or Virginia Tech, you have enormous universities that take pride in doing it all. They think of themselves as the models for the word "university" and when it comes to universities worldwide, they are the model.

I know New York state is similarly pouring $1 billion into the Buffalo area for private/university partnerships, as well as biomedical research, but it doesn't seem SUNY is really touting this as a research coup.

Problem with NY is that the SUNY system does not have a single flagship - it has four (Buffalo, Albany, Binghamton, Stony Brook). Thus, the limited resources that the state of NY have to be spread among those 4 of logistical and political reasons. Not to mention the dozen of SUNY colleges out there and the separate CUNY system. While Buffalo is the biggest SUNY, it’s location on the western edge of the state hurts, much like UMass (Amherst is MA all of a 2 hour drive from Boston while Amherst NY is a 6 hour drive from NYC).

 

[upstater]

Problem with NY is that the SUNY system does not have a single flagship - it has four (Buffalo, Albany, Binghamton, Stony Brook). Thus, the limited resources that the state of NY have to be spread among those 4 of logistical and political reasons. Not to mention the dozen of SUNY colleges out there and the separate CUNY system. While Buffalo is the biggest SUNY, it’s location on the western edge of the state hurts, much like UMass (Amherst is MA all of a 2 hour drive from Boston while Amherst NY is a 6 hour drive from NYC).

New York has a lot of people. California has multiple flagships as well, not just Berkeley. UCLA, San Diego, etc., we pointedly named flagships by the Chancellor. SUNY similarly has 4 centers.

Be that as it may, UB 2020 and its move through the state legislature has prompted top people to recently refer to UB as the flagship, and this is a first for SUNY. I'm not sure why any of this is important anyway.

 

[Sea Goat]

New York has a lot of people. California has multiple flagships as well, not just Berkeley. UCLA, San Diego, etc., we pointedly named flagships by the Chancellor. SUNY similarly has 4 centers.

Be that as it may, UB 2020 and its move through the state legislature has prompted top people to recently refer to UB as the flagship, and this is a first for SUNY. I'm not sure why any of this is important anyway.

SUNY Buffalo will never be designated as NY's "flagship" university. It isn't even a land-grant school. Cornell is NY's land-grant school and it houses 4 SUNY colleges in Ithaca. (Cornell has 9 privately endowed colleges and 4 SUNY schools.) A founding member of the AAU, it might be up for B1G membership. However I don't see any realignment of the Ivy League happening any time soon.

 

[upstater]

SUNY Buffalo will never be designated as NY's "flagship" university. It isn't even a land-grant school. Cornell is NY's land-grant school and it houses 4 SUNY colleges in Ithaca. (Cornell has 9 privately endowed colleges and 4 SUNY schools.) A founding member of the AAU, it might be up for B1G membership. However I don't see any realignment of the Ivy League happening any time soon.

Take it up with Nancy Zimpher who I heard with my own two ears call Buffalo "THE flagship."

Whether this is official or not is practically irrelevant since no one even know what that means. Berkeley calls itself the flagship on its press materials. The Chancellor of the Cal. system told Berkeley not to do this anymore since UCLA and others occupy the same space. Berkeley doesn't care. There are no official state designations. Just like at Buffalo, which is one of 4 co-equal SUNY centers. And yet that doesn't stop the Chancellor of SUNY from calling UB the flagship as she lobbies for state support for UB 2020 legislation.