AAU membership for USF soon?

[tau.reanb]

I know this has been a big component of our strategic plan for a while.  GA Tech-- who I always thought was already in the AAU-- just got the nod and will be a new AAU member.  The AAU is apparently giving serious consideration to some other schools as well.  I have little doubt we are one of those schools.  That's not to say our invite's in the mail, but based on some of the statistics of the PDF below, we could be well on our way to membership soon. 

http://system.usf.edu/board-of-trustees/meetings/pdfs/meeting-archives/2010/100710/AAU%20Presentation_10-2010.pdf

Congrats to GA Tech!  I hope we can soon join them. 

[DERBY]

This would be huge for us if it actually happens.

Word on the street is that the University of Cincinnati is a strong candidate.  It would make sense that if it is going to happen for us they'd announce it along with UC at the same time.

[tau.reanb]

I'm not really expecting an invite this time around, but perhaps in the round of considerations.  Honestly, I think we'll be there within the next decade, for sure.

[Mama_Bull]

Our two biggest problems to be addressed for AAU membership:

•Enhancing Student-to-Faculty Ratio

•Improving 6-Year Graduation Rate

Cincy has a much better student-to-faculty ratio, but a worse graduation rate.

[Oldsmobull]

There are maybe 50 American universities not in AAU now which could rightly argue they should be members of AAU, including USF.  In Florida, FSU and UM want to get in just like USF too.  When the last school to be invited joined last year, Georgia Tech, it had been nine years since any schools were admitted (Texas A&M, Stony Brook).  A school like Stony Brook getting in is a good sign for USF because it is similar to USF in that it is only 50 years old and is a modern metro public research university just like USF.

USF has getting into AAU a goal in black and white written into USF's Vision and Mission Statement. USF is working on doing what it takes to be an AAU quality university; getting a formal invitation to be an AAU institution takes some luck and patience too. 

[DontPushMe]

I dont see it happening anytime soon. Those stats show me that USF isnt ready. A lot of work to do to get there. Its a good goal to have and I'm glad it's something they're pursueing but we are too close to the bottom of too many of those stats (and at the bottom of 2) to be a good candidate.

[commbull]

The goal is helpful for strategic planning, but we won't be in the AAU any time soon and we might never be.  Still, attempting to make ourselves more like an AAU university is valuable. 

[Guest nybullsfan]

Wow, Nebraska just got kicked out, right after they were invited to join the Big Ten

It takes 45 of 60 votes to get in, but only 40 of 60 votes to get kicked out. You gotta believe all 11 of the Big 10 members voted to keep them in, so Nebraska got 29 of 49 "Nay" votes among the rest of the field.

We're not much better/worse than they are, so I don't think we'll be getting in anytime soon. Still, it's a worthy goal to include in the school's mission statement.

Seems wierd that there's a focus on what is on which campus. I wonder if the St. Pete and Lakeland campuses actually help or hurt us with the AAU? Maybe this is why FGCU was spun off?

April 29' date=' 2011

U. of Nebraska-Lincoln Is Voted Out of Assn. of American Universities

By Jeffrey J. Selingo

In an unprecedented move, the Association of American Universities has thrown out one of its members, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

At least two-thirds of the 63-member group, which represents universities with the most prestigious profiles in research and graduate education in the United States and Canada, voted to discontinue Nebraska's membership in an election that concluded early last week. Nebraska's chancellor, Harvey Perlman, was notified of the decision earlier this week.

"The AAU metrics are flawed," Mr. Perlman said in an interview on Friday afternoon. "They didn't take into account the mission, characteristics, or trajectory of the institution."

The AAU's membership criteria focus primarily on an institution's amount of competitive research funds and its share of faculty members who belong to the National Academies. Faculty awards and citations are also taken into account. Based on those criteria, Mr. Perlman said, Nebraska ranked last among AAU members.

What put Nebraska at a particular disadvantage within the AAU is that the university's medical school is part of the statewide system, but not part of the flagship Lincoln campus. So the medical school's research dollars do not count toward Lincoln's AAU numbers. In an analysis conducted last year by The Chronicle, Nebraska's system as a whole outpaces at least 11 current AAU members.

"The indicators that the AAU used to review us did not reflect the accomplishments of Nebraska," Mr. Perlman said.

Nebraska, which was elected to join the AAU in 1909, was first notified last fall that its membership was under review. While Nebraska's Lincoln campus ranked last among AAU members, Mr. Perlman said, the review committee was supposed to look also at qualitative factors beyond the rankings.

"We provided a long list of our accomplishments over the last decade," Mr. Perlman said. Still, the review committee voted, 9 to 1, this month against Nebraska. Within in a little more than a week, the full membership voted. "There wasn't a lot of time to talk to members," Mr. Perlman said.

Barry Toiv, a spokesman for the AAU, said the review process "was followed in its entirety."

Last year the AAU invited its first new member in nearly a decade, the Georgia Institute of Technology. At the same time it placed Nebraska and another unidentified institution under review. But this spring only Nebraska's membership was put up to a vote.

As for what the decision means for Nebraska as an institution, Mr. Perlman said on Friday that as he looked at the university's accomplishments of the past decade, only one may have been helped because of its AAU membership: the invitation last year to join the Big Ten.[/quote']

[Mama_Bull]

After what happened to Nebraska and Syracuse, some other AAU members near the bottom are getting nervous.

Kansas chancellor spurred by AAU vote

By the Lincoln Journal Star JournalStar.com | Posted: Sunday, May 8, 2011 8:30 am

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's expulsion from the Association of American Universities has motivated at least one other AAU member that has lagged behind many other members' rankings to improve its academic and research efforts.

In a letter sent to staff and faculty on May 2, University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said UNL's expulsion and Syracuse University's decision to leave the AAU "reaffirms my conviction that our priorities of raising KU's academic stature and increasing the quality and quantity of research are critical to the future success of our university.

"I do not intend for KU to face a similar challenge," she said.

Jennifer Sanner, senior vice president for communications for the KU Alumni Association, said the alumni association sees great value in the university being an AAU member.

"We tout AAU membership, and I think it's important every now and again to remind people what that means," she said. "Most of the institutions in the organization value it as a measure of national prominence."

http://journalstar.com/article_9e5d86e2-6636-58c3-a0a5-d368d311ee1f.html

[Ricky the Bull]

With legislative budget cuts to the SUS, it will certainly be a challenge to fund the improvements necessary for the invitation.  I think we're moving in the right direction, but it will take alumni effort (e.g. Unstoppable) to help push us over the top.