OT: Nebraska voted off the AAU island.
So this just popped up on my twitter via the Big Ten... Nebraska was voted out of the Association of American Universities for failure to meet certain requirements. This may not be a big deal to many, but given that the Big Ten has such high academic standards, Nebraska isn't exactly getting off on the right foot. I seem to remember that being thrown around as a sticking point for B10 membership early in the whole process. For those who know more about the AAU than I do, please elighten me as to whether or not this should be considered a Big Deal or not.
EDIT: ESPN link.... http://tinyurl.com/4ybcx95
I knew the Huskers would be a problem when I saw our Husker poster infamous thread
I guess the N on the helmets really does stand for 'nowledge'
Hey Little Bo P. and the big red nation expect better than this. Welcome to the Big Ten guys !Nice.
Is actually a big deal in terms of who's in and who's out. It's basically a list of the top schools in the nation. Taking Nebraska out obviously lowers the academic prestige of the B1G.
Like it was posted, Nebraska basically get's no credit for a ton of research money obtained for Ag purposes. I think that's BS but Iowa State doesn't have a problem staying in so I don't know that Nebraska has an excuse.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:56 PM ^
"The Membership Committee uses National Science Foundation (NSF) research expenditure data, excluding USDA expenditures. Most USDA funding is not allocated competitively, and USDA support accordingly is included as a Phase II indicator."
April 29th, 2011 at 11:58 PM ^
The money they get for ag research from the USDA is not allocated competitively. And what the AAU looks at as part of its criteria for membership is competitively funded federal support.
AAU's criteria hurts UNL because the NU system is organized with separate flagship (UNL) and medical campuses (the University of Nebraska Medical Center).
Another disadvantage UNL faced was the AAU policy of not including research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a major source of funding for UNL. However, the association does count agricultural faculty when weighting rankings.
AAU membership policies also provide consideration for an institution's trajectory, Among AAU institutions, UNL has the seventh-largest percentage growth in research expenditures in the past decade.
Full text of UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman comments:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110429/NEWS01/110428852#academic-group-d…
April 29th, 2011 at 11:35 PM ^
I wonder if the Ag research policy hits MSU then as well. I wonder what the AAU rational was for excluding that $.
April 29th, 2011 at 11:26 PM ^
the Dartmouth of the Big Ten. http://chronicle.com/article/As-AAU-Admits-Georgia-Tech-to/65200/ (written before this action): "All of the Big Ten universities are members, while only the University of Florida and Vanderbilt University get the nod from the Southeastern Conference. But even some institutions from the old guard would like a seat at the table. Dartmouth College, which has long emphasized undergraduate education, is the only Ivy League institution not in the AAU."
wait a second, they got kicked out of a club they had been in for over 100 years?
Yikes.
And according to wikipedia they are the first school ever to be kicked out? Double yikes.
"According to an analysis by the Chronicle of Higher Education, UNL would rank above at least 11 AAU institutions if research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center were included in its statistics."
It would be dumb to try to assert that Nebraska is on the same academic level as UM, NW, or Wisconsin, but combined with the apparent refusal by the AAU to fairly value research funded by the USDA, I think Nebraska got hosed.
And I'm suspicious of the timing of this.
But really--who gives a flip about the AAU? I'll bet outside of pretentious message boards with sissy points (and of course, the Mother of this board--Scout)--the average fan gives not one hoot about "academic prestige"
It's about sports. I mean, really, how many of you would be interested in Michigan if it flipped places in sports with Vanderbilt?
Thought so.
Except the average MGoBlog reader is not your average fan, is he?
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<br>For real, I almost dropped my phone when I read this and I cannot wait to get to the office Monday and hear people's thoughts. This is huge in my corner of the academic world.
is not listed on the AAU list anymore; they were last year when I looked to see which Big XII school could be stolen. I State, Tx A&M, KU, Mizzou and Texass are still listed.
Nebraska pulls in less research $ than academic powerhouses like: Wayne State, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, UAB, and 8 SEC schools (The Top American Research Universities 2009 Annual Report).
In addition, Nebraska's chancelor just announced that Nebraska will make cuts across the board and completely cut several engineering programs. However, most of the funds for the agricultural program are going to be left untouched
This could have been prevented, and is a case of mismanagement by the UNL administration.