Are there instances of those satisfying the benchmarks being rejected?
I don’t have the specifics of how far we have come but agreement by three fourths of current members are required to be voted in. They certainly have specific criteria (research spending, percent of faculty who are members of the National Academies, faculty awards, and published/cited works) but subjectivity can never be dismissed in academia. Just look at admission requirements and the ultimate makeup of any school’s freshman class.
What makes the AAU so attractive is the prestige of being selected because the process to be chosen is so lengthy and difficult.
“Notre Dame and Connecticut are not AAU members but would like to be. So in the hubbub over who might be invited someday to join the Big Ten, know that if a school has the black mark of "not being an AAU member," it likely isn't by choice.”
"It is perhaps the most elite organization in higher education," said Michael Kirk, spokesman for Connecticut President Susan Herbst. "You'd probably be hard-pressed to find a major research university that didn't want to be a member of the AAU."
In the case of Notre Dame, the school has a sterling reputation for its undergraduate education. But only in recent years under President John Jenkins has there been a significant push to become a leading research and graduate university. Notre Dame would love to be an AAU member to solidify its status.
"As you know, membership in the AAU is by invitation only, and to date, we have not been invited," Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown said. "We do hope, however, that the progress we are making as a research institution will lead to that.”
