UConn's AAU Application? | The Boneyard

UConn's AAU Application?

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CL82

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A while back there was a throw away post that UConn was in the middle of the application process for the AAU. Has anyone heard anymore detail?

I'd say based on endowment and federal research grants, we still are on the outside of the bubble, close but not in. So why would we be making an application now unless someone who values AAU membership and can get us the votes, has greenlighted us?

@upstater?
 

CL82

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I thought you did not apply to the AAU but in fact you were invited. But what do I know. (rhetorical, thank you very much)
Yeah, I probably should have quoted "application," but that was the rumor.
 
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As simple as Google...

AAU Constituent Groups ... Membership in the association is by invitation. ... process used to identify institutions that may be invited into membership

AAU Membership Policy
 
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Look at the schools that are members. Much of the same ones we're trying to convince of our P5 athletic conference worth. In other words, another good ol' boys club. Good luck with all that.
 

UConn Dan

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A while back there was a throw away post that UConn was in the middle of the application process for the AAU. Has anyone heard anymore detail?

I'd say based on endowment and federal research grants, we still are on the outside of the bubble, close but not in. So why would we be making an application now unless someone who values AAU membership and can get us the votes, has greenlighted us?

@upstater?
Ask @rs2905 #FireRuss
 
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Ask @rs2905 #FireRuss

UConn began the process a couple years ago, and my understanding was that would take a minimum of five years. In that time, UConn has specific benchmarks that it needs to hit. It's an effort to raise the overall profile of the university, which, yes would make them more attractive to any conference that might be contemplating expansion.

In the meantime, I don't know why I'm being asked about it on a daily basis. I promise I'm not withholding secrets from everyone.
 
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Susan Herbst said that AAU is like a "sorority or fraternity. You have to be invited." You don't apply for membership. You keep working hard toward those elements the AAU values, while not really knowing which criteria will push the current AAU Board into extending you an invite.
 
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@upstater should be able to shed some light on this whole "process"

I really can't shed much light. I only know that trying to increase research funding when everyone else is trying to do the same thing in an environment in which research funding is being reduced, and in which funding for higher education is repeatedly cut year after year, well--it presents a problem, to say the least.

I have seen internal documents from the AAU suggesting they are much more interested in culling members than adding them. I've also seen documents warning schools that the AAU requires breadth across the disciplines, so any schools that think they can get ahead by cutting programs and focusing on tech research better think again.

UConn simply need to show it can garner another $100m in research funding annually, and then it is good to go.
 
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I really can't shed much light. I only know that trying to increase research funding when everyone else is trying to do the same thing in an environment in which research funding is being reduced, and in which funding for higher education is repeatedly cut year after year, well--it presents a problem, to say the least.

I have seen internal documents from the AAU suggesting they are much more interested in culling members than adding them. I've also seen documents warning schools that the AAU requires breadth across the disciplines, so any schools that think they can get ahead by cutting programs and focusing on tech research better think again.

UConn simply need to show it can garner another $100m in research funding annually, and then it is good to go.
Thanks!!!
 

CL82

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UConn began the process a couple years ago, and my understanding was that would take a minimum of five years. In that time, UConn has specific benchmarks that it needs to hit. It's an effort to raise the overall profile of the university, which, yes would make them more attractive to any conference that might be contemplating expansion.

In the meantime, I don't know why I'm being asked about it on a daily basis. I promise I'm not withholding secrets from everyone.
Sorry Russ. I had, and still have, no idea who you are or why you are the guy to answer this question. I appreciate the information though.
 
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Susan Herbst said that AAU is like a "sorority or fraternity. You have to be invited." You don't apply for membership. You keep working hard toward those elements the AAU values, while not really knowing which criteria will push the current AAU Board into extending you an invite.
Yeah, so it's not a formal application process like you would apply for a job or something. But there are benchmarks you need to hit in order to be extended an invite. That's what UConn has started to go through. You can read more about that here:

AAU Membership Policy
 

CL82

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I really can't shed much light. I only know that trying to increase research funding when everyone else is trying to do the same thing in an environment in which research funding is being reduced, and in which funding for higher education is repeatedly cut year after year, well--it presents a problem, to say the least.

I have seen internal documents from the AAU suggesting they are much more interested in culling members than adding them. I've also seen documents warning schools that the AAU requires breadth across the disciplines, so any schools that think they can get ahead by cutting programs and focusing on tech research better think again.

UConn simply need to show it can garner another $100m in research funding annually, and then it is good to go.
Any idea where we stand on that metric?
 
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Sorry Russ. I had, and still have, no idea who you are or why you are the guy to answer this question. I appreciate the information, though.

I am someone with no say or inside information to the process. I merely reported a while back that UConn was trying to get into the AAU. To my knowledge, that is still the case and we will know more when they are accepted or (maybe) rejected.
 

CL82

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As simple as Google...

AAU Constituent Groups ... Membership in the association is by invitation. ... process used to identify institutions that may be invited into membership

AAU Membership Policy
AAU Membership Indicators

The AAU presidents and chancellors have adopted the following set of membership indicators to use in assessments of current and potential new members. All indicators will be tabulated as both actual values and normalized, per-faculty measures where feasible. In assessing non-U.S. institutions, comparable indicators appropriate to those institutions will be used. These indicators are divided into Phase I indicators, which will be used as the primary indicators of institutional breadth and quality in research and education, and Phase II indicators, which will be used to provide additional important calibrations of institutional research and education programs. Both the Phase I and Phase II indicators constitute the first stage of membership assessment. The second stage involves a more qualitative set of judgements about institutions and their trajectories.

Phase I Indicators
1) Competitively funded federal research support: The Membership Committee uses National Science Foundation (NSF) research expenditure data, excluding formula-allocated USDA research expenditures and American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA) expenditures. Funding for the Agriculture Food and Research Initiative (AFRI), a competitively funded USDA research support program, is included in the Phase I research support indicator. 2) Membership in the National Academies (NAS, NAE, IOM): The National Academies’ membership database maintains the current institutional affiliation of its members. 3) Faculty awards, fellowships, and memberships: The Membership Committee gathers data on faculty awards, fellowships and memberships as an additional assessment of the distinction of an institution’s faculty. Additional appropriate awards, fellowships, and memberships will be added to this list as they are identified. 4) Citations: Thomson Reuters InCitesTM citations database provides an annually updated measure of both research volume and quality and will provide a valuable complement to the first four indicators listed above. Association of American Universities • 1200 New York Ave., NW Suite 550 • Washington DC 20005 • 202.408.7500

Phase II Indicators
1) USDA, state, and industrial research funding: Though these three sources of academic research support fund important, high-quality research, they are treated as Phase II indicators since they are generally not allocated through competitive, merit-review processes. Competitively funded USDA research programs, such as AFRI, that can be separately identified in reported data are included in Phase I data. 2) Doctoral education: The Committee uses number of Ph.D.s granted annually, using Department of Education IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) data. These data are treated as Phase II indicators to de-emphasize the quantitative dimensions of Ph.D. programs and avoid sending an unintended signal to institutions to increase Ph.D. output. 3) Number of postdoctoral appointees: The Committee uses NSF-compiled data from institutions on postdoctoral appointees, most of whom are in the health sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. Postdoctoral education is an increasingly important component of university research and education activities that the committee believes should be tracked in AAU membership indicators. However, because postdoctoral activity is highly correlated with university research and because self-reported postdoctoral data are less uniform than data on federally funded research, postdoctoral appointees are treated as a Phase II indicator. 4) Undergraduate education: The Committee assesses the institution’s undergraduate programs to determine that the institution is meeting its commitment to undergraduate education. Recognizing that differing institutional missions among research universities dictate different ways of providing undergraduate education, the committee will be flexible in this assessment. A number of measures have been suggested, including some that focus on input and others that look primarily at output variables. These are at this time imperfect, but may provide some guidance to the committee in making its judgments on this topic.
 
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Oh god I beg you not to do this on here. If anyone wants to know what he's talking about, use the Google machine and harass me on Twitter.
Sorry Russ....if you guys are on Twitter..Russ is one of the funniest guys out there! He has a GREAT sense of humor in addition to being EXCELLENT at his job! Keep up the GREAT work covering UConn Russ!!!!
 
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AAU has CIA level of secrecy it seems. It's hard even to find a list of schools "next up" or if they are ever going to invite another member. It seems there are several schools ahead of UConn in the pecking order if they ever do decide to invite members.
 
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Look at the schools that are members. Much of the same ones we're trying to convince of our P5 athletic conference worth. In other words, another good ol' boys club. Good luck with all that.

Like our Great Power 5 Football system, the AAU invitation list froze up around 1995. They really haven't sought to open the doors beyond; it is the same Cartel mindset that FBS football became. Regardless that some schools are growing like crazy ... some regions of the country have experienced massive growth. When you think about it ... many of the B1G like State U systems had relatively free reign. They do not have a Yale with $25b endowment sitting so close. That is a major impediment; as is all the other strong Private Ivy & MIT types that also do research.
 

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It's unbelievable the incompetency of R&D/Strategy that occurred from the late 90's to when Herbst got to the school. Talk about naivety. I want all of these leaders heads for putting us in this situation. Thank god for Susie and Co
 
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Like our Great Power 5 Football system, the AAU invitation list froze up around 1995. They really haven't sought to open the doors beyond; it is the same Cartel mindset that FBS football became. Regardless that some schools are growing like crazy ... some regions of the country have experienced massive growth. When you think about it ... many of the B1G like State U systems had relatively free reign. They do not have a Yale with $25b endowment sitting so close. That is a major impediment; as is all the other strong Private Ivy & MIT types that also do research.
Let's just say the door rarely opens these days for new membership. On their website they have the list of schools and when they were added. Schools are added to the P5 more frequently than they are to the AAU it seems.
 
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