Research Universities and the Future of America Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation's Prosperity and Security (2012) / Chapter Skim
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4 Threats and Weaknesses
4 Threats and Weaknesses
Pages 55-68
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From page 55... ...
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR RESEARCH UNIVERSITIES American research universities are facing critical concerns.1 Public universities have experienced a long-term erosion of state support in the face of increasing demands for expenditures in other areas. As state budgets have tightened during the recent economic crisis, public research universities have been further challenged by steep reductions in state appropriations for higher education.
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From page 56... ...
The second group identifies issues that affect the operations of universities, the efficient administration of university research, the effectiveness of doctoral education, and the robustness of the pipeline of new talent: • Insufficient opportunities for young faculty to launch academic careers and research programs; • Underinvestment in campus infrastructure, particularly in cyberinfrastructure, that can lead to long-term increases in productivity, costeffectiveness, and innovation in research, education, and administration; • Research sponsors that do not pay the full cost of research they procure, meaning that universities have to cross-subsidize research from other sources; • A burdensome accumulation of federal and state regulatory and reporting requirements that increases costs and sometimes challenges academic freedom and integrity; • Opportunities to improve doctoral and postdoctoral preparation
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From page 57... ...
. Reprinted with permission from the 2010 NACUBO Commonfund Study of Endowments, National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)
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From page 58... ...
. They are committed to public engagement in every area where knowledge and expertise can make a difference: basic and applied research, agricultural and industrial extension, economic development, health care, national security, and cultural enrichment.2 In fact, it was the public research university, through its landgrant tradition, its strong engagement with society, and its commitment to educational opportunity in the broadest sense, that was instrumental in creating the middle class, transforming American agriculture and industry into the economic engine of the world during the 20th century, and defending democracy during two world wars.
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From page 59... ...
Yet such efforts to "privatize" the support of public universities through higher tuition or increasing out-of-state enrollments also subject public universities to strong public outrage and political intrusion. Furthermore, since state support is key to the important public university mission of providing educational opportunities to students regardless of economic means, shifting to high-tuition funding, even accompanied by increased financial aid, usually leads to a sharp decline in the socioeconomic diversity of students.4 While several public research universities might be able to survive as "privately funded but publicly committed" institutions (the Universities of Virginia and Michigan provide interesting case studies)
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From page 60... ...
It also will likely demand that many of our public research universities broaden their public purpose and stakeholders far beyond state boundaries. Preserving the quality and capacity of the extraordinary resource represented by our public research universities must remain a national priority, even if the support required to sustain these institutions at world-class levels is no longer viewed as a priority by our states.
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From page 61... ...
Peking University is ranked 21st in the life sciences and in the natural sciences in the QS World University Rankings and Tsinghua University is 11th in engineering and technology. In the ARWU, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is 39th in en
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From page 62... ...
now to 15 percent by 2020." -- Wang Huiyao, China's National Talent Plan: Key Measures and Objectives, Brookings Institution. Available at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/ Files/rc/papers/2010/1123_china_talent_wang/1123_china_talent_wang.pdf (accessed September 17, 2011)
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, Nanyang Technological Uni versity (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU)
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. Figure 4.2.eps Source: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2010.
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Figure 4.4.eps FIGURE 4-4 Location of estimated worldwide R&D expenditures, 1996 and 2007. Source: National Science Board, Globalization of Science and Engineering: A bitmap Companion to Science and Engineering Indicators 2010.
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66 FIGURE 4-5 Normalized growth in S&T globalization,Figure 4.5.eps ratio to 1996 = 100. data indexed as a Source: National Science Board, Globalization of Science and Engineering: A Companion to Science and Engineering Indicators bitmap, landscape 2010.
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TABLE 4-2b Chinese University Programs in Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities, by Field, 2010 Life Science and Natural Sciences and Agricultural Sciences Mathematics Engineering and Technology None None 39 Hong Kong University of S&T 43 City University of Hong Kong 45 Tsinghua University 52-75 Shanghai Jiao Tong University 52-75 Chinese University of Hong Kong 52-75 Hong Kong Polytechnic University Peking University 52-75 University of Science and Technology of China 52-75 Zhejiang University 76-100 Harbin Institute of Technology Source: http://www.arwu.org/index.jsp (accessed September 17, 2011)
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From page 68... ...
Indeed, the United States needs to consider actions that allow us to continue to benefit and appropriate from global sources of ideas and talent, such as changes in immigration law suggested in Recommendation 10. Meanwhile, just as the global rise in higher education and research is multidimensional, so the response to these global changes for the United States and its institutions should be considered, nuanced, and varied.
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