(08-17-2018 05:15 PM)Transic_nyc Wrote:  http://www.oudaily.com/news/james-gallog...62296.html

Quote:The main focus of Gallogly’s strategic plan was the one thing he believes OU lacks: “a robust graduate student experience.”

Gallogly has said since the June meeting of the Board of Regents he intends to double OU’s research, which he said will be a “growth engine” for the state of Oklahoma.

“We have a great undergraduate program here at OU, we’ve created a wonderful undergraduate experience,” Gallogly said. “It’s time to broaden that base and build out a more robust graduate program. We’re going to double the amount of research we do today because at this point that’s about the only thing that keeps us from being an AAU-type institution.”

Gallogly said the success of the undergraduate program has brought many applicants and new students to OU, but that he wants more of those students to remain at OU for graduate work.

“Part of the issue that we have, sometimes with National Merit Scholars, is sometimes they leave because we don’t make those graduate stipends available,” Gallogly said. “We want the smartest and brightest to stay in our state and help to advance our economy. It’s not to take away from the undergraduate experience.”

Gallogly said he plans to measure his goal of doubling research in a variety of ways, including looking at federal money allocated to OU for research opportunities. Gallogly said it was difficult to get common definitions on some of the scholastic work being done at OU but that he’d like to see those opportunities double.

“Those are the kinds of things that build university reputations,” Gallogly said. “When they rank universities, they often look to the graduate programs. There are also strong economic impacts of advanced research depending on the type of research.”

Could be a huge tell, depending on how you want to interpret the paragraph I've quoted.

Possibly, but Oklahoma is currently behind 15 other schools in acquiring the metrics for AAU membership, and they have to overcome the inertia of a state whose public school system is strapped for cash, and they also have nearly a 1 billion dollar debt at Oklahoma to overcome too.

I read this more as a statement of where OU wants to be and that is a great way for a new president to try to get the folks focused on something besides the current negatives. I also noted he said an "AAU like school."