UTEPDallas Wrote:Tom Hansen's response to the BYU fan
4. The single most important factor to the Pac-10 were it ever to expand would be the academic nature and standing of any institution under consideration. Many sports fans probably would find that difficult to understand, but our CEOs made that clear. The Pac-10 members are all major research institutions, and any institution being
considered would have to be in that category. BYU is a fine academic institution, but it is primarily dedicated to undergraduate education rather than research, according to those who know about such things. That would be a major impediment for it.
I hope these comments are helpful. Thank you for writing.
Tom Hansen
http://www.cougarboard.com/nologin/messa...id=2182411
Very interesting. The following article was printed in today's Memphis paper:
University of Memphis Putting the best face forward
U of M gets image-conscious, starting with promoting impressive research programs
By Jane Roberts (Contact)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Dr. Charles Blaha is the face of a
high-octane effort to increase the University of Memphis' status as a center of research.
From his lab in behavioral sciences in the School of Psychology have come breakthroughs in brain electrical therapies that could reduce the tremors that make life debilitating for people with Parkinson's Disease.
A University of Memphis ad campaign aims to educate the public on research done at the school, such as the work on reducing tremors in Parkinson's disease patients -- a project led by Dr. Charles Blaha, with psychology graduate students Deranda Lester (left) and Tiffany Pate.
In the last month, he and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic have received research grants in excess of $7 million from the National Institutes of Health and the Mayo Foundation to continue the work.
At the Herff College of Engineering, biomedical expert Warren Haggard has found a way to pelletize antibiotics, part of a request from the Department of Defense to help fight battlefield infections that can rebound between initial treatment in the field and surgery in a higher-echelon hospital.
The university won $200,000 in grants for the initial research and is line for $900,000 more, "to start any day now," Haggard said.
The stories are two of the first the university is focusing on in a $150,000 print and broadcast ad campaign designed by Carpenter Sullivan Sossaman.
"We tried to think of what would capture the public's imagination," said president Shirley Raines. "We thought some of our most profound medical findings would seize their imagination."
The next project will show the work of students and professors in the architecture school (recently confirmed for master's degree offerings) building a LEED-certified green house in the Uptown Memphis area.
"We started running the campaign during the basketball championship season because we knew people would be watching," Raines said.
The spots, airing on network TV, are designed to capture the 25 to 54 audience, not exactly your average college freshman.
That's by design, says Bob Eoff, vice president of marketing and communication.
"This campaign is about the image of the overall university, which is something that has not been done in 95 years with any kind of consistency," he said. "This is for adults, that subgroup that are parents, grandparents, contributors" -- the people who shape the decisions young people make about college.
The broadcast spots were designed to have a long shelf life -- not using Haggard or Blaha on camera, for instance, but professional actors illustrating the value of their research in everyday life.
In the one that has gotten the most positive review, viewers see a Parkinson patient trying to pick up a glass of water, and the anxiety that ensues when it spills in a jerky splash.
"People get that," said Raines.
After years of Rotary Club and Optimist Club speech-making, it was clear to her that most Memphians knew little about the university's research capacity.
"They knew the story from their perspective as a major or from having a son or daughter on campus," she said.
But they knew little about the graduate programs or community work -- such as Mid-South Reads -- that got their start on campus and spread through the community, for instance, in public school reading programs.
"
We are a Research I university and have been since the early '70s," Raines said. "There are only three in this state -- Vanderbilt, UT and us."
Research I schools are also called Doctoral Extensive in the Carnegie Classification system, a national listing of universities based not only on research investment but the value of those contributions to society.
The listing is important because it tends to reflect where research dollars go, which in turn tends to reflect how universities score in key rankings like U.S. News & World Report's, said Randy Swing, executive director of the Association for Institutional Research in Florida.
While the feeling is that the elite group of schools rake in the vast majority of dollars, Swing challenges anyone to show him data that proves it.
"The important piece is to think of the role a particular institution of higher learning plays in American society," he said referring to the early emphasis placed on research at the land grant colleges as a way to improve the lives of average Americans.
The university has increased entrance requirements for five consecutive year without a reduction in enrollment, a fact Raines likes to use as proof of the university's scholastic depth.
"
Our honors GPA is soaring," she said, after diligent efforts to triple honors undergraduate enrollment. "But for the 70 percent of our students who work, it is still a struggle."
In her efforts to make the university an urban research center, Raines is pushing to double the value of outside research on campus by 2012 when the university celebrates is 100th anniversary.
You might say double again. Between 2002 and 2007, outside research funding on campus went from $23 million to about $56 million.
Besides the value of the research itself, "every dollar we earn, just like in every other business, turns over four times in the community," Raines said, pointing to benefits such a job creation and economic development.
The rise is "very impressive," said Swing. "In general, the monies are declining. We haven't see the money fallout yet, but the prediction is that harder times are coming."
Haggard, who worked years in biomedical research in private industry, is feeling the pinch.
The National Institutes of Health, for instance, he says, is now funding proposals at only about 15 percent.
"The competition is heavy because more people are looking for the money. What it means if that you need to plan on submitting proposals more than one time," he said. "Now you need to be more creative."
The university recruited Haggard and Blaha -- both Ph.D.s -- in the last five years as it pushes to increase its heft, both in research and student caliber.
Haggard always planned to turn to academia. He's back sooner than he thought because "the university made me a very good offer.
"They also have the facilities and the lab and a large focus on biotech."
While the pace is slower in academia than in private industry sphere, he said, he feels he can make a bigger contribution.
"I get to train the next generation of bioengineers. I get to impact that. These are the people who will be designing medical devices and products when I am ready to retire."
Contact Jane Roberts at 529-2512.
(It is also interesting that FedEx recently built a brand-new, world-class research complex on campus.)
