Faculty Senate reviewed University of Idaho’s progress to a higher research classification and a review of accreditation coming up in Spring 2022.
R1 Research Status
Christopher T. Nomura, the vice president for research and economic development, presented on about UI’s move to an R1 research classification and the P3-R1 funding initiative.
UI will be evaluated in December by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education from Indiana University to be potentially be certified as a R1 or R2 institution. To place, UI must be evaluated as having high or very high research activity. The university is aiming for the higher R1 status.
UI has been labeled a doctoral university for having more than 20 research and scholarship doctoral degrees.
Another measurement that is used for classification is research expenditures. UI’s 2019 expenditures were $113 million, which allows it to be placed within R1 or R2 status.
However, these classifications are compared by other universities alongside UI. These comparisons can be the quantity of research productivity, doctoral research degree completion and workforce characteristics, including faculty size and quantity of non-faculty researchers with Ph.Ds.
“It’s definitely not constant. This is a moving target,” Nomura said. “There are a variety of different elements that determine through some formula that Carnegie does not reveal.”
The P3-R1 initiative is to help increase the award of research and scholarship doctoral degrees at UI. It also aims to increase the amount of externally funded research at UI as well as increase the facilities and administration rate of externally funded research. UI has been investing $3 million to help with this program.
This program will have a matching grant that encourages faculty to go and find external funding that supports Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers.
For every two Ph.D. students funded, one will get funded by this program and one postdoctoral funded; the program will provide one as well.
“They basically match the salaries… for students in those programs,” Nomura said. “The hope is that it can rapidly expand the base and opportunities for people who are going out and initiating these programs.”
University Accreditation
Interim Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives Dean Panttaja and university Assessment and Accreditation Chair Barbara Kirchmeier gave an overview on why UI aims to achieve accreditation, with the next evaluation taking place this spring.
“It is a voluntary evaluation of our best qualities and instincts as an institution in mission fulfillment,” Panttaja said.
UI needs to prove in the accreditation process that there is an ongoing cycle of assessment that leads to continuous improvements that align with its institution’s mission and strategic plan. Each part of UI’s institution has a part in accreditation and goes through peer evaluation to take the internal assessment seriously.
Currently UI is accredited by the Northwestern Commission on College and Universities that will provide recommendations for improvements.
While the university goes through accreditation as a whole, some departments have their own external accreditation program.
“Units that have external accreditor are not considered low hanging fruit. Most of them have a robust assessment to be accredited by external accreditor,” Panttaja said. “They are not concerned with units that have external accreditors because they have a robust assessment process and all talk the same language.”
Other News
Provost and Executive Vice President Torrey Lawrence gave an update on the current number of students who have shown proof of vaccination for COVID-19. 3,406 more students have been proven vaccinated since last week’s number update, an increase since the first drawing.
Lawrence also reminded the senate about Katy Benoit Campus Safety Awareness Month and Take Back the Night on Sept. 23. There will be a guest speaker at the Theophilus Tower lawn at 7 p.m., followed by a candlelit march around campus. This event is to stand in solidarity and support survivors of interpersonal violence.
Daniel V. Ramirez can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @DVR_Tweets