PonyFans.comBoard IndexAround the HilltopFootballRecruitingBasketballOther Sports

SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next decade

General discussion: anything you want to talk about!

Moderators: PonyPride, SmooPower

SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next decade

Postby AfricanMustang » Wed Sep 29, 2021 6:46 pm

Southern Methodist University was founded more than 100 years ago, steadily gaining a reputation as a top academic institution. And for the last decade, it's been on a path toward landing one of the top research designations in the country.

As part of a broader campaign to create more opportunities for students and scholars, the university is hoping to achieve the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education's R1 classification. This designation would increase the institution's prestige while increasing its ability to attract top minds.

"This is a level of excellence across the entire country," said Elizabeth Loboa, SMU provost. "Increased research capability means we can think about research with impact, providing more solutions to pressing problems in the world. We also want to think about what we do as an economic driver that we think about our research partnerships… that can be of great economic benefit to both current and future Dallas-area companies."

While the state of Texas can designate a public university with "Tier 1" status, the Carnegie R1 classification is awarded to public and private institutions nationally, identifying them as places of "very high" research activity. To achieve the classification, SMU needs to meet criteria such as funding going to research and the number of doctoral degrees given.

Rankings of universities are released by Carnegie every three years. Loboa said SMU surpassed about 55 other schools between 2005 and 2018 to reach R2 status and must pass about 50 to reach R1.

"When we think about driving and growing our research ecosystem ... we're interested in doing research (in areas) that are of great interest to corporate partners," Loboa said.

Loboa said she thinks SMU can reach R1 in the next 10 years. A key driver of that improvement was a $100 million gift from the Moody Foundation in 2019, which helped fund the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. SMU President R. Gerald Turner also points to SMU's work with the U.S. Department of Defense that awarded a supercomputer system to the university back in 2013.

The push to reach R1 status is part of a broader $1.5 billion fundraising campaign that SMU kicked off earlier this month, with about $654 million committed so far. It specifies:

Over $600 million to invest in student and faculty research
Over $450 million to provide financial services for high-performing, Pell Grant-eligible students that Loboa said should help improve the quality and quantity of research
Over $450 million for partnerships with corporations and nonprofits
Loboa said the school is searching for a new vice provost and a chief innovation officer to help translate research into actual products and companies.

A 2021 economic study by SMU totaled its economic impact for North Texas at about $7 billion. SMU is a "net importer" of talent, with about 60% of students from out-of-state and about two-thirds of graduates staying in DFW for their first job.

Looking ahead, Loboa wants SMU to be on the leading edge of research and better work with the local tech community. That also means having a greater interdisciplinary molding of the school's business graduates, making them flexible and prepared for the job market.

https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/inno ... loboa.html
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
― C.G. Jung
AfricanMustang
Varsity
 
Posts: 358
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:35 pm
Location: Washington DC

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby MV pony » Fri Oct 01, 2021 11:51 am

Ten years too late but I sent my $1.00.
User avatar
MV pony
All-American
 
Posts: 869
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: CA

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby NavyCrimson » Tue Oct 05, 2021 10:16 am

Love it!
BRING BACK THE GLORY DAYS OF SMU FOOTBALL!!!

For some strange reason, one of the few universities that REFUSE to use their school colors: Harvard Crimson & Yale Blue.
User avatar
NavyCrimson
PonyFans.com Legend
 
Posts: 3139
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2000 3:01 am
Location: Simi Valley-CA (Hm of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby MV pony » Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:51 am

Thinks? Next decade? Memphis expects to reach it this year. What has Turner really done at SMU during his tenure? I'm asking about positive things. I already have a long list of negatives.
User avatar
MV pony
All-American
 
Posts: 869
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: CA

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby AfricanMustang » Wed Oct 20, 2021 10:42 am

MV pony wrote:Thinks? Next decade? Memphis expects to reach it this year. What has Turner really done at SMU during his tenure? I'm asking about positive things. I already have a long list of negatives.


To answer that, one would have to look at where he found the University to begin with in 1995.
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
― C.G. Jung
AfricanMustang
Varsity
 
Posts: 358
Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:35 pm
Location: Washington DC

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby MV pony » Wed Oct 20, 2021 11:10 am

OK, so there is nothing positive.
User avatar
MV pony
All-American
 
Posts: 869
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: CA

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby orguy » Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:11 pm

Baffled Turner is still president. Little positive in eons. Around 10 years ago there was an internal report that listed our "schools we wish to be like". One of those schools was Brown. At the time I
found it laughable given Turner went to Abilene Christian. Do you think Brown has a board of trustees made up of high flautin wealthy car dealers and other non academic types on its board? Has Brown ever had a president from an unacademic regional church school? ( I like Abilene Christian by the way, great school with lots of smart folks but hiring what a appears to be a tenured "academic" from there was a mistake. People do not like Shields on this board which is
sad. He actually was a true academic with a Doctorate in Chemistry from an elite Tier 1 school
(UCLA). This is probably the reason he clashed with the BOT so often. )

The US news rankings are the most accurate. Many B school alums love the Forbes rankings as an alternative b/c we always get trashed in the former. Any president who says they do not care about the US news rankings is suspect in my book. Turner has done nothing to stop the slide. We are now tied with TAMU. This has never happened before. UT is now 38th up from 52nd. Soon, TCU will pass us if something is not done. The only way to curb the problem is to invest in Science and Engineering. Something SMU has historically struggled with. Business schools add little to none to an academic institutions ranking. Strong programs in subjects like Electrical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Philosphy, Languages and Literature add to the intellectual resources of a given institution. Easy majors like Marketing, Communications Arts and Education detract. The dumbest thing SMU ever did was to recently bring back the Education major which is nothing more than a way for C students to make A's and still be able to take advantage of all the slacker nonsense that the Greek system offers.

Rant over. Let the attacks begin but nothing I have stated is untrue.
orguy
All-American
 
Posts: 702
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:02 am
Location: SF bay area

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby bubba pony » Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:23 pm

I thought Education major was created for athletes so they can get a degree and become coaches in high schools.
bubba pony
Heisman
 
Posts: 1522
Joined: Fri May 30, 2003 3:01 am

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby orguy » Wed Oct 20, 2021 8:35 pm

bubba pony wrote:I thought Education major was created for athletes so they can get a degree and become coaches in high schools.


Could be. My comments were directed to the larger overall trend of the University. If in fact this
is a favorable major for athletes who want to coach I stand corrected. I thought it was reinstated because Laura Bush was advocating for it given she graduated from the Education school.

Football and Basketball players have difficult time constraints. I understand this.
These individuals being steered towards programs in either Business, Communications
Arts or Education makes sense.

Interesting story: Do you remmeber QB Joshua Dobbs who played at Tennessee and now plays
with the Steelers? Guy had a 3.9 in Aerospace Engineering all while starting for an SEC team.
Amazing. Evidently not all football players want to be H.S coaches.
orguy
All-American
 
Posts: 702
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:02 am
Location: SF bay area

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby tristatecoog » Fri Oct 22, 2021 12:10 pm

Dobbs' mother retired from United Parcel Service (UPS) as a region manager in corporate human resources and his father is a senior vice president for Wells Fargo bank. Not too shabby.

Between 1983 and 2007, SMU never ranked in the top 50.
https://publicuniversityhonors.com/2017 ... 1983-2007/

A&M ranked as low as #48 in 2002. It spent much of the past decade no better than tied with SMU.

Which universities have performed quite a bit better than SMU since 1995? Northeastern is a specific example but their sports are terrible. USC is another example. They were in the low 40s from 1995-2000 and have ranked #21-27 since 2007.
tristatecoog
Hall of Famer
 
Posts: 2893
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2000 3:01 am
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby tristatecoog » Fri Oct 22, 2021 5:00 pm

Looking at SMU's current aspirant and peer institutions, the following have risen and sunk when comparing the last couple years versus the first five years of RGT's tenure or 2009-10, whichever has ranking data. Universities outside the top 50 weren't ranked until 2004.

Northeastern improved 47 spots to 49.
TCU improved 29 spots to 82.
USC improved 17 spots to 26.
Boston U improved 17 spots to 42.
American U improved 7 spots to 78.
Pepperdine improved six spots to 49.

Emory dropped five spots to 21.
Syracuse dropped seven spots to 59.
Brandeis dropped 12 spots to 42.
Lehigh dropped 15 spots to 49.
GWU dropped 17 spots to 65.
Tulsa dropped 53 spots to 140.

The others (BC, Denver, Wake, Baylor, Miami, ND, CMU, Fordham, Rochester, Tulane and Tufts) had changes of +2 to -4 over that time.

SMU has stayed the same at 67. However, since 2017, US News bumped Villanova, LMU and Santa Clara to national status. Nova and SCU rank above SMU while LMU is essentially tied. Villanova has ranked 46 to 53 since its entry in 2017. It's a strong comp to SMU, as are Fordham and Miami.

TCU's chancellor has done a remarkable job since starting in 2004. They added a med school in conjunction with UNT, started a $1B capital campaign in 2019 and deftly navigated the athletic landscape to end up in the Big 12. However, since 2014, they have averaged a ranking of 82 and sit at 83 in this year's poll. Before taking over at TCU, its current chancellor was president of Illinois State for four years and graduated from Mount Union College with a bachelors and IU with a doctorate.

During that same time, SMU has averaged a ranking of 62 but is now at 68, which is tied with Fordham, Minnesota, A&M, UMass, IU and Yeshiva. SMU built a new research college and hopefully that will pay tremendous dividends in the future. I agree that STEM needs to receive quite a bit of focus from the new $1.5B Ignited campaign.
tristatecoog
Hall of Famer
 
Posts: 2893
Joined: Sun Sep 24, 2000 3:01 am
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby Mustangs_Maroons » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:14 pm

Let’s stop building fountains and renovations and focus on STEM, research, faculty and student scholarships.

Turner needs to retire or become a chancellor to focus on fundraising. His days as President are long overdue…
User avatar
Mustangs_Maroons
Heisman
 
Posts: 1950
Joined: Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:03 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby NavyCrimson » Sat Oct 23, 2021 1:17 pm

Well said maroons!!! Long long overdue!!!
BRING BACK THE GLORY DAYS OF SMU FOOTBALL!!!

For some strange reason, one of the few universities that REFUSE to use their school colors: Harvard Crimson & Yale Blue.
User avatar
NavyCrimson
PonyFans.com Legend
 
Posts: 3139
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2000 3:01 am
Location: Simi Valley-CA (Hm of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby orguy » Sat Oct 23, 2021 4:31 pm

Mustangs_Maroons wrote:Let’s stop building fountains and renovations and focus on STEM, research, faculty and student scholarships.

Turner needs to retire or become a chancellor to focus on fundraising. His days as President are long overdue…


Tis true. Up to the BOT though I think it unlikely they take any action.
orguy
All-American
 
Posts: 702
Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:02 am
Location: SF bay area

Re: SMU thinks can reach Carnegie R1 status in the next deca

Postby NavyCrimson » Sat Oct 23, 2021 5:05 pm

It's a pack of thieves all covering one another with one big over paid president.
BRING BACK THE GLORY DAYS OF SMU FOOTBALL!!!

For some strange reason, one of the few universities that REFUSE to use their school colors: Harvard Crimson & Yale Blue.
User avatar
NavyCrimson
PonyFans.com Legend
 
Posts: 3139
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2000 3:01 am
Location: Simi Valley-CA (Hm of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

Next

Return to Around the Hilltop

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 26 guests