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Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
St. Edward's achieves research university designation
AUSTIN (KXAN) — St. Edward's University announced Thursday that it has achieved a historic milestone by attaining a designation as a research university. The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized St. Edward's under the Research Colleges and Universities classification for investing an average of at least $2.5 million per year in research and development opportunities, according to a release from the university. The Carnegie Foundation and ACE recently updated the methodology for Research Activity Designations and announced the changes on Thursday along with a list of institutions that received a designation. The Research Colleges and Universities designation is new this year. The other categories are Research 1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production and Research 2: High Spending and Doctorate Production. St. Edward's University says over $10M from donors going to School of Health Sciences According to Carnegie, the Research Colleges and Universities designation identifies research happening at colleges and universities that historically have not been recognized for their research activity, including institutions that do not offer many or any doctoral degrees. The new designation includes any non-R1 or R2 institution that spends more than $2.5 million on research annually, accounting for 218 institutions. 'This landmark achievement is a testament to the exceptional talent and dedication of our faculty, their scholarship, creative endeavors and research. We have advanced our research mission and our commitment to creating opportunities for our students and faculty to engage in innovative research programs,' said St. Edward's University President Montserrat Fuentes. 'Earning research university status is a significant milestone for our university, reflecting the steadfast support of our faculty, staff and community partners who are devoted to opening doors for students to graduate education and pathways to success in an ever-evolving workforce.' The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education had previously recognized St. Edward's in the Master's Colleges and Universities: Larger Programs category under the Basic Classification Methodology in 2021. St. Edward's will keep its research university status until the next evaluation in 2028. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Budget-crunched University of New Orleans makes its case at Washington Mardi Gras
The University of New Orleans sign sits on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, at the lakefront campus entrance on Lakeshore Drive in New Orleans. (Photo by Matthew Perschall) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Facing a $10 million budget shortfall, the University of New Orleans is out in full force at Washington Mardi Gras, hoping to secure private donations and more federal research dollars. It had been approximately 15 years since UNO, a research university nestled on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, had held an event at Washington Mardi Gras, an annual gathering of Louisiana political figures in the nation's capital. That changed this week when UNO President Kathy Johnson hosted alumni, potential donors and public officials for a Saturday morning brunch. 'I'm just systematically working the plan to get from where we are right now,' Johnson said, noting private money funded the school's presence at Washington Mardi Gras. A key part of that plan: hiring a federal lobbyist. The firm the university settled on is Washington Navigators, which specializes in higher education lobbying. Johnson said the private University of New Orleans Foundation is paying for the firm. While UNO has employed a federal lobbyist in the past, it hadn't had one for several years, Johnson said. Having one can help the university secure more research funding, she added. The university has to spend at least $5 million on research annually and award at least 20 doctoral degrees to maintain its status as an R2 university, which the Carnegie Classification of Institutions gives to universities with 'high research activity.' While UNO is not at risk of dipping below this line — it spent around $20 million on research in 2023 — more grant funding could help keep faculty in place at a university currently mired in instability. 'It starts with raising your profile,' Scott Sudduth, a partner with Washington Navigators, said in an interview at the UNO brunch. Sudduth said it was still early in the firm's partnership with UNO, but said he anticipated visiting its campus to get a sense for existing research programs and to find model researchers among the school's faculty to show off to the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. Louisiana's powerful Republican congressional delegation puts the university at an advantage, Sudduth said. Not only is U.S. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson from Louisiana, so is the House Majority Leader, Rep. Steve Scalise, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, who now chairs the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Cassidy was among those attending the UNO brunch. When asked to give remarks, the senator said he will work to get jobs for UNO students, which was met with cheers. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX UNO's budget problems aren't anything new. Johnson's predecessor, John Nicklow, struggled with the budget during his tenure from 2016-23. The fiscal problems truly began after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the university's enrollment dropped from around 17,000 to around 6,000. For the fall 2024 semester, UNO's total student body was 6,488. Complicating matters were significant cuts to the entire state higher education system during Gov. Bobby Jindal's two terms in office, from 2008-16. Those reductions switched the burden of funding colleges and universities from the state to the students, leading to significant tuition hikes across Louisiana. UNO was slow to adjust its expenses to match its shrinking student body, a task that has forced Johnson to make drastic moves, including consolidating administrators and furloughing most employees earlier this month. The university is also likely to lay off staff later this year. While faculty cannot be furloughed, even tenured professors can be terminated in the face of a budget crisis. 'I so appreciate what UNO has been in the past, and I can see what it can be in the future,' Johnson said. Attendees at the event reminisced about what the university had been to them. Founded in 1958 as a branch of LSU, UNO was the first racially integrated public university in the South and the first public university in the city. Leo Surla, who was part of the first first graduating class in 1962, said he wouldn't have had the opportunity for a postsecondary education if UNO hadn't been founded. 'People in New Orleans who couldn't afford Tulane and couldn't afford to go to Baton Rouge could go to school,' Surla said. 'Just think of the thousands and thousands of students who had an opportunity to do that, and I was one of the first.' After graduating from UNO, where he also served as student body president, Surla participated in a prestigious fellowship at Vanderbilt University and subsequently became an economist, eventually establishing his own consulting business with projects in 70 different countries. 'That's all because they set up that university in New Orleans,' Surla said. Despite a strong start to the school — Surla doesn't recall any lack of money in those early days — the university has hit repeated rough patches, including numerous hurricanes and hard budget times in a poor state. Attendees at the brunch agreed Johnson is well equipped to bring back the good times. It'll be on Johnson and her team to cut and lobby UNO's way out of the crisis as increased funding for higher education is unlikely to come from the state. Gov. Jeff Landry has indicated he wants spending to remain at existing levels. 'To hell with those guys,' Surla said about the Louisiana Legislature. 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