AAU membership

Hunter Green · April 15

I read an article recently that stated the University of Nebraska might be expelled from the Big 10 because it doesn't meet AAU criteria. There are only 71 members in this organization with only three being in Texas. Rice, A&M and UT. Tulane and S. Florida are the only AAC schools listed. California has several and membership is by invitation only. With UNT being a Teir One research university, is this something we should strive for? Are we even close to meeting the criteria? Research seems to be the name of the game to attain this status. For those in the know, please educate this minion. Thanks!

Hunter Green · April 29

All you have is a down vote?Thanks for the thoughtful response.

Edited April 29 by Hunter Green

Mean Green 93-98 · April 29

I'm pretty sure we're a long way from AAU status. A&M is a relative newcomer to AAU, and very few would have dreamed they'd find their way in back in the '80's or early '90's. They might still be a borderline institution, not sure. But they are light years ahead of us.

Keep in mind that a major part of why Nebraska was kicked out is because they didn't have an on-campus medical school--they have one as a separate campus.

Even if we ever checked all the boxes, we'd still need an invitation.

ADLER · April 30

On 4/14/2024 at 9:09 PM, Hunter Green said:

I read an article recently that stated the University of Nebraska might be expelled from the Big 10 because it doesn't meet AAU criteria. There are only 71 members in this organization with only three being in Texas. Rice, A&M and UT. Tulane and S. Florida are the only AAC schools listed. California has several and membership is by invitation only. With UNT being a Tier One research university, is this something we should strive for? Are we even close to meeting the criteria? Research seems to be the name of the game to attain this status. For those in the know, please educate this minion. Thanks!

Nebraska had their AAU designation removed for non-academic reasons. AAU criteria requires that the colleges that qualify the university for AAU membership all be in the same market. It was later pointed out that Nebraska's medical school is in Omaha, and their AAU membership was rescinded.

The UNT law school and the UNT medical school are considered to be in the same metropolitan area as the flagship campus. North Texas needs to keep raising the research budget until it's in the top third of R1 schools. It will probably take another decade to accomplish but the school is well on track as it's already mid-R1 for research spending. Texas needs more AAU level colleges as UT, A&M, and Rice are the only members. UH and Tech have both already met the AAU research investment criteria and should soon, like USF has been, be recognized with that distinction.

Hunter Green · May 1

18 hours ago, ADLER said:

Nebraska had their AAU designation removed for non-academic reasons. AAU criteria requires that the colleges that qualify the university for AAU membership all be in the same market. It was later pointed out that Nebraska's medical school is in Omaha, and their AAU membership was rescinded.

The UNT law school and the UNT medical school are considered to be in the same metropolitan area as the flagship campus. North Texas needs to keep raising the research budget until it's in the top third of R1 schools. It will probably take another decade to accomplish but the school is well on track as it's already mid-R1 for research spending. Texas needs more AAU level colleges as UT, A&M, and Rice are the only members. UH and Tech have both already met the AAU research investment criteria and should soon, like USF has been, be recognized with that distinction.

Now that is what I was looking for. Thanks Adler.

El Paso Eagle · May 1

The second factor for Nebraska -

Second, the university focuses heavily on agriculture research, a priority for a land grant institution. But in the eyes of the AAU, most agricultural research is not peer-reviewed, competitive research, so it is “not considered as highly,” AAU spokesman Barry Toiv said, compared with medical and economic research.