The Need for Carnegie-designated “Very High” Research

Universities in Nevada

Kevin R. Carman, UNRJohn Valery White, UNLV

Joint Presentation to WRED CommitteeJune 5, 2014

*

I. Why does a “Very High” Research University designation matter?

prestige with employers value for students, graduates credibility to funding agencies

› akin to high grade from financial analysts› increased eligibility for major federal

grants essential to state economic

development strategy

Governor’s Economic Development Sectors: Research & Innovation Intensive

Gaming/ Entertainment

Aerospace

Information Technology

Health / Medical

Renewable Energy

Sustainable Materials and Natural Resources

Governor’s Economic Development Plan: Enhance R&D activity

“…Nevada lags behind other states and the nation on every indicator of innovation and Research & Development activity”

Governor’s Economic Development Plan: Address “Threats” “underinvestment in higher

education”

“lack of a top-ranked Carnegie research university”

Governor’s Economic Development Plan: Recommendation for Action

expand role of research universities:

› Research & Innovation

› Workforce Development through advanced degrees

Public Investment in R&D Capacity

Utah “U-STARS” (2006)

Texas “Tier 1” Bill (2009)

Florida “Pre-eminence” Bill (2013)

Significant, multi-year enhancement of universities’ operating budgets

› hire clusters of faculty in key research areas

› address research capital needs

II. How is a university designated “Research University/ Very High”?

UNM

Carnegie “Correlates”

PhDs› Humanities› Social Sciences› STEM› Other Professional

Non-Faculty Research Staff and Postdocs

Research Expenditures› S&E› Non S&E

III. Where are we now ?How do we get there?

> Different histories> Different capacities, needs

> Different plans > Common goal

UNR assessment of RU/VH

UNR Capacity Study: 22,000 by 2021

Analysis of faculty and staff needed to support 22,000 students› 18:1 Student: Faculty ratio

272 Faculty (39/year) 167 Staff (24/year) 121 GTA (17/year)

Results are similar to the R-VH analysis…

The Need for Additional Faculty in PhD Programs

  UtahNew

MexicoUNR

Total faculty 992 894 540Faculty in PhD programs

853 737 316

% in PhD Programs 86% 82% 59%

Comparison with New Mexico: PhD production

  PhDs GRANTED PhDs PER FACULTY ADD'L FACULTY TO

MEET UNMs NUMBER OF PhDs

(UNR PRODUCTIVITY - MOST EFFICIENT)

 

ADD'L FACULTY TO MEET UNMs

NUMBER OF PhDs (UNM

PRODUCTIVITY - LEAST

EFFICIENT) 

 NEW

MEXICO

UNRDIFFEREN

CENEW

MEXICOUNR

Humanities 21 9 12 0.12 0.19 63 100

Social Sciences 35 27 8 0.31 0.38 21 26

STEM 103 70 33 0.37 0.53 63 88

Other Professional Fields

49 20 29 0.28 0.31 94 103

TOTAL 208 126 82 0.28 0.40 241 317

Comparison with New Mexico: Grants

  NEW MEXICO UNR

S&E R&D EXPENDITURES

$179,303,000 $98,609,00

0

STEM FACULTY # 275 201

AVG PER FACULTY $652,011 $490,592

UNM PROD (MOST EFFICIENT)  

Total # STEM Fac to gen $179M: 275

Additional # STEM Fac to gen $179M:

74

UNR PROD (LEAST EFFICIENT)  

Total # STEM Fac to gen $179M: 365

Additional # STEM Fac to gen $179M:

164

Comparison with New Mexico: PhD production + grants

  PhDs GRANTED PhDs PER FACULTY ADD'L FACULTY TO

MEET UNMs NUMBER OF PhDs

(UNR PRODUCTIVITY - MOST EFFICIENT)

 

ADD'L FACULTY TO MEET UNMs

NUMBER OF PhDs (UNM

PRODUCTIVITY - LEAST

EFFICIENT) 

 NEW

MEXICO

UNRDIFFEREN

CENEW

MEXICOUNR

Humanities 21 9 12 0.12 0.19 63 100

Social Sicences 35 27 8 0.31 0.38 21 26

STEM 103 70 33 0.37 0.53 74 88

Other Professional Fields

49 20 29 0.28 0.31 94 103

TOTAL 208 126 82 0.28 0.40 252 317

Cost projectionsYRS FAC $100K/FAC Staff

$77,471/Position

GRAD ASST.

$23K (2.5%/YEA

R)

OPERATING & TRAVEL

($2,500/YR/FAC)

START-UP COSTS

TOTAL

1 36 $3,600,000 24 $1,859,318 36 $828,000 $630,000 $1,500,000 $8,417,318

2 36 $3,690,000 24 $1,901,864 36 $848,700 $630,000 $1,500,000 $8,570,564

3 36 $3,782,250 24 $1,945,473 36 $869,918 $630,000 $1,500,000 $8,727,640

4 36 $3,876,806 24 $1,990,172 36 $891,665 $630,000 $7,388,644

5 36 $3,973,726 24 $2,035,989 36 $913,957 $630,000 $7,553,672

6 36 $4,073,070 24 $2,082,951 36 $936,806 $630,000 $7,722,827

7 36 $4,174,896 24 $2,131,087 36 $960,226 $630,000 $7,896,210

  252 $27,170,749 168 $13,946,854 252 $6,249,272 $4,410,000 $4,500,000 $56,276,87

5

OFFICE SPACE

REPURPOSE EXISTING SPACE FOR OFFICES $15,000,00

0

RESEARCH SPACE

80,000 SQ. FT $52,000,00

0$123,276,8

75

Cost ProjectionsYRS FAC $100K/FAC Staff

$77,471/Position

GRAD ASST.

$23K/GTAOPERATING &

TRAVEL ($2,500/YR/FAC)

START-UP COSTS

TOTAL

1 36 $3,600,000 24 $1,859,318 36 $828,000 $630,000 $1,500,000 $8,417,318

2 36 $3,690,000 24 $1,901,864 36 $848,700 $630,000 $1,500,000 $8,570,564

3 36 $3,782,250 24 $1,945,473 36 $869,918 $630,000 $1,500,000 $8,727,640

4 36 $3,876,806 24 $1,990,172 36 $891,665 $630,000 $7,388,644

5 36 $3,973,726 24 $2,035,989 36 $913,957 $630,000 $7,553,672

6 36 $4,073,070 24 $2,082,951 36 $936,806 $630,000 $7,722,827

7 36 $4,174,896 24 $2,131,087 36 $960,226 $630,000 $7,896,210

  252 $27,170,749 168 $13,946,854 252 $6,249,272 $4,410,000 $4,500,000 $56,276,87

5

OFFICE SPACE

REPURPOSE EXISTING SPACE FOR OFFICES $15,000,00

0

RESEARCH SPACE

80,000 SQ. FT $52,000,00

0$123,276,8

75

Funding Analysis

~ $8M/year: additional required for personnel and operating expense

~$5M/year: Enrollment growth + Fee increase ~$3M/year: Gap

Potential sources of funds to bridge gap:› Increased $/WSCH› General fund

~$67M: New/renovated facilities› Philanthropy› State

UNLV analysis for Carnegie RU/ VH

RU/VH sets the bar high for UNLV

Benchmarking through comparison› Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Arizona State› performance in each Carnegie correlate

Need to increase :› $80 million in research expenditures per

year› 100 doctoral degrees awarded per year› 100 post-doctoral scholars, research

faculty

UG Education Remains a Priority

Retention/ Progression / Completion › more full-time UG students (15 to Finish)› R/P/C: improve 6-year grad rate, meet CCA › student completion drives formula funding› smaller sections taught by f/t instructors

(block scheduling) drives student success

To meet these goals, F/T faculty instructional capacity must increase

Starting Point: c. 2012

Challenge: Limited faculty size (780)› Increased course loads, larger classes› More doctoral committees per faculty member

Challenge: Low point of research ($30 m)› Decline in grant proposals, grant funding› Almost no patent, tech transfer activity

Challenge: Insufficient space (Master Plan)

Strategic Thinking Process

Vision/ Mission is clear: RU/ VH Significant analysis to be done

› Goals/ Objectives/ Metrics› Tactics & Strategies› Organization & Structure› People› Support Structures› Results/ Assessment of Performance

Current estimate of what we need

Expand “bandwidth” for instruction, research Target: > 1200 faculty, > 800 grad assistants

› 900 tenure-eligible active-research faculty › 50 non-tenured research / clinical faculty › 250 lecturers (focused on UG education)

Faculty count not goal - means to ends› Research productivity/ economic development› Degree productivity/ workforce development

Estimated need: 900 active researchers on faculty

625 current tenure-eligible lines› many recruited from Tier 1 universities› heavy instructional load for RU/ VH

assigned 4 - 6 credit hours per semester limited research leave opportunities

› capable of higher productivity, need support

› need increase of $50,000 research activity per line per year to attain RU/VH designation

Estimated need:900 active researchers on faculty

proposed : 260 new (tenure-eligible) lines› ~ 50 senior hires, ~ 200 junior hires › recruited in key ED research areas› integrated with anticipated Medical faculty› to attain RU/VH designation, each must

average $200,000 research activity annually supervise average 3 researchers annually

research faculty (25 - 50 per year total) doctoral students / post-doctoral fellows

Estimated need:275 lecturers on faculty 200 current non-tenure-track lines

› instruction-intensive (9-12 credit hours / term)

› flexibility to meet enrollment needs created 40 new lecturers since 2012

› conversion of part-time instructional budget› focused on high-demand / bottleneck areas

proposed 34 new positions› support retention, completion› funded by student fees

Estimated Need:800 Graduate Assistantships

current: 550 state-funded grad assistants

proposed: 260 new grad assistantships› enhance stipends to be more competitive› focused on doctoral students› focused on research, innovation areas

Estimated Operating Costs

 Year 1

(FY2016)

Year 2 (FY

2017)

Year 3 (FY

2018)

Year 4 (FY

2019)

Year 5 (FY

2020)

Year 6 (FY

2021)

Year 7 (FY

2022)

Year 8 (FY

2023)

Total Cumulative Enhanceme

nt

Faculty Hires: Senior Positions

3 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 48

Faculty Hires: Junior Positions

22 22 28 28 28 28 28 28 212

Faculty Hires: Total Positions

25 25 35 35 35 35 35 35 260

Academic Support Staff Positions

8 8 12 12 12 12 12 12 88

Total Salary for Faculty and Staff Positions

3.525 3.525 6.125 6.125 6.125 6.575 6.9 7.25 46.1

Graduate Student Scholarships

25 25 30 30 37.5 37.5 37.5 37.5 260

Doctoral Instruction/ Graduate Support

$1.1 MIL $1.1 MIL $1.45 MIL$1.45 MIL

$1.75 MIL

$1.75 MIL

$2.75 MIL

$2.75 MIL

$14.1 MIL

Annual Enhancement$4.625

MIL$4.625

MIL$7.575

MIL$7.575

MIL$7.875

MIL$8.325

MIL$9.65 MIL

$10.0 MIL

$60.25 MIL

Cumulative Enhancement

$4.625 MIL

$9.25 MIL

$16.825 MIL

$24.4 MIL

$32.275 MIL

$40.6 MIL

$50.25 MIL

$60.25 MIL

$60.25 MIL

Estimated UNLV Capital Needs

current Master Plan (15 years)› state capital funds: $182 million› campus matching funds : $131 million› build 500, 000 GSF › repurpose 200,000 GSF

UNLV School of Medicine

Proposed UNLV Match: $100 million

One-time expenses (over 10 years)› $61 million for start-up costs for new

faculty› $40 million for other research

infrastructure libraries, laboratories, instrumentation technical support staff current, anticipated institutional funds

indirect cost recovery other savings

IV. What do we need now?

Universities:› Higher productivity of advanced degrees › better supported, more research

productive faculty› greater grant/ contract activity› enhanced community support

Regents/ NSHE:› enhanced state operational support › enhanced capital funds› public support for research & innovation

mission