A top-tier university?Byline: The Register-Guard The University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. is the state's leading institution of higher education. It considers itself comparable to the best public universities in the country. Two decades of disinvestment Disinvestment 1. The action of an organization or government selling or liquidating an asset or subsidiary. Also known as "divestiture". 2. A reduction in capital expenditure, or the decision of a company not to replenish depleted capital goods. Notes: 1. , however, have left the UO straining to retain first-tier status. The Legislature shows a disturbing willingness to allow the slippage to continue. In a series of editorials over the next few weeks The Register-Guard will document evidence of decline at the UO, Oregon's six other universities and the state's 17 community colleges. The decline threatens not just campuses and their communities, but the entire state. A strong system of higher education is the underpinning of a vibrant economy and a healthy society. The Legislature's grasp of this connection is weak. The House and Senate co-chairmen of the Joint Ways and Means WAYS AND MEANS. In legislative assemblies there is usually appointed a committee whose duties are to inquire into, and propose to the house, the ways and means to be adopted to raise funds for the use of the government. This body is called the committee of ways and means. Committee have put forth a budget that scales back increases for higher education that Gov. Ted Kulongoski included in his budget proposal. The fact that colleges and universities continue to attract students despite steeply declining state support appears to have persuaded lawmakers than an investment in higher education can be put off until later. But even from Salem, the cracks in the foundation should be visible. Since 1969 the UO has been a member of the elite Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. , whose 62 members receive 58 percent of all federal research funds. The UO is justifiably proud of its membership in this invitation-only group, and Oregon should take it as evidence that it is home to a top-caliber research university. Only one other school in the Northwest, the University of Washington, belongs. Yet among the association's 34 members that are public institutions, the UO ranks second to last in expenditures per full-time student Full-Time Student A status that is important for determining dependency exemptions. An individual enrolled in a post-secondary institution may be eligible for certain tax breaks. Notes: The full-time status is based on what the individual's school considers full time. . The UO is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as having a "high" level of research. All 33 other public universities in the AAU AAU abbr. Amateur Athletic Union are classified as having "very high" levels of research, the top category. The Oregon University System The Oregon University System (OUS) consists of seven public, four-year universities in the State of Oregon administered by the Chancellor of the OUS, who serves at the will and pleasure of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. regards eight other public universities as the UO's peers for comparative purposes. All are AAU members: the universities of Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina (Chapel Hill), Virginia, Washington and the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). at Santa Barbara. All of the UO's supposed peers are rated as having "very high" levels of research. And as the accompanying table shows, all have higher per-student expenditures. The OUS defends these comparisons as "aspirational." Aspiring to be among such peers is admirable if the ambition has a chance of being realized. Otherwise, it's a fantasy - and in terms of per-student expenditures, the UO should be more realistically comparing itself to such institutions as the University of Nebraska (Lincoln) and Iowa State University Academics ISU is best known for its degree programs in science, engineering, and agriculture. ISU is also home of the world's first electronic digital computing device, the Atanasoff–Berry Computer. . Those are good universities, but they're not great, and they're not members of the AAU. The Legislature will have to decide whether Oregon's leading university belongs among the nation's best, or should accept a place in a lesser league. Similar decisions will determine the status of Oregon's other universities, and its community colleges. Oregon can't continue to expect first-rate results on a second-rate budget. |
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