Dear Friends,
As we prepare to close for the holidays, our university has received some really significant news, especially for our students and faculty/staff members engaged in the research enterprise. I cannot contain my enthusiasm.
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education has officially elevated Arkansas State University to: Doctoral Universities: High Research Activity.
Now in the state of Arkansas, there are three officially recognized “Doctoral Universities” with either high, or very high, research activity, including our colleagues at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.
In a letter to our faculty today, I’ve provided more details on the process, and you can read that longer message here.
This change in classification is the result of the Carnegie Foundation’s efforts to revise how it classifies universities. has been working on revisions to its doctoral university category. A key change is a new recognition of something Arkansas State has excelled in over the years: professional doctoral degrees. Our outstanding Ed.D. and nurse practitioner programs, including those achieving the Doctor of Nursing Practice, are now included in our ranking as a part of the “Doctor’s Degree – Professional Practice” category.
Combined with our outstanding level of externally-funded research activity – which has been growing in the past two years – we have now moved forward. Arkansas State currently fits into the “high research activity,” or R2, category based upon our current level of a minimum of $5 million in research the past two years.
To our research faculty/staff members, I want to extend congratulations and a hearty thank you for your work in recent years to set up this new doctoral Carnegie classification. I also want to acknowledge that measuring research and creative activities by counting doctorates and research expenditures is a blunt instrument. Much of the excellent work that you all do is not taken into account – but it is not unnoticed by me. Thank you.
To our current students and our alumni, the value of your degree programs, especially in our research-oriented areas, has received a definite boost.
To our future students, The Arkansas State University is every bit of what we have told you – the right size for your faculty and staff to know your name but big enough to provide you the tools to go wherever your talents can take you.
For those outside the university, what does it mean? Well, for our researchers like Xiuzhen Huang, recently appointed as an Arkansas Research Alliance Fellow, the affirmation of working for a university that not only aspires to, but has achieved, high national recognition. It will open doors for our faculty and students, and is a very important academic achievement that is moving A-State forward. It also impacts our region’s ability to attract business and industry with a Carnegie R2 university calling Jonesboro home.
Our ASU System also benefits, and Dr. Charles L. Welch also extends his appreciation to our campus team, saying, “I am so proud of our faculty and staff who have made this designation possible. We have only begun to scratch the surface of what is possible for our university. Thank you all for your hard work. Arkansas State is a university on the rise.”
I cannot think of a better way to close out our calendar year. Please make plans to join us for an academic celebration of our Carnegie classification at the start of the Spring 2019 semester.
Wolves Up!
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