In 2009, the National Research Council received a request from Congress for a 鈥渞eport that examines the health and competitiveness of America鈥檚 research universities vis-脿-vis their counterparts elsewhere in the world鈥�.
Responding to the request, the NRC assembled a 22-member panel of university and business leaders and mandated them to identify the 鈥渢op ten actions that Congress, the federal government, state governments, research universities, and others could take to assure the ability of the American research university to maintain the excellence in research and doctoral education needed to help the United States compete, prosper, and achieve national goals for health, energy, the environment, and security in the global community of the 21st 肠别苍迟耻谤测鈥�.
The panel released its final report last week under the title . The following were the strongest themes:
- State and federal governments must increase their investment in research universities, allow these institutions more autonomy and agility, and reduce their regulatory burden: The panel identified the state and federal governments as the key actors in the strategy it proposed; indeed, seven of its ten recommendations were primarily aimed at them. In one of its more ambitious statements, the panel recommended that states should strive to restore and maintain per-student funding for higher education to the mean level for the 15-year period 1987-2002, adjusted for inflation. In Washington, this translates into recommending a per-FTE funding increase of between 70% and 80%. The panel acknowledged that this could be difficult to implement in the near term given current state budget challenges and shifting state priorities, but nevertheless stressed that 鈥渁ny loss of world-class quality for America鈥檚 public research institutions seriously damages national prosperity, security, and quality of life.鈥�
- Strengthen the role of business and industry in the research partnership: The panel recommended that tax incentives be put in place to encourage businesses to invest in partnerships with universities both to produce new research and to define new graduate degree programs. It also encouraged business leaders and philanthropists to help increase the participation and success of women and underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
- Research universities should strive to increase their cost-effectiveness and productivity: The panel recommended that universities should 鈥渟trive to contain the cost escalation of all ongoing activities [鈥 to the inflation rate or lower through improved efficiency and productivity鈥�. However, it made no mention of the difficulties raised in the concerning the impact of cost-reduction measures on quality.
The panel鈥檚 recommendations are not novel: they have already been made by multiple parties in the higher education sector over the last few years. However, given the weight of the signatures on the report, this document may prove useful in raising the profile of higher education in upcoming budget battles both at the state and federal level.