ABOVE: JMU carved out a niche in higher education by plotting a unique path to national distinction.
It is useful to clarify the distinction between the designations of National University and R-2. JMU is already considered a national university in many rankings (Wall Street Journal, Niche, Forbes, etc.). For instance, JMU has traditionally been ranked by U.S. News and World Report among regional universities in the South. With JMUs new R-2 status, we will now be ranked in the National University group by U.S. News and World Report. The Carnegie Classification framework, first published in 1973, is the standard typically used within the study of higher education as its methodology represents and controls for more subtle institutional differences. Criteria for this classification is based on publically available data the university is required to submit annually. Carnegie classification is a major consideration used in ranking universities by a variety of sources.
According to Carnegie, there are currently three Doctoral University categories:
Carnegie categorizes institutions based on their award of research doctoral degrees, professional-practice doctoral degrees and research expenditures during a sample year. In 2018, R-2 required greater than 20 research doctoral degrees and more than $5 million in research expenditures.
Thats what makes JMU different and quite unique in American higher educationweve never lost our focus on those personal relationships or on the importance of the teaching function, even as weve evolved to become a research institution.
President Alger
JMU has embraced several core commitments that have brought it to this point and which must be retained during this R-2 transition:
JMU faculty are deeply committed to the teacher-scholar model that they employ. Not only are they deeply committed to their classwork, but also outside of class. Its what happens in that engagement in the conversations, in their interactivity in the mentorship and advising they provide. We know that this is the case because our students tell us. But they are also serious and accomplished scholars advancing knowledge in every discipline.
Heather Coltman, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, James Madison University
This classification opens up a variety of opportunities for JMU as an institution and for its faculty and students. As a national university, JMU will have new opportunities to:
Maintaining the quintessential JMU student experience as new opportunities for faculty scholarship and institutional impact evolve requires careful attention to balance in faculty workloads and incentives such as educational leaves. To continue to grow our scholarly activities as an R-2 institution, we also need more robust infrastructuresinvestments in Libraries, Research & Scholarship, and Information Technology that enable and support student and faculty research and creative endeavors.
A clear resourcing plan must be developed for the areas of the university that will receive strategic emphasis for growth, andas R-2 status is tied to graduate educationdetermine the extent to which we will focus on further development of existing graduate programs and/or creation of new ones.
Guided by the Academic Affairs Strategic Plan, JMU leaders are taking the following steps:
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Being Seen: Where we go from here - James Madison University
