March 20, 2007
TO:Joan Carson,
Associate Provost
FROM:Senate Research Committee,
Research Center Review Subcommittee
Donald C.Reitzes
David Houchins
SUBJECT:Center for Mature Consumer Studies
The GSU Research Center Review Survey of the Center for Mature Consumer Studies (CMCS) was reviewed as part of the Committee on Programs’ (CAP) review of the Department of Marketing’s self-study. The Center for Mature Consumer Studies was created in 1987and has been housed in the Department of Marketing. Its structure and organization is not clearly described in the GSU Center Review Survey. The Survey reports that the Center has no formal reporting requirements or structure and no advisory board (p. 29). It is unclear how many faculty membersare facilitated with the Center and their home departments. At one point the Survey response is that the CMCS’s Director receives an annual course for his administrative duties and the Survey reports that the Provost’s Office cover one-half of the Associate Director’s annual salary (p.30), but later, after a question about personnel funded through the Center the response was “none” (p. 34).
The relationship between the Center for Mature Consumer Studies and the Gerontology Institute was stated in very general terms and theextent of collaboration between the two units was not made clear, nor were specific projects described. Our independent inquiry revealed that there is little contact and no ongoing collaboration between the Center for Mature Consumer Studies and the Gerontology Institute.
The Center for Mature Consumer Studies’s mission is reported as “Information generation and dissemination for the purpose of enhancing the well-being of older adults in the marketplace” (p. 30). It is followed in the Survey with the disparaging comment that, “CMCS goals are driven by research issues of primary interest to academicians that have potential for publication in top marketing journals, with little concern about the needs of practitioners and policy makers” (p.30).
The Survey identifies the Center’s major constraint as lack of resources, but notes that the Center’s efforts at obtaining external funding for research is not consistent and may interfere with the College’s strategic goal of “doing academic research that has higher potential for publication in top academic journals” (p.30).
CMCS is reported to being encouraged in two sets of activities:
(1) leveraging its name (reputation) by forming joint ventures and satellite units in different parts of the globe; and
(2) outsourcing research activities to CMCS collaborators in other institutions that have the financial resources or can perform various activities more efficiently (p. 31).
The Survey identifies some area/topic for research including: materialism and older consumers; understanding empty nest women; and cross-cultural studies of older adults’ well-being (p.32). However, it is not clear that the Center makes a value-added contribution to the research productivity of its faculty. The Survey notes, “These projects are carried out by Marketing Department faculty either on an individual basis, or in collaboration with researchers from other universities in the USA and several other countries” (p.32). Similarly, “no grants have been sought because the new RCB strategic goals with regard to research are a deterrent to grant seeking for CMCS researchers” (p.33).
The task of the Research Center Review Subcommittee is to evaluate the Center for Mature Consumer Studies regarding accomplishment of the its “goals and objectives and the success in developing research programs. This will in large part be evaluated from extramural support generated for the programs in the center, publication record, and training of students and research associates.” The Director’s responses on the GSU Center Review Survey raise serious questions and concerns about the viability of the Center for Mature Consumer Studies as a research center at GeorgiaStateUniversity. The Center reports no ongoing externally funded grant support, did not provide a list of publication from affiliated faculty that were supported by the Center (in fact a list of affiliated faculty was not presented), and no evidence of supporting the training of students and research associates .
Therefore, it is our recommendation that the Center for Mature Consumer Studies no longer be designated as a GSUResearchCenter.
1