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PRESIDENT’S REPORT TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
July 22, 2016
Slide 1 – President’s Report to the Board of Trustees ~ Measures of Productivity
Slide 2 – Member of AAU Since 1958
•The Association of American Universities (AAU) represents 62 leading research universities distinguished by the breadth and quality of their research and graduate education programs.
•Membership is very selective, drawing from 2,300+ colleges and universities in US and Canada.
•AAU universities award nearly half of all US doctoral degrees; 55% of those are in science and engineering.
Slide 3 – Ranking of AAU Public Universities
•Slide 3 represents the US News and World Report ranking of overall quality of 34 public universities. Penn State University is tied with the University of Florida at 13 or 14.
•The right side of the slide are the faculty resource rankings, the degree of investment that a university is capable of making in its educational programs and its faculty enterprise. We are in the top 50 in terms of quality for all universities.
Slide 4 – 2016 US News and World Report College Rankings
•This slide shows Penn State’s overall US News rank of 47 plotted against our faculty resource ranking of 102 along with the rankings of the other top 50 ranked US News public and private institutions.
•Our overall rank of 47 shows we are getting the most out of our resources – ranking 102.
•The next four slides illustrate some of the components that comprise the US News faculty resource rank.
Slide 5 – 2015-16 Average Faculty Salary by Rank AAU Publics
•One of the other factors that feeds into the faculty resource rank is faculty compensation. Keep in mind that US News compares us to the privates who have vastly different financial resources than most publics – i.e. large endowments. When we look at faculty compensation in relation to the AAU publics you can see again that we are putting our resources into supporting our faculty- in fact if you remove the California schools keeping in mind their high cost of living, you will see we are near the top – there has been a concerted effort by previous Boards to maintain this level of compensation which is commensurate with the quality of our faculty.
•This measure is one indication of our ability to attract top faculty. In addition, our faculty consistently get poached by other schools. Appropriate salary levels help us retain top faculty.
Slide 6 – Teaching Excellence
•Senior faculty in the classrooms
•Low student/teacher ratio (16:1 at UP; average 15:1 at CC)
•Penn State emphasizes/rewards teaching excellence in the tenure review process
Slide 7 – 2015-16 Student to Faculty Ratio AAU Publics
•As you can see here, University Park ranks toward the top in student faculty ratio when compared with public AAU institutions. This shows that we have put our resources behind providing sufficient faculty counts to meet the needs of our students.
•Student/faculty ratio at the campuses ranges from 10.8 to 1 to 17.7 to 1 with an aggregate of 14.6 to 1.
•Student/faculty ratio for total PSU (excluding Law and Medicine) is 15.4 to 1.
Slide 8 – 2015-16 Class Section Size versus Enrollment
•This graphic shows our percent of classes with fewer than 30 students.
•The schools are ordered by enrollment.
•Compared to others with over 45,000 enrollments, we have the second highest percentage of classes with under 30 students.
Slide 9 – Percentage of Classes with more than 50 Students
•Again, looking at schools with over 45,000 students, we have the smallest percentage of classes with more than 50 students and are tied with Florida for the 2nd highest US News ranking in the group.
•Large student bodies have significantly more classroom experiences that are greater than 50.
•Penn is in the ranks with very fine institutions such as Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Rutgers, Washington, Ohio State, Michigan State, Texas and Texas A&M.
Slide 10 – Average Undergraduate Class Size for 2014-15
•Also from data submitted to the PA Department of Education and reported by the Joint State Government Commission Report, is a comparison of PSU Average Undergraduate Class Size versus the other state related universities and the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools.
•You can see Penn State’s average classes are just slightly larger than Pitt and Temple while our enrollment is significantly higher.
Slide 11 – 2016 Graduation and Retention Rank by US News
•Another US News metric – Penn State faculty are very good at what they do and as a result we retain and graduate our students.
•Based on their assessment of our beginning student cohort, US News consistently predicts a low graduation rate but each year we consistently achieve a very high graduation rate.
•This reflects the high quality of our faculty and their dedication to student success.
Slide 12– Penn State’s Outstanding Faculty
•Laurie Grobman (Berks) named 2014 Outstanding Baccalaureate Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
•Laura Guertin (Brandywine) given 2015 Distinguished Teacher Award by the PA Geographical Society
•Rebecca Strzelec (Altoona) named 2016-17 Penn State Laureate
•Michael De Rosa (Brandywine) honored by American Chemical Society for 50 years of service
•Simon Brooner (Harrisburg) received Kenneth Goldstein Award forLifetime Academic Leadership from the American Folklore Society
Slide 13 – Research Excellence
•6 years of research expenditures of $800+ million
•10 disciplines rank in the top 10 of National Science Foundation Total Science and Engineering Research Expenditures; Penn State ranks 20th overall.
•Penn State University Libraries rank 9th among North American research libraries.
•Ranked in Top 20 Doctoral/Research Institutions for receiving Fulbright Awards.
•Penn State Children’s Hospital has been ranked among the top 50 U.S. hospitals in six specialties.
Slide 14 – Annual Research and Development Expenditures
•While not part of the US News rankings, each year the National Science Foundation collects data on research and development expenditures by higher education institutions.
•This chart compares our annual research and development expenditures against the average of the AAU Public Universities. You can see that the Penn State faculty consistently produces higher levels of research activity than our peers on average.
Slide 15 – Penn State Research Doctorate Programs Ranking within the Top 10 percent of Total Programs in the Field
•This slide shows the National Research Council rankings which shows a range based on a lot of different factors. Here you see Penn State is ranked in the top echelon of research programs.
Slide 16 – Penn State Research Doctorate Programs Ranking within the Top 10 percent of Total Programs in the Field
•The next slide shows the top 10 doctoral faculty research programs by field at Penn State. Those fields are anthropology, chemistry, electrical engineering, kinesiology, meteorology, physics, sociology, mathematics, materials science, geosciences, astronomy, astrophysics, and plant biology.
Slide 17 – Penn State Research Doctorate Programs Ranking within the Top 10 percent of Total Programs in the Field
•In addition to more than 50 percent (29) of our doctoral research programs receiving notable rankings for overall program quality, the NRC study found that 51 percent of all Penn State programs garnered a 5th percentile ranking within the top 10 percent of programs in student support and outcomes, an important measure of student success.
Slide 18 – Metrics on Research Dissemination ~ Penn State Ranks in Top 5 of each Category
•There are particular areas of critical importance to society like energy, and you divide energy research and the energy policy, economics and law, fossil fuels, renewable energy, efficiency and effective use and environmental issues, Penn State University is the only the university in the country that ranks in the top five in all five categories.
Slide 19 – Publications and Citations ~ AAU Publics Years 2011 through 2015
•While not part of the US News ranking factors, this chart illustrates another area where our faculty rank toward the top in productivity.
•Penn State faculty also rank in the upper echelon in terms of publications rates with a substantial number of citations.
Slide 20– Average Weekly Hours by Type of Activity for Full Time Faculty in 2014-15
•A slightly different comparison is available from the PA Joint State Government Commission Report, otherwise known as the Snyder Report.
•Here we see a comparison of PSU Faculty work week data vs. the other state related universities and the state system schools.
•You can see total hours worked are comparable across all the schools as self-reported by faculty. Penn State’s hours are balanced between teaching, research and service.
•PSU has the most student contact hours and our faculty spend the least amount of time on committees as shown in “other university services”
Slide 21 – The Intersection of Teaching and Research ~ Our Land Grant Mission
•Penn State offers undergraduates opportunities to conduct research with world-class researchers in many disciplines.
•Over the last 5 years, nearly 8,000 students completed an undergraduate research course prior to graduation.
•In 2015-16, 610 awards supported 974 undergraduate student research experiences.
•50+ Erickson Discovery Grants ($3,500 each) are awarded each summer.
Slide 22 – Student Engagement in Research
•Faculty incorporate research-based new knowledge into curriculum.
Slide 23 – Research Engagement at Commonwealth Campuses
•Student participation in supervised research with 261 sections in AY 2015-16 with 793 total enrollments.
•Faculty participation in sponsored awards with $62 million as of June 2016.
Slide 24 – Other Commonwealth Campus Ranking Highlights
•US News ranked Penn State’s online iMBA degree and online graduate business programs, administered at Penn State Behrend, as 7th in the nation.
•Penn State Shenango was ranked in “best bang for buck” by Washington Monthly.
•17 Commonwealth Campuses were named “Military Friendly” schools.
•2 campuses, DuBois and Schuylkill, named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, a federal award.
Slide 25 – Summary of Productivity at Penn State
•Faculty doing more with less as indicated by our top 50 US News ranking as compared to our faculty resource ranking.
•Excelling in teaching as reflected in our retention/graduation rates and our actual graduation rates vs. the predicted rates as calculated in the US News rankings.
•Excelling in research as reflected in the results of national rankings and results produced.
•Compensation is commensurate with the quality of faculty.
•Penn State has maintained an excellent student-faculty ratio.
•Penn State faculty spend fewer hours involved in the bureaucracy noted as “Other University Service.”
Slide 26– Looking Ahead. The Strategic Plan and Capital Campaign will promote even higher levels of productivity and excellence
Slide 27– Discussion and Questions