Research-Universities Group Called Texas A&M’s Professor-Tracking Program ‘Ill-Conceived’

Research-Universities Group Called Texas A&M’s Professor-Tracking Program ‘Ill-Conceived’: "

The president of the Association of American Universities warned Texas A&M University officials last fall to resist “ill-conceived calls for ‘reform,’” including those pushed by a conservative think tank supported by Gov. Rick Perry, The Texas Tribune reports. The prestigious association’s president, Robert M. Berdahl, sent the letter after A&M officials created and published a balance sheet that measured how much money professors generated and cost the university. Mr. Berdahl, a former president of the University of Texas at Austin, questioned whether A&M’s approaches remained in line with the mission of the association, a group of 63 top research universities in the United States and Canada. Texas A&M’s flagship campus is classified as a Tier 1 research university, partly on the basis of its membership in the group. The chancellor of the A&M system, Michael D. McKinney, responded in November with a letter that starts, “I find it to be slightly ironic for you to send me a missive about research without first seeking to better understand the efforts and the objectives of the Texas A&M System.”

"