New Website Showcases U of A’s 2021 Goal: National Recognition as a Top 50 Public Research University

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The University of Arkansas has launched a website aimed at explaining the goal of “Becoming a Top 50 Public Research University.” The site answers questions about what it means to reach this goal, how it can be achieved, and why it’s an important goal for students, faculty, staff and other campus stakeholders.

Chancellor G. David Gearhart announced in 2012 the institution’s intention of becoming recognized as a Top 50 public research university by 2021. Since then, the university set in motion a series of improvements across campus related to reaching that goal.

The new website identifies the ways those improvements have strengthened the U of A’s core academics, research and service to Arkansas and the nation.

The “Becoming a Top 50 Public Research University” website provides information about metrics used in ranking systems, the plans underway to achieve Top 50 status, and the tools to measure progress.

“We are raising the bar to do a better job of helping students graduate, supporting faculty to increase research, and positioning the university to reach higher goals,” said Provost Sharon Gaber. “Our goal of moving higher in the rankings will reflect our ability to carry out fundamentally wise decisions about how to improve education and research at the university."

The university’s public institution rank is now No. 63, according to U.S. News and World Report, one of the two primary rankings that the university will watch. Becoming a Top 50 public research university would place the University of Arkansas among the top 8 percent of the 629 four-year public research institutions in the United States.

“Our goal is to continue to move the University of Arkansas to greater national and international prominence,” Gaber said.

Provost Gaber; Jim Rankin, vice provost for research and economic development; and Kathy Van Laningham, vice provost for planning, met with faculty in December 2013 to discuss what this initiative will mean to academics and research and to explain how the university will measure its progress.

The initiative includes plans to increase graduation and retention rates, increase research funding and scholarship, increase the number of top-ranked graduate programs, and enhance the university’s reputation.

The goals identified on the website to facilitate a rise to the Top 50 rank are drawn from the 2009 Providing Transparency and Accountability to the People of Arkansas Report, updated in 2012, which lists 15 goals to enhance the university in reputation, quality of life, aesthetics and services.

The Top 50 website also provides a way for the university community to provide feedback to the provost’s office about what colleges and departments are doing to facilitate improvements and what support they need to be successful. The university community can access the website via the provost’s home page.