Statistics show university’s economic research results behind national pace
People pay attention to rankings. Although not always the best indicators of success, they provide a snapshot to compare and contrast sports teams, political issues or even universities. Although we try not to give too much credence to such rankings at the University of Missouri, nevertheless, annual numbers such as the recent national university ranking of Mizzou as No. 85 by U.S. News and World Report are widely read and used by students, John Gardner faculty and alumni.
Broad rankings are usually built from a set John Gardner is vice of real descriptive statistics. Student numbers, president for research graduation rates and alumni giving are among and economic those used by U.S. News. With our deliberate development for the focus on economic development at the university, we also are developing our own ranking system. Not only can we compare ourselves to other universities, but we also track our own achievements from year to year.
As the state’s primary public research university, the university will include the economic
health and well-being of the state of Missouri in these statistics. Host cities for each campus, such as Columbia, also are included, as the community’s economic prosperity should mirror that of its respective campus.
Our rankings also will include specifics on how well we are converting research into results, including the ratio between inputs — like the number of faculty and research grants — and outputs — like publications, books, patents, licenses and new business start-ups.
In compiling these numbers, we have discovered a consistent trend. The University of Missouri compares favorablyto the best universities in the country for faculty productivity when measured in the number of peer-reviewed publications or grants awarded. In terms of competitiveness, the faculty also have an outstanding track record, with a better than a 55 percent success rate among the grants submitted.
Where we have not done as well is further down the pipeline of moving ideas to the marketplace. For all of our world-class faculty, grants and publications, the numbers reveal we are not reaching the national average when it comes to disclosing, patenting or licensing our research into the private sector (see table). We have only just begun putting into place the facilities and support — such as our planned incubator, research park and UM Foundation — for our research to stimulate new business start-ups in Missouri.
Although we will always be aware of our rankings, what is more important is compiling and using the real descriptive statistics contained within these rankings to help improve our economic impact — and your public research university.