The University of Houston is on the verge of accessing additional state money that could help catapult the school closer to prestigious Tier 1 status, according to a preliminary report from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Both UH and Texas Tech University have been cleared to access the new National Research University Fund, pending a mandatory review by the state auditor’s office.
UH President Renu Khator said she hopes to use the money – the amount of which still needs to be determined – to recruit faculty, especially those in costly fields like science, technology and engineering.
“We have done a lot, but we have so much more to do,” she said Friday. “I want our city to be nationally and globally competitive. I want our university to be nationally and globally competitive.”
I’m sure that report exists somewhere on the THECB webpage, but if so I can’t find it. In any event, the state auditor will verify the findings then present its own report, and we’ll go from there. Getting to Tier I status will be good for UH, the city, and the state. I wish them the best of luck in the process.
I applaud the idea, but the obsession with Tier 1 is really silly. It’s not an official status of any kind. It’s like getting all worked up to be considered an “Ivy League Caliber School” or any other phrase that is just descriptive without being objectively assessed by an outside group.
There is one official path to status: being invited to join the Association of American Universities, 34 public, 25 private and 2 Canadian elite universities. That’s a lot more meaningful than being, say, in the Ivy League, which is only a sports conference (albeit made up of eight elite universities). The AAU presently has three Texas universities (UT, A&M and Rice), a pathetically small number given the population of the state (compared to nine in California, in particular).