Post by rosa on Feb 7, 2009 8:03:21 GMT -7
I have a degree from UTEP.
Exposing some untruths about UTEP's status
By Robert Grieves / Guest columnist
Posted: 02/07/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
One lesson we learned from the Bush administration, and which they learned from 20th-century Fascism, is that if you tell an untruth often enough and persuasively enough, it is believed to be the truth by those who hear it.
And so it is with UTEP's administration and particularly its president.
In the past many months we have read in this newspaper that UTEP: is a research university; is a major research university; is a major Hispanic research university; is on the verge of or is poised to become a research university, and because of its research, has a chance of becoming a tier-one university.
All of these statements are untruths.
UTEP's president even told the University of Texas Regents that UTEP was on the verge of becoming a research university, and the Times editors followed up by complimenting UTEP on this fact and did not bother to check any relevant facts.
In the United States, the research productivity of universities is calculated by the U.S. National Science Foundation, and is based on separately budgeted research expenditures.
The latest data for Fiscal Year 2007 (the most current), published by the National Science Foundation shows the following research productivity. Research expenditures are in millions of dollars:
1. Johns Hopkins, 1,544.
20. California-Berkeley, 552.
22. Texas A&M, 544.
32. University of Texas at Austin, 447.
105. New Mexico State, 148.
138. New Mexico Tech, 84.
146. University of Houston, 74.
160. Texas Tech, 58.
175. University of Texas at Dallas, 49.
180. UTEP, 40.
199. University of Texas at Arlington, 33.
201. University of Texas at San Antonio, 31
UTEP's research expenditures are almost 40 times less than the No. 1-ranked university. Those universities ranked 1 through 20 nationally are called Major Research Universities and those ranked 20 through 100 are called Research Universities. UTEP must increase its ranking by 80 steps to be called even a Research University.
UTEP is ranked sixth among the public universities in Texas; twice in the last few months, El Paso Times articles have stated that it is ranked fourth.
UTEP must compete with the University of Houston, Texas Tech and the University of Texas at Dallas for tier-one status; and UTEP is well behind in this endeavor.
UTEP is also way behind in terms of doctoral degrees awarded and undergraduate graduation rates. UTEP's research expenditures are one half of tiny New Mexico Tech.
In fact, UTEP is nowhere near being a research university. UTEP is a good city university, serving El Paso County and to a much lesser extent Hudspeth County, Doña Ana County, and Ciudad Juárez.
It has very good undergraduate programs in engineering, business, nursing and the allied health professions (now called the Health Sciences), psychology, chemistry, biology and geology.
UTEP's graduate programs are much, much weaker than the undergraduate programs.
UTEP suffers from very low admission standards, the necessity to teach an enormous number of remedial pre-college courses, and shameful undergraduate graduation rates.
UTEP is obviously a Hispanic university, not by design but produced by the fact that it serves an area with a Hispanic population in the 75-80 percent range.
Only a handful of outstanding Hispanic students come to UTEP from other regions of the country, but many, many excellent high-school graduates leave El Paso to go to other universities such as Texas Tech and the University of Texas at Austin.
Many more outstanding students leave, then come to El Paso.
UTEP needs to diversify its student body; the very good universities in the United States have very diverse student bodies.
UTEP needs to focus on its undergraduate programs, thereby educating students in this region for the national job market. The rhetoric, spin-doctoring, and the untruths about UTEP's research productivity and potential must be stopped, and this newspaper must become responsible for what its journalists report.
Robert B. Grieves is a retired educator and UTEP professor. He has been listed continuously in Who's Who in America for the past 43 years as an engineering and slavic language educator.
I couldn't agree more with Dr. Grieves, and am wondering: what else must UTEP do? Any ideas?
Exposing some untruths about UTEP's status
By Robert Grieves / Guest columnist
Posted: 02/07/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
One lesson we learned from the Bush administration, and which they learned from 20th-century Fascism, is that if you tell an untruth often enough and persuasively enough, it is believed to be the truth by those who hear it.
And so it is with UTEP's administration and particularly its president.
In the past many months we have read in this newspaper that UTEP: is a research university; is a major research university; is a major Hispanic research university; is on the verge of or is poised to become a research university, and because of its research, has a chance of becoming a tier-one university.
All of these statements are untruths.
UTEP's president even told the University of Texas Regents that UTEP was on the verge of becoming a research university, and the Times editors followed up by complimenting UTEP on this fact and did not bother to check any relevant facts.
In the United States, the research productivity of universities is calculated by the U.S. National Science Foundation, and is based on separately budgeted research expenditures.
The latest data for Fiscal Year 2007 (the most current), published by the National Science Foundation shows the following research productivity. Research expenditures are in millions of dollars:
1. Johns Hopkins, 1,544.
20. California-Berkeley, 552.
22. Texas A&M, 544.
32. University of Texas at Austin, 447.
105. New Mexico State, 148.
138. New Mexico Tech, 84.
146. University of Houston, 74.
160. Texas Tech, 58.
175. University of Texas at Dallas, 49.
180. UTEP, 40.
199. University of Texas at Arlington, 33.
201. University of Texas at San Antonio, 31
UTEP's research expenditures are almost 40 times less than the No. 1-ranked university. Those universities ranked 1 through 20 nationally are called Major Research Universities and those ranked 20 through 100 are called Research Universities. UTEP must increase its ranking by 80 steps to be called even a Research University.
UTEP is ranked sixth among the public universities in Texas; twice in the last few months, El Paso Times articles have stated that it is ranked fourth.
UTEP must compete with the University of Houston, Texas Tech and the University of Texas at Dallas for tier-one status; and UTEP is well behind in this endeavor.
UTEP is also way behind in terms of doctoral degrees awarded and undergraduate graduation rates. UTEP's research expenditures are one half of tiny New Mexico Tech.
In fact, UTEP is nowhere near being a research university. UTEP is a good city university, serving El Paso County and to a much lesser extent Hudspeth County, Doña Ana County, and Ciudad Juárez.
It has very good undergraduate programs in engineering, business, nursing and the allied health professions (now called the Health Sciences), psychology, chemistry, biology and geology.
UTEP's graduate programs are much, much weaker than the undergraduate programs.
UTEP suffers from very low admission standards, the necessity to teach an enormous number of remedial pre-college courses, and shameful undergraduate graduation rates.
UTEP is obviously a Hispanic university, not by design but produced by the fact that it serves an area with a Hispanic population in the 75-80 percent range.
Only a handful of outstanding Hispanic students come to UTEP from other regions of the country, but many, many excellent high-school graduates leave El Paso to go to other universities such as Texas Tech and the University of Texas at Austin.
Many more outstanding students leave, then come to El Paso.
UTEP needs to diversify its student body; the very good universities in the United States have very diverse student bodies.
UTEP needs to focus on its undergraduate programs, thereby educating students in this region for the national job market. The rhetoric, spin-doctoring, and the untruths about UTEP's research productivity and potential must be stopped, and this newspaper must become responsible for what its journalists report.
Robert B. Grieves is a retired educator and UTEP professor. He has been listed continuously in Who's Who in America for the past 43 years as an engineering and slavic language educator.
I couldn't agree more with Dr. Grieves, and am wondering: what else must UTEP do? Any ideas?