Evaluating Research Productivity


The Barn, Valley Falls, KS
June 13-15, 2001

2001 marked the fifth year for The Research Mission of Public Universities. Twenty-six university administrators and scientists came from the four-state region of Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. They compared best practices for ranking universities, promoting research, and evaluating faculty in the context of graduate education.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Joan Lorden, Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

She critiqued the evaluation system and rankings published by the National Research Council in 1995. Her keynote address at the Merrill retreat was "Measuring Success: Lessons from the NRC Study of the Research Doctorate."


2001 Retreat Participants 

Keynote Speaker 

  • Joan F. Lorden, Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, University of Alabama at Birmingham 

Iowa State University of Science and Technology 

  • James R. Bloedel, Vice Provost for Research & Advanced Studies 
  • Marit Nilsen-Hamilton, Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology 
  • Rollin C. Richmond, Provost 

Kansas Board of Regents 

  • Kim A. Wilcox, Executive Director 

Kansas State University 

  • James R. Coffman, Provost 
  • James Guikema, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Research 
  • Carol Shanklin, Professor, Institutional Management and Dietetics, and Assistant Dean of the Graduate School 
  • R.W. Trewyn, Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School and President, KSU Research Foundation 

University of Kansas 

  • Robert Barnhill, Vice Chancellor for Research and Public Service and President, KU Center for Research 
  • Don Hagen, Executive Vice Chancellor of the Medical Center 
  • Susan Kemper, Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Gerontology  
  • Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett, Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences  
  • Elias Michaelis, University Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Director, Higuchi Biosciences Center and Center for Neurology & Immunology Research 
  • Mabel Rice, Director, Merrill Center, and University Distinguished Professor, Speech-Language-Hearing 
  • Dick Schiefelbusch, Director Emeritus, Institute for Life Span Studies  
  • David Shulenburger, Provost 
  • Steven F. Warren, Director, Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies and Director, Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities Research Center 
  • K. Michael Welch, Vice Chancellor for Research and Senior Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Studies at the Medical School, and President of the Research Institute 

University of Missouri - Columbia 

  • Jack O. Burns, Vice Provost for Research 
  • Suzanne Ortega, Dean of the Graduate School & Vice Provost for Advanced Studies 
  • Michael Podgursky, Professor of Economics 

University of Nebraska 

  • Thomas H. Rosenquist, Vice Chancellor for Research, Medical Center 

Other Participants 

  • Jon Josserand, Governmental Relations, University of Kansas 
  • Marlin Rein, University Director of Budget & Governmental Relations, University of Kansas 
  • Keith Yehle, Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Pat Roberts