Baylor Ranks Among Nation's Most Productive Research Universities
Baylor University is among the most productive research universities in the nation, according to a new study released by Academic Analytics, a corporation based in Stony Brook, N.Y., that measures faculty scholarly productivity. Baylor also placed in the top 10 among large research universities in Texas, defined as institutions with 15 or more Ph.D. programs across multiple disciplines.
"This indicates that Baylor is really coming into its own as a research institution," said Truell Hyde, vice provost for research at Baylor. "It shows we are moving forward on the research goals of Baylor 2012, the university's 10-year vision."
Academic Analytics' Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index (FSP) is a new quantitative method for ranking doctoral programs at research universities based on a set of statistical algorithms. The index measures the scholarly productivity of faculty based on their publications, citations and financial and honorary awards won. Programs, not individual faculty, are rated and are aggregated to produce quantitative rankings of whole universities. The survey ranked 166 large universities nationwide according to 2005 data.
"We are seeing more faculty reaching out beyond their departmental boundaries, and when that happens, we see an increase in meaningful research and productivity," Hyde said. "It's a focus of an across-the-board interdisciplinary research effort."
Research at Baylor has long been an important part of the academic life of the university. Baylor 2012, the university's 10-year vision, articulates Baylor's development into one of America's leading Christian research universities.
The university has more than 25 research institutes and centers, with many of them leading discovery in emerging areas of science. As a distinguished teaching and research university in the Christian tradition, Baylor also leads the way in other areas of academic research, from literacy and religion studies to oral history and economics.