Carnegie Foundation Validates Strength of Research at Duquesne

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recently advanced Duquesne University’s classification from a doctoral/research institution to a Research University/High Activity, based upon increased scholarly works.

Dr. H.M. “Skip” Kingston, standing, works in a Bayer School laboratory.
Dr. H.M. “Skip” Kingston, standing, works in a Bayer School laboratory.

This classifies Duquesne as one of only nine Catholic universities in the “high” or “very high” research category.

“It’s a very strong indicator that the University is achieving its strategic plan of becoming one of the top-ranked American Catholic universities,” said Dr. Alexandra Gregory, associate provost and associate academic vice president.  “It’s directly a result of the hard work of the faculty and their research.”

Duquesne joins other prestigious Catholic institutions—Boston College, the Catholic University of America, Fordham, Loyola-Chicago, Saint Louis University and the University of Dayton—in the high research category. Only Notre Dame and Georgetown are in the “very high” classification.

Besides achieving this impressive status among Catholic institutions, Duquesne is now:

  • One of 98 universities nationwide in the Research/High Activity category.
  • One of four universities in Pennsylvania to achieve this classification.
  • One of five private Pennsylvania universities in the “high” or “very high” research category.

Duquesne has attracted more than $12 million in external research funding in Fiscal Year 2009-2010, said Dr. Alan W. Seadler, associate academic vice president for research. In Fiscal Year 2009-2010, 123 grants were awarded, including 41 federal grants. In Fiscal Year 2010-2011, 129 grants have been awarded, 46 of them federal grants.

Besides validating the success in meeting strategic goals, he said, the change in classification acknowledges both the funding efforts to bring in more research dollars and the success of Duquesne’s teacher-scholar model.

“It’s an indicator that our emphasis on both strong teaching and strong research is working,” Gregory agreed. “Some universities are strong in teaching, and some are strong in research. Not a lot of them are able to do well in both.”

The 2010 Carnegie Classifications represent 4,633 accredited, degree-granting universities and colleges in the United States. The classifications were previously updated in 2005.