| 4 | MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGH As a publicly supported institution of higher learning, we take our role to serve the state of Tennessee very seriously, which includes educating undergraduate and graduate students to enter the workforce well educated and skilled. This role also involves conducting research and creative activities that produce knowledge, information, data, technologies, know-how, and other outcomes that are disseminated from MTSU to the whole state to help improve the economy, services, and quality of life for all Tennesseans. The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education releases classifications for more than 4,500 schools every three years. Based on a measure of research activity, doctoral universities like MTSU are assigned a category: R1 (highest research activity), R2 (higher research activity), or R3 (doctoral/professional university). MTSU has just been elevated to R2 status—doctoral university with high research activity—in the newly revised Carnegie Classification, joining a select group of just a few hundred institutions to carry the R1 or R2 designation nationwide. This is an exciting development years in the making and made possible through the research efforts of our faculty, chairs, and deans; staff in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs; Vice Provost for Research David Butler; and partnerships with various vice presidents. It raises the profile of MTSU, for sure. But importantly, it also enhances the value of the University to students who get to work with faculty researchers at MTSU on important inquiries and discoveries. At the center of much of the important research emanating from the campus of MTSU are the centers and institutes profiled in this magazine. We celebrate their collective work and output. True Blue!
Sidney A. McPhee MTSU President
