SUMMER 2016
President’s
INSIDER
FROM THE DESK OF CHRISTOPHER B. HOWARD, D.PHIL., PRESIDENT OF ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY
Robert Morris University received big news in February: The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education reclassified RMU from a master’s university to a doctoral university, based on the number of doctoral degrees that we award each year. The most visible consequence is that U.S. News and World Report, in its flawed but popular college rankings, will now rank RMU among all doctoral institutions nationwide, which includes marquee names such as Stanford, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Penn State, and Harvard. Exciting stuff, and maybe a little scary too. How does RMU stack up against these heavyweights? It’s true that the rankings are something of a beauty contest, heavily based on the opinions of top administrators at other institutions who may not be familiar with our university. But some of the criteria U.S. News considers are important, including graduation and retention rates. We should be judged on those things, and we compare favorably in these areas to many of the institutions in our new category. This new classification puts in sharp relief for RMU a choice every college and university faces. It’s best illustrated by a concept that economists call the production-possibility frontier, which illustrates, along a curve, the trade-offs an economy must make in producing the goods and services it needs. The production-possibility frontier tells you that to produce more of one good, you have to produce less of another — unless you find a way to grow your economy. The trade-off we face in higher education is between opportunity and excellence, and most colleges and universities choose to focus on one or other. Opportunity represents students who come from families or communities with fewer resources. They are more likely to be first-generation college students. They’re smart and work hard, but may not be as academically prepared as some of their peers.
The right institution, though, with strong personal and professional mentoring, can help these students thrive. They will become CEOs and civic leaders. They give back to their communities. Sound like anyone you know? RMU has helped thousands of students like this punch their ticket to the American dream, and we still do. Sometimes they take a circuitous route to college, like Josh Caskey ‘16, this year’s Presidential Transformational Award winner, whom you can read about inside. On the other end of the curve is excellence, which represents the valedictorians, the students who get a perfect (or near-perfect) score on the SAT. Their academic achievements mean they’ll have little trouble qualifying for scholarships. As our reputation has risen, RMU has drawn an increasing share of these students, and you can read inside about a couple of them as well. So, as RMU finds itself living in a fancy new neighborhood, alongside some of the most prestigious universities in the world, how will we define ourselves? Do we want to be an institution of opportunity or excellence? I think we should be the institution that has the audacity to do both. To push that production-possibility curve outward, we have to grow our own economy. We need to make RMU distinctive enough in the higher education marketplace that we attract the right mix of both kinds of students, while working hard to ensure our model of higher education remains financially viable. It won’t be easy. But I’m up for the challenge, and I expect you are as well.
Sincerely,
Christopher B. Howard, D.Phil.
President’s
INSIDER OPPORTUNITY AND EXCELLENCE
JOSHUA CASKEY ‘16
NOBODY WHO KNOWS JOSHUA CASKEY ‘16 WOULD BE SURPRISED THAT HE WAS A DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE UNIVERSITY’S IRAQ/ AFGHANISTAN VETERANS PROJECT, AN ORAL HISTORY DOCUMENTING THE EXPERIENCES OF VETERANS OF AMERICA’S RECENT WARS.
Military history is second nature to Caskey, who at commencement this spring was presented with the university’s highest undergraduate honor, the Presidential Transformational Award. Not only did Caskey major in history — in fact he was chosen by faculty as the top graduating senior in the department — but the married father of four is a retired staff sergeant in the Marine Corps, with a long family tradition of service and sacrifice for their country. Caskey’s grandfather fought in Anzio during World War II, was wounded twice and was awarded the Bronze Star. His parents were Army veterans: Gerald spent 22 years in the service rising to sergeant first class, and Debra was serving as an Army photographer when they met. Their three sons got to see a lot of the world from military bases in Turkey, Germany, and Hawaii before the family settled down in West View.
subjects to share details about their wartime experiences. “It’s important to hear their stories of combat so the people researching these topics in the future know what they went through,” he explains. “I think sometimes Americans don’t realize that we’ve got wars going on. I know they’ve dwindled down, and the casualty numbers have dropped, and sometimes people focus on that. But these are people who are engaged in combat, just like they have been since this country was founded.” Caskey, who will earn a master’s degree in instructional leadership and a teaching certificate at RMU, wants be a social studies teacher and ultimately a school principal. He says he was nervous at first about going to college full time, being considerably older than most of his classmates. But Caskey credits professors who “obviously cared about my success” with giving him the encouragement to come out of his shell and get involved in the history club and other activities, and eventually the veterans project. “Having a president who’s a former veteran, let alone a retired veteran who served in combat, is outstanding. It’s only going o bring in more veterans to a school that’s already known for being veteran-friendly.”
MICAH BROWN ‘16 COULDN’T When the time came, oldest son MAKE IT IN PERSON TO Jeremy enlisted in the Air Force, and COMMENCEMENT TO MICAH BROWN ‘16 Joshua and the youngest, Joseph, COLLECT HER DIPLOMA, joined the Marines. All three served BUT THE BIOLOGY PRE-MED two tours overseas. Joshua was MAJOR AND CHEMISTRY wounded in 2007 during his second tour in Iraq when MINOR HAD A VALID EXCUSE. A STARTING a suicide bomber attacked his compound. Joseph was DEFENDER FOR COLONIALS WOMEN’S killed in 2010 in Afghanistan when his vehicle was LACROSSE, BROWN WAS WITH HER TEAM IN RHODE ISLAND THAT DAY FOR THE struck with an improvised explosive device. NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS. Conducting interviews with more than 20 veterans, including President Howard, Caskey encouraged his
Despite Brown’s best efforts — she was one of two Colonials named to the NEC All-Tournament team
SUMMER 2016
— RMU lost to Wagner in the semifinals. But she still got a chance to wear her cap and gown, after the university held a special commencement ceremony for varsity athletes who had to miss the official ceremonies because of tournament games. Being a student athlete can be “hard to juggle sometimes,” Brown says, “but I feel it keeps me sane. I’m able to get out my stress, and just being around my teammates, they make me laugh constantly, and they’re there to pick me up when I need it.” Brown is the co-founder of the university chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the pre-med honor society, and plans to go to medical school to study dermatology after taking a gap year. Internships she had while at RMU should help. Brown spent a summer at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore working with substance abuse patients; more recently she was an assistant at UPMC researching melanoma in the immunology and dermatology department and co-authored a paper for publication in a medical journal. After the special commencement for athletes, Brown got a hug from Maria Kalevitch, the dean of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science. “Ever since I met her, she has just exuded support and positivity in everything,” Brown says of her favorite professor. “It’s not often you see the dean of a school being so personable and allowing students to just walk in her office and talk if they need to. She’s been there when I was having trouble in classes, and she’s been there to write outstanding recommendations for me that I believe got me my internships.” Kalevitch praises Brown for doubling up on the required one internship for SEMS students. “She really is an amazing student — hardworking and dedicated and extremely proactive. She knew how to manage her time, and that’s a great advantage people have playing sports and combining academics. So she is an example of excellence, both in academics and sports.”
NOLEN KEEYS, A BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING MAJOR, WAS NAMED AN INSTITUTE SCHOLAR BY THE INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE CITIZENSHIP IN WASHINGTON, D.C., IN THE SPRING, A DISTINCTION GIVEN TO ONLY 12 COLLEGE STUDENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. Along with Keeys, this year’s scholars include students from Princeton, the University of Southern California, and the University of Chicago.
NOLEN KEEYS
“This is an extraordinary achievement for Nolen and it speaks highly of RMU. We are breathing rarefied air,” said President Howard. Keeys, who will be a junior in the fall, is the fourth student Howard has sent to the institute; the first was from the University of Oklahoma, where he was vice president for leadership and strategic initiatives, and the next two were from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, where he was president. The institute, which aims to inspire and prepare the nation’s best and brightest African American men to use their talents to serve others, selected Keeys to participate in the institute’s Washington Program. It takes place over two summers and includes internships in the scholar’s field of study, a seminar in constitutional and economic principles, private meetings with government and corporate leaders, and the opportunity to mentor high school students enrolled in the institute’s Youth Scholars Academy. Keeys holds a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon. He is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers and a peer tutor at RMU, and has played intramural basketball and football. He also volunteers at the Veterans Administration hospital near his hometown. “I am ecstatic. I’ve put a lot of hard work into studying, making sure I maintain a high GPA and building a strong résumé. I can now see my career and my future starting to take shape,” says Keeys.
SUMMER 2016
President’s
INSIDER A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD FOR RMU David Majka, Vice President, Planning and Administration
}
America’s 4,400 two-year and four-year colleges widespread; there are only 13 doctoral universities and universities have widely different structures among the 250 degree-granting institutions of and missions. For many years they have relied higher learning in Pennsylvania. upon a classification system devised by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of One immediate change resulting from the Carnegie Teaching that assigns colleges to a category reclassification will be a move for RMU in its so that comparisons can be more easily U.S. News and World Report ranking made among institutions with category, as these follow the Carnegie similar characteristics. Carnegie system. RMU will be switched from classifications are reviewed every the “Regional Universities – North” five years, and any change is a category to the “National major development in the life Universities” category as a result LOCALLY, of an institution. of the reclassification. RMU pays CARNEGIE MELLON careful attention to its rankings UNIVERSITY, In the past 16 years, RMU assigned by U.S. News and other DUQUESNE has attained two Carnegie agencies, since they are imperfect but UNIVERSITY, AND reclassifications due to its rapid still important qualitative assessments THE UNIVERSITY evolution from a college with a of its standing versus other OF PITTSBURGH relatively narrow range of majors institutions of higher education. HOLD THIS to a university with many academic CLASSIFICATION, programs at the bachelor’s, The university’s first appearance WHICH IS NOT master’s and doctoral levels. In in the “National Universities” WIDESPREAD; THERE 2000, RMU was reclassified in the rankings will occur this October, ARE ONLY 13 Carnegie system from a specialty when the 2017 edition of U.S. News DOCTORAL business college to a master’s and World Report’s “Best Colleges” is UNIVERSITIES institution. This February, published. National universities have AMONG THE 250 RMU learned that continued slightly different ranking criteria than DEGREE-GRANTING diversification and growth in its do regional universities, and RMU INSTITUTIONS OF academic programs has resulted is a new entrant in this category, so it HIGHER LEARNING IN in a change from the Carnegie is difficult to predict where it will be PENNSYLVANIA. master’s classification to its ranked. However, RMU’s relative inclusion as one of the nation’s strengths versus other national 335 doctoral universities. universities in graduation rates and other U.S. News ranking criteria The doctoral category includes may help to offset its new arrival America’s most famous and status in this select group. prestigious research universities, as well as many institutions like RMU that are more teachingThe university looks forward to exploring focused. RMU has now joined a rigorous and and learning more about its new environs. Just competitive group of institutions who represent like a change in residence, RMU will have new some of the best qualities that American higher neighbors and a faster crowd in which to run. education has to offer. Locally, Carnegie Mellon We look forward to meeting, competing, University, Duquesne University, and the University and working with them. of Pittsburgh hold this classification, which is not
}
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 6001 UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD, MOON TOWNSHIP, PA 15108-1189 RMU.EDU/CHANGE A LIFE