University of Memphis president M. David Rudd led the biannual town hall meeting Tuesday afternoon. Both faculty and students asked a variety of questions regarding inclusion, university budgets and transparency of changes.
M. David Rudd, president of the University of Memphis, appeared in a town hall meeting today to discuss both cost reduction for students and Carnegie 1 status for the university as the leadership team’s goals.
The UofM leadership team said they will reallocate certain funds to better fit the needs of students.
“Everyone recognizes we’re here to serve students at the undergraduate and graduate level and to serve our community,†Rudd said. “Our challenges are predominantly financial, so when we look at any challenges the students face at the end of the day those are financial.â€
The leadership team has made several efforts to reduce costs for the UofM students and the UofM, which includes keeping the tuition affordable for students.
“We’ve made a very concerted effort and a strong commitment to holding down costs, and we have held down cost over the last five years,†Rudd said. “Now to remind you, the average tuition increase of the last five years is 1.7 percent, and two years of zero tuition increase and the lowest tuition increase in Tennessee.â€
Rudd said the leadership team’s obligation to the UofM is to be successful by helping students see through their path to graduation.Â
“Success is defined in many levels, but one of the layers of success is we are defined by student retention and completion,†Rudd said. “It doesn’t help our university if our students come here and then leave because they can’t afford to stay. We are going to continue to evolve as an institution in order to meet the challenges of our students and help us move forward as a research institution.â€
Rudd said he and the university aim to achieve Carnegie 1 status within five years. He shared this as well as information about diversity and funding at the Town Hall meeting Tuesday.
Rudd also said the UofM has invested more money over the past several years in research than at any other time in its history.
“We have a serious goal of reaching Carnegie 1 status that is very achievable within five years,†Rudd said. “That requires us to change our structure. It requires us to think about what we do and to recognize if you stay in the same structure for 100 years, you get the same performance.â€
Carnegie 1 status is a classification used by Institutions of Higher Education to indicate which universities in the United States perform extensive research.
Rudd said achieving Carnegie 1 status is important for students because of the value of their degree. With Carnegie 1 status, a degree from the UofM will be very similar value to that of the University of Tennessee Knoxville on a research level.
“The value of the degree is not just quality,†Rudd said. “It’s coupled with a lot of things: visibility, recognition and overall identity of the institution. I would tell you the quality of this education is as good as any in the country. It’s not always understood because our visibility nationally isn’t what some other universities have.â€
Justus Pope, a student at the UofM who attended the meeting, said overall he likes the ideas and strategies the leadership team have planned, with a few exceptions.
“It sounds like when it comes to research, they’ve put a lot of time into what they need to do program-wise,†Pope said. “They didn’t address student retention or specific programs they would have. We didn’t have a direct plan that was brought to us. Beyond that, I think they will definitely reach that status.â€
The leadership team currently aims to reach Carnegie 1 by 2025.
