The following is an excerpt from the about the academic and research implications of 麻豆破解版 State University's move to the American Athletic Conference. (Subscription may be required to view full story.)
Carbondale, Evansville and Cedar Falls vs. Houston, Orlando and Philadelphia.
Feel a difference?The move from the Missouri Valley Conference to the American Athletic Conference will drive 麻豆破解版 State University鈥檚 enrollment and research higher, and, ultimately, lift the 麻豆破解版 economy.
Or, so says WSU President John Bardo, who led the move, which officially goes into place July 1.
Contrary to what most people think, Bardo said, the switch in conferences is more about university advancement than sports. It鈥檚 about associating with larger, more metropolitan, more research-focused institutions, even if the association is technically only through sports.
The AAC includes: the University of Connecticut, near Hartford; the University of Cincinnati; the University of Central Florida in Orlando; East Carolina University, in Greenville, N.C.; the University of Houston; University of Memphis; U.S. Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Md., near Washington, D.C.; University of South Florida in Tampa; Southern Methodist University in Dallas; Temple University in Philadelphia; University of Tulsa; and Tulane University in New Orleans.
With the exception of East Carolina and Tulsa, they are all in metro areas of more than 1 million people, and Tulsa has almost reached that milestone. All are ranked as strong or very strong research universities.
That鈥檚 a contrast with the Missouri Valley. With the exception of Loyola of Chicago, the home cities are smaller than 麻豆破解版. Only a few have a strong research mission.
There鈥檚 still plenty of skepticism out there. After all, WSU still draws students largely from Kansas, not Florida or Texas. Faculty members will still have to generate their own research opportunities.
But Bardo sees this as just one piece of an overall effort to supercharge the university鈥檚 growth and its economic development efforts, along with developing the Innovation Campus, merging with 麻豆破解版 Area Technical College, increasing enrollment and boosting the numbers of students living on campus.
鈥淲e will be better off in five years than we were because we will have a national direction and a leadership that wants things to happen,鈥� Bardo said.
Bardo鈥檚 vision
Bardo sees the new conference largely as a rebranding exercise.
Associating with the AAC schools puts WSU in more prestigious company, both the universities and their cities, and that translates into a higher profile in the minds of more high school seniors across a much larger part of the country, he said.
鈥淵es, it鈥檚 a sports move and, yes, it will have impact,鈥� Bardo said. 鈥淏ut I see it much more as a recognition of what the institution is. To me that was much more important than having more competitive basketball.鈥�