Multiple indicators of faculty productivity in research, scholarship, and creative activity all reveal that Michigan Tech faculty are fulfilling the University mission to enhance and expand research. These indicators include research expenditures (discussed under “Financial Resources”), sponsored research projects (basic, applied, and interdisciplinary), the establishment of Research Centers, scholarship and creative activities, and publications and citations.

Research Projects

Our increase in research expenditures (see Table 13)can be attributed to the increasing number of sponsored research projects generated by faculty and research institute staff. The Goal 4 Committee Report [6.2B6] lists a sample of significant projects funded since 1988. Some notable projects include:

• "Community and Ecosystem Dynamics of a Northern Hardwood Forest Exposed to CO₂ and O₃ in a Face System," $2,000,000, funded in 1996 by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, and USDA Forest Service. PI—School of Forestry and Wood Products and Biological Sciences; cooperating institutions are USFS, Brookhaven National Lab, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, University of Minnesota-Duluth, and Mississippi State University.
  
  
• "Experimental and Computational Analysis of Shear-Flow Anomalies for Nearly Monodisperser Polymer Melts Solutions," $286,209, funded in 1993 by the National Science Foundation. PI—Chemical Engineering and Mathematical Sciences; cooperating institutions University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Alabama.
  
  
• "The Arctic Outflow Campaign: A Measurement Study to Characterize the Composition and Photochemistry of Arctic Air Transported Southward During Spring," $100,999, funded in 1995 by the National Science Foundation. PI—Civil and Environmental Engineering; cooperating institutions University of Virginia, Purdue University, Western Michigan University, and York University (Ontario, Canada).
  
  
• "Coupled Physical/Chemical and Biofiltration Technologies to Reduce Air Emissions from Forest Product Industries," $189,053 funded by U.S. Department of Energy. PI—Biological Sciences and Institute of Wood Research.
  
  
• "A Study of a Copper Fuel Additive and a Silicon Carbide Diesel Particulate Trap on Heavy-Duty Diesel Emissions," $175,000, funded by Lubrizol Performance Products Company. PI—Mechanical Engineering/Engineering Mechanics, Chemistry, and Biological Sciences.

Scholarship and Creative Activity

Our Fine Arts faculty develop professionally and display their creativity through national and regional artistic exhibitions, musical activities (as performer, conductor, or composer), or dramatic performances (as director, playwright, or actor). They also contribute significantly to developing the local and campus culture for the arts. Annually, our nine Fine Arts faculty are involved in over 20 such activities, including the Chamber Chorus tour of eastern Europe and a prestigious international workshop on orchestral conducting in the Czech Republic.

Another measure of recognition is national awards. Faculty members in Mechanical Engineering/Engineering Mechanics, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, and Chemical Engineering have recently received NSF Career Awards. A faculty member in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering also is an NSF National Young Investigator. In 1996, a professor in the School of Forestry was the youngest member ever elected to the International Academy of Wood Science.

Publications and Citations

Sponsored research, scholarship, and creative activity frequently lead to results which can be disseminated through publication. Publication is strongly encouraged by the University. The number of such publications is a measure of the vigor of activity at Michigan Tech. The Goal 4 Committee evaluated faculty publication output by comparing Publications from Michigan Technological University, a published list of faculty publications, for 1988–90 and 1994/95 [7.2A]. [ 1 ] Only papers in archival journals and in national/international proceedings were considered for this evaluation (publications in regional meetings or workshops, while evidence of scholarship or creative activity, are not subject to the same level of peer review). Results of this comparison are shown in Table 15, below. Faculty output increased substantially from 1988–90 to 1994/95, by 21% for archival publications and 37% for all publications. Since the number of faculty in each unit varies, and not all faculty publish, absolute numbers of publications must be judged with caution; however, this represents an average of 1.5 annual publication per faculty member in 1994.

TABLE 15. Faculty and Staff Publications by Academic and Research Unit.

It should be noted that research institute staff do not publish regularly, as the institutes have a different mission than academic departments —to engage in applied research and industry-sponsored development projects. In this respect, they supply needed technological expertise for industries and serve, in a different way than do the academic units, the University’s mission as a disseminator of knowledge.

Another way to measure faculty accomplishment in a discipline is to determine how frequently their publications are cited by other scholars. The Goal 4 Committee attempted to determine the frequency with which Michigan Tech faculty publications are cited. This was somewhat problematic. Citations for 1994, requested in the 1995/96 Faculty Vita updates for all faculty, were examined and tabulated (self-citations were excluded). Less than half the faculty responded, and no comparative data was available. Although citations vary nationally among the scientific and technical disciplines, the results suggest that some Michigan Tech faculty are well-known in their professions.

TABLE 16. Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Citations.

Additional information gathered revealed eight faculty who were cited more than 50 times in 1994, which suggests an international reputation, and 20 who were cited 20–49 times in 1994, which suggests that they too are widely known. Citations were also compiled by the College of Sciences and Arts and the School of Forestry and Wood Products in response to a Board of Control request in 1996. Over a three-year period, 80% of the graduate faculty in Sciences and Arts and 100% of the faculty in Forestry and Wood Products were cited in the citation indices related to their profession.

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