Approaching the Campus Budget - Part II

University Funding (Investment)

The key to successful research competition is finding and acquiring every possible dollar in support of research. The limit on quality research productivity is rarely the lack of good ideas; it is almost always a lack of resources to support the good ideas already available. University research funding comes from internal allocations of general funds and from the specific support provided by external agencies. As a simple but very important example, about 25% of faculty salaries represent an internal allocation of general funds in support of research. On the Amherst campus, this corresponds to approximately $23 million. This represents an estimate of the effort the faculty spend on all forms of research. If the faculty did not produce research, the university need not make this 25% investment, and in universities with minor research commitments, the percent of faculty time allocated to research is substantially less. This is the core investment in research, for without the faculty commitment to research and creative activity, the campus cannot compete as a national research university.

Faculty salary support is not enough. Research campuses must also mobilize revenue to support laboratories and equipment, graduate research assistants and research staff, library materials and travel support, and the many other staff, services, and materials necessary to the successful completion of high quality, nationally competitive research and creative activity. New faculty require start-up funds, science faculty require laboratory renovations and equipment, humanities faculty require research materials and time in libraries and archives, and fine arts faculty require space and materials. The list is endless.

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