A few years ago, the Maryland legislature appointed a panel to assess the way it was funding higher education. As part of its scope, the panel evaluated the funding needs of the state’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), paying particular attention to the research infrastructure needs at Morgan State University, which in 2005 had received the coveted Carnegie designation of “Doctoral Research University” without any additional infusion of state resources. It achieved this designation because it annually awarded the requisite number of doctoral degrees and received sufficient external federal research funding to qualify.
The state’s study found that unlike the University System of Maryland research campuses in College Park and Baltimore city and county, Morgan lacked most of the infrastructure components typically found at campuses with a research university label. Morgan’s faculty has much higher than average teaching loads, and its research laboratory space and equipment were inadequate. The study concluded that an investment in Morgan’s research platform would be required to allow it to adequately compete with research campuses with better developed infrastructures. But while state investment in capital facilities at Morgan has improved, its investment in enhancing Morgan’s research mission has not.