MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University President Michael T. Benson is embarking on a journey to earn an invitation into the Association of American Universities (AAU).
On MetroNews “Talkline,” Benson said it can take up to 10 years to meet all the requirements to be welcomed into the association. The process will be a top-to-bottom evaluation of the university, culture, and performance that will challenge them to improve their performance.
“Going through the process of trying to be eligible for membership will make us a better institution,” Benson said. “Because it will force us to focus on those key metrics that are all about quality and all about production.”
The AAU is a small group of 71 institutions, with 69 in the United States. But Benson pointed out that the small group of AAU member institutions ends up with a large portion of federal research dollars and typically has highly recognized staff.
“They produce 45 percent of the federally sponsored research and development dollars that are awarded to universities, and they also produce 60 percent of all of the research PhDs.”
Part of the effort means adjusting select salaries across academia. The reorganization from academic transformation and increased enrollment gives Benson the resources to make those salary adjustments to upgrade faculty.
“That includes nearly $5 million for our 2026 fiscal year budget, and why our enrollment is important is we were able to add $1 million because of our increased student enrollment in 2025,” Benson said.
The evaluation process is expansive and in-depth, according to Benson. For example, the University of Southern Florida took ten years to show and prove their worthiness to be an AAU member school.
“The quality of your faculty, the members of the AAU in your faculty, what your graduation rate is, how much sponsored research you do, where your faculty are published, and where they are cited—there is a whole litany of things to be considered.”
While working toward that goal, Benson said continuing to build on the record-setting 85 percent freshman retention rate will be an ongoing priority. The key metric has been on a steady rise since the fall of 2023, when it checked in at 81.4 percent. But, there are lessons to learn as to why that 15 percent left.
“Maybe it was finances, maybe they transferred somewhere else,” Benson said. “That is a number we are going to continue to focus on because it is a key indicator of how well you’re doing in that key freshman year.”