Next Steps
- It is time to roll out the ideas broadly within the Bentley community.
- We have a vision, drawn from AACSB guidance, that we have developed over two years.
- It recognizes two dimensions: (a) research quality, and (b) broader impact.
- Traditionally, we (Bentley) have focused on the first, “research quality.”
- This is a well-recognized dimension and there are well-accepted metrics for this dimension.
- We (Bentley) do not yet have a clear understanding or metrics for the second dimension, “broader impact.”
- With the work we have done over the last two years, now we have
- pointers compiled from prior work
- debate and discussion within the research council over the last two years
- that have resulted in a research statement that shows a clear vision
- a set of curated examples that will continue to grow
- We have realized that the dimensions are sufficiently broad
- In other words, they allow room for operationalization by different departments and individual scholars.
Key Questions for Departments and Scholars
- For the kind of research I do (we do)
- what determines research quality?
- what are the metrics?
- For the kind of research I do (we do)
- what determines the broader impact of research?
- who are my stakeholders beyond academia?
- what is the evidence I can gather and show to demonstrate?
- what are the metrics for demonstrating broader research impact?
Key Steps for the Institution
- How to recognize these dimensions as important and critical in response to AACSB guidance and trajectory
- How to capture this (currently entrepreneurial) activity from scholars on Bentley campus
- How to support and incentivize research at Bentley with greater recognition of broader impact
- How to leverage research outcomes to promote the Bentley brand to stakeholders beyond academia
- How to demonstrate the value of such broader impact to current and future students (key source of revenue)