Are university art museums taken for granted?

In light of the controversy stirred up over at Brandeis University, Holland Cotter writes a fantastic piece in today's New York Times that analyzes the integral role that small university art museums play in the larger world of "fabulous" art exhibitions at public institutions.

Cotter points out that though the exhibitions featured at university museums are not as glamorous as the big-budget shows at public museums, they often cover topics that would not be palatable to a general public audience. In doing so, they actually provide an important service to both the academic and artistic worlds.

I agree with Cotter on most of the article, but in my experience, university art museums are not often taken seriously as legitimate venues for important exhibitions, small as they might be. I was always impressed by the shows put on by my alma mater, NYU's Grey Art Gallery, which (true to form) always featured shows on obscure artists and topics. However, I was hard-pressed to find another art history major, let alone a student of another discipline who had been to the Grey. I'm curious to know what your experience has been with university museums? Do they matter? Are they given the credit that is due?