Rankings affect UA in many ways

Robert Henry Becker Arizona Daily Wildcat UA Provost Paul Sypherd discusses the various rankings the University of Arizona has received.

However, rankings do not just help national reputation. A high ranking can also lead to improved student recruitment, a higher quality faculty and an increase in grants and research funding, said Sharon Kha, assistant to the University of Arizona president and senior officer for institutional advancement.

"Rankings are another yardstick for parents and students to measure the university," Kha said.

She said high rankings in recent years from a variety of agencies and magazines have led to an improved reputation and increased research funding for the UA.

The National Science Foundation's most recent research rankings list the UA 10th among all public universities. And in terms of academic reputation, U.S. News and World Report ranked the UA 16th among all public universities.

Paul Sypherd, UA provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said the rankings for the university have gone up exponentially since the 1950s.

"I believe the course has been set and we need to keep improving," he said.

Last year, the National Research Council reviewed 29 UA graduate programs. Of the programs ranked, one in three was in the top 25 nationwide in faculty quality, and one in four was in the top 25 in teaching effectiveness.

And according to the rankings, the UA has top-rated undergraduate programs as well. U.S. News and World Report rated the top 25 programs in a variety of disciplines. Some of the departments highly ranked were management information systems at third, nursing at sixth, pharmacy at 10th and the undergraduate business program at 20th.

In light of this, The College Choice report stated, "The University of Arizona is one of the nation's most distinguished universities, public or private, and its stature grows year by year."

David Pingry, management information systems department head, said a high ranking attracts good students and quality faculty because people want to be part of a quality department.

"We would really like to maintain these rankings and keep the quality faculty we have," Pingry said.

Sypherd said ranking improvement has been a long process because once a university settles into a spot, it is hard to move up with the number of universities nationwide.

"It really takes time to get a department to move up, but it doesn't take quite as long to fall," Sypherd said.

Joaquin Ruiz, geosciences department head, said with such fierce competition, UA departments need to be aggressive when recruiting students and faculty.

High ranking graduate and undergraduate geoscience programs have enabled the department to attract excellent students nationwide, Ruiz said. She said the UA is the nation's number one school in terms of graduate school applicants requesting that their graduate record examination (GRE) scores be sent here.

A high ranking also allows the Geosciences Department to attract money.

The National Science Foundation lists the department as the country's fifth best in attracting funding. The funding increase has allowed geosciences to get about half its undergraduates involved directly with on-campus research.

Grants and research funding have increased dramatically since 1983. In that year, the UA received a total of $60.38 million in research funding. In 1995, that total jumped to $231.33 million, giving the university an approximate increase of 383 percent, according to the UA Fact Book.

"These grants directly impact the quality of the educational experience that our undergraduates and graduates are going to have," Sypherd said.

Rankings have become so popular in recent years that filling out various surveys and forms has become a big burden to universities, Kha said. She said the UA is working on a common reporting form so they can limit the amount of time they spend on filling out forms.

Rankings can also be a factor for high school students and their parents when determining what school is best to attend.

"Rankings are an easy way to sum up your feelings about a university," Kha said.

Troy Zien, media arts senior, said that when he was picking schools, he noticed their rankings.

"The ranking was not incredibly important, but it was somewhat of a factor when choosing schools," Zien said. "I think the university considers them (rankings) very important. I think they should. To compete on a national level as a public university, you need to stay on top of the game."

Kha also said the national rankings have an effect on national reputation in terms of the value of a degree.

"For students, the value of your degree can change after you leave the university," Kha said. "Higher rankings can mean higher value for the degree you received."

However, not all students feel rankings are important.

"I never believed a school's reputation would get you a job. It is the individual who does," said Dave Weindl, a graduate student in the UA's Hispanic literature program.

A sample of the University of Arizona's top-20 rankings

1. The Chronicle of Higher Education ranked the UA 10th in its ability to attract National Merit Scholars.

2. Several UA graduate programs are highly ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Analytical chemistry ranked third, geosciences ranked ninth, the tectonics program ranked fourth, sociology ranked 10th and the geohydrology program ranked number one in the nation.

3. The Department of Mathematics received the Hesburgh Award for faculty development to enhance undergraduate teaching, ranking it in the top five in the nation.

4. In the past four years, UA students won a number of national and international scholarships including 12 Goldwaters, four Trumans, one Marshall, one Javits, three Fullbrights and two Rhodes.

5. The UA Honors Programs, with 3,000 students, is one of the 10 largest in the nation.

6. The UA's overall athletic program was ranked seventh in the nation in the 1995-1996 Sears Director's Cup Standings.

7. Five UA physicians were named "The Country's Best Heart Doctors" by Good Housekeeping magazine in 1996.