University Business - April 2007 - (Page 37)

FUTURE SHOCK New Rules for Playing the Rankings Game It’s time for institutional leaders to get active in rankings reform. By James Martin and James E. Samels S O THERE WE WERE, STUCK in another endless focus group, listening to faculty colleagues go on and on about how unfair life is. As proof, virtually all institutions have to play the rankings game or they’ll be left out in the cold come fall semester student enrollment and orientation. For too many years, high school seniors have wandered through hapless conversations about their college-bound options with guidance counselors or perhaps a favorite teacher. Having fallen through the inevitable cracks of the guidance network, some parents now engage a college counselor to listen and pull it all together—that is, of course, after perusing the typical panoply of college guides. Nowadays, however, it gets a bit more complex than just picking a favorite ranking guide. Indeed, the problem for rankings these days is that the average American student and parent are far more sophisticated than those of us in the babyboomer generation ever were. After all, it doesn’t take much sophistication to ask whether Billy or Sally will graduate from a college or get accepted into a graduate school. Nor does it take a higher ed insider’s knowledge to inquire about the prospective institution’s career placement and alumni networking resources. Beyond timeless questions like faculty-student ratio, library resources, student amenities, and intercollegiate athletics, our ﬁckle economy compels parents to ask new questions about pricing, ﬁnancial aid discount rates, and return on tuition investment. Dad already gets Kiplinger’s, Money, Washington Monthly, Newsweek, and The London Times. Uncle Bob works The modern world is aware that the U.S. News guide may not be the only authoritative source on colleges. in high-tech and watches the Florida’s Top American Research University and Small Times Nanotech indices, and Virginia, the oldest sister, just ﬁnished ﬁlling out a Princeton Review evaluation form. After years of blissful ignorance, the modern world is aware that the U.S. News & World Report guide may not be the only authoritative source of useful information about learning and living experiences on campus. On a practical level, spiraling tuition pricing, fee escalation, and declining student aid are increasingly squeezing middle-income families. Beyond price hikes, families are now putting second mortgages on primary residences to fund the four-year baccalaureate experience. TODAY’S SEAL OF APPROVAL Prodded by government regulations (Spellings Commission) recommending the disclosure of commonly assessed outcomes rather than garden variety inputs (such as faculty resources, endowment, and net assets), today’s institutions of higher learning are hard pressed to depend on any of the traditional “Good Housekeeping” seals of endorsement— aka traditional ranking guides. Traditional ranking critics have played into the growing popularity of new age alternatives like the “National Survey of Student Engagement”—a new kind of survey that provides data on teaching and learning outcomes for about 1,000 participating colleges. Most recently, the Education Sector report entitled “College Rankings Reformed: The Case for a New Order in Higher Education” called for a more academically responsible and accountable approach to measuring institutional quality. It doesn’t take much common sense to figure out that rankings can no longer rely on the escalating war of peer perceptions and high-end campus amenities. For many of us, the time is right for rankings reform because we finally have the independently verifiable, objective assessment tools to measure milestones on the way to student learning and career success. Under the rules of traditional ranking, rich institutions get richer in perceived value, reputation, and market position. Money still makes the difference. The cruel irony of American higher education is that colleges and universities with the most James Martin is a professor at Mount Ida College (Mass.). James E. Samels is president and CEO of The Education Alliance. Their book is Presidential Transition in Higher Education: Managing Leadership Change (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004). April 2007| 37 www.universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2007

Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Admissions
Independent Outlook
On The Hill
Future Shock
Spellings Lessons
Identity Mangaement
Getting A Bigger Picture
Facility Directors Speak Out
Internet Technology
Working the Web
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - April 2007