<p>As usual I invite you to perruse the latest ranking of research universities and focus on some of the indicators that relate to faculty quality such as NAS members, research awards, and individual awards to faculty and then tell me which schools don't match with their PA.</p>
<p>"many"--how many and who? It's like when NPR saysd "many" have such and such opinion and the many is usually the NPR staff and some liberal friends.</p>
<p>I think USNWR should incorporate empirical data on faculty quality --- apparently it's available --- and boost the weight it gives to Faculty Resources in its ranking methodology. It should certainly be weighted more than the subjective PA survey. I don't think PA should be dropped, as I can see momwaiting's argument for perceived quality (prestige) being useful, but it shouldn't weigh more than something that can be quantified such as class sizes and faculty quality, which directly affects quality of education. It would be interesting to me to see how the rankings would be affected if USNWR changed the PA weight from 25 percent to 20 percent and the Faculty Resources weight from 20 percent to 25 percent, with faculty awards and NAS members included as a factor.</p>
<p>PA sucks. Its not just me or Hawkette, its tons of University presidents who say so too (hence the article posted on CC recently about some LAC's not participating in the PA survey).</p>
<p>"Several college presidents suggested that they personally could evaluate only five to 10 schools a far cry from the hundreds on the list. "We know each other through reputation, but that's different than having the kind of intimate knowledge you should have when you are making a ranking," says Robert Weisbuch, president of Drew University in Madison, N.J., who plans to sign the letter. </p>
<p>The intent of the administrator survey is to capture the opinions of those who are experts inside the industry, says Brian Kelly, executive editor of U.S. News. The survey asks them to rank only those schools with which they are familiar. If that number is only five, says Mr. Kelly, "well, gee, maybe you need to know some more about your competitors.""</p>
<p>I have to say I agree with Mr. Kelly. Any college president familiar with only 5 to 10 schools needs to explain what it is he's getting paid for.</p>
<p>Xiggi. The exact quote from Robert Morse is as follows:</p>
<p>"In terms of the peer assessment survey, we...believe the survey has significant value because it allows us to measure the 'intangibles' of a college that we can"t measure through statistical data. Plus, the reputation of a school can help get that all-important first job and plays a key part in which grad school someone will be able to get into. The peer survey is by nature subjective, but the technique of asking industry leaders to rate their competitors is a commonly accepted practice. The results from the peer survey also can act to level the playing field between private and public colleges."</p>
<p>Mr. Morse's comments make perfectly good sense to me.</p>