For the third-straight year, the U is among America’s best colleges, as decided by U.S. News & World Report.
The magazine ranks schools annually based on a complicated system of peer and statistical data.
With an overall ranking of 117 out of 248 doctorate-granting research universities, Bob Morse, U.S. News’ data research director, said the U is in good standing.
“In terms of our rankings, the U is in the top half of this very competitive category,” Morse said.
In addition to its overall ranking, the U’s undergraduate engineering program was rated as 67th-best in the country, something that College of Engineering Dean Gerald Stringfellow has mixed feelings about.
“I’m simultaneously disappointed that we weren’t ranked higher, but I’m delighted we’re in such good company,” he said.
Despite the program’s drop from 59th in 2001 to 67th this year, Stringfellow thinks the numbers are misleading.
“I actually think we’re better than 67…in the amount of research we do, we’re somewhere in the 30s,” he said.
But, Stringfellow said, there’s a lot to be proud of.
“This is a qualitative indication that our quality is strong…what this does for people in surrounding states is let them know there’s a quality program near them that’s affordable,” he said.
Companies that have been founded by graduates and faculty of the College of Engineering include Pixar, Novell, Atari, WordPerfect and Silicon Graphics.
In addition to the undergraduate engineering program, the publication also placed the U’s service-learning program among the top 20 in the nation, along with such universities as Stanford, Georgetown and Notre Dame.
“I think this validates what we’re doing. This is a national movement and service learning is an important part of higher education,” said Marshall Welch, Bennion Community Service Center director.
Service-learning classes place an emphasis on volunteering in the community as an instructional strategy as part of a student’s required coursework.
Welch asserts that faculty who implement service learning into their curricula should be “rewarded and recognized” for their efforts.
“Service learning is not going away…I think deans and faculty advisers need to seriously look at how service learning fits into the tenure review process,” Welch said.
Welch said the success of the burgeoning service-learning program at the U can be attributed to one thing.
“We have heart and soul. We’re truly committed to the service of civic engagement. Service learning isn’t community service, it’s an academic pedagogy,” he said.