HSU Administration to Participate in "Beyond Ranking" Conference at Yale
Hardin-Simmons University administration officials weren’t crowing about the recent rise in the University’s U.S. News and World Report rankings. They had already decided to disengage from the ranking system because they do not consider the rankings to be an accurate measure of value for an institution of higher learning. Dr. Craig Turner, President of Hardin-Simmons University had previously noted, “U.S.News does not interview any of our current students or alumni regarding their experiences. No attention is paid to the value-added during the college experience, but the focus is largely on input measures such as entrance scores, high school class rank, etc. Peer evaluations are done by educators from Texas west and north to Washington State, but our accreditation and major relationships are with institutions from Texas east and north to Virginia. West coast institutions are asked to evaluate schools in Texas with whom they have no regular dealings and vice versa.�
Dr. Turner and Leland Harden, vice president of Institutional Advancement, will travel to the August 21 Education Conservancy conference hosted by Yale University to explore more effective ways of communicating a university’s value to a prospective student and family. The forum, “Beyond Ranking: Responding to a Call for Useful Information� will bring together a number of education leaders, technology experts, researchers, and administrators, all committed to exploring how colleges and universities could collaborate to help students and parents compare institutions in educationally meaningful ways.
Many institutions across the nation have become increasingly dissatisfied with the U.S.News ranking criteria. Over 60 universities and colleges have disengaged from the U.S. News and World Report’s rankings. In a news release from the Education Conservancy, a non-profit organization whose stated goal is to work with leaders in higher education to make the college admission system more appropriate for students, families, schools and colleges, Yale’s Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Jeff Brenzel, said, “We know that ranking systems produced by commercial publications can be misleading or irrelevant to the college search process. So we are supporting efforts the Education Conservancy is making to determine whether there are feasible alternatives.�
The conference will begin with an orientation of mutual concerns, descriptions of developing comparative templates, and the Education Conservancy’s findings in their research project, “College Admissions: What are Students Learning.� Attendees will discuss the most important and educationally relevant decision factors (what students want/need to hear), what a web-based system might look, and the pitfalls of such a collaborative enterprise. Lloyd Thacker, director of the Education Conservancy, says, “These steps will prepare us for a second meeting, at which we hope to refine the criteria and determine the technological feasibility, funding requirements, and sponsorship for a national assessment and selection system.�
The agenda is ambitious Thacker admits, “No one questions the many challenges entailed in enlisting the active support and participation of a critical mass of colleges and universities representing the astonishing diversity of American higher education. However, the value to American families and students of a robust and collaborative effort would be extraordinary. We are committed to making the effort to present relevant information in order to restore educational values to the college admissions process.�
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