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Some raters of schools don't make the grade
Times Union via Yellowbrix
November 06, 2009
The most dangerous campus. The biggest party school. The best neighbor award.
These are just some of the national rankings that have been bestowed upon our local colleges and universities. A Princeton Review nod can be a blessing. A Playboy award can be a curse.
Schools are quick to dismiss poor reviews or “party school” titles as mindless schlock that do not capture the true spirit of the campus. Positive ratings are featured prominently on their Web sites and get their own press releases.
Quite often, the scientific nature of such distinctions is questionable. How exactly did Union College earn the number 13 slot on The Princeton Review’s list of party schools ahead of Indiana University but behind the University of Iowa? Needless to say, that did not earn a spot on the news section of the school’s Web site. However, the Schenectady institution’s appearance in the top 100 of a “good neighbors” list was deemed worthy of mention. The Saviors of Our Cities: 2009 Survey of College and University Civic Partnerships, ranked colleges and universities across the country for their economic, social and cultural contributions to the communities surrounding their campuses.
The study was conducted by Evan S. Dobelle of Westfield State College in Westfield, Mass.
Consider this: The College of Saint Rose was recently mentioned as having a perfect score for fire safety in the 2010 edition of The Princeton Review’s Complete Book of Colleges. And yet, it was named No. 25 on the DailyBeast.com’s most dangerous campuses list because of a series of off-campus arsons in 2006. That did not make the school’s Web site.
But, seriously, Saint Rose among the most dangerous campuses?
Purveyors of the Daily Beast, Princeton Review, how do you sleep at night? Where would your esteemed institutions appear on a list of the most useless college rankings?
