SIUE ranks with old information

Brian Whittle
News Stringer

SIUE's national ranking was based on old data, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Director of Institutional Research and Studies Sally Ferguson said U.S. News sent the survey to a fax number that had been changed a year earlier. Ferguson said her department is responsible for turning in the survey.

According to Ferguson, her department sent U.S. News the correct fax number a year ago.

U.S. News called in July asking why the survey was never filled out.

"I offered to do it and give it immediate priority," Ferguson said. U.S. News never refaxed the survey and used information from previous years or left sections blank.

Using this information, U.S. News ranked SIUE as a third-tier school in the Midwest region. The third-tier ranking is based on a four-tier scale with four being the lowest.

Twenty-five percent of the score was based on the school's academic reputation. SIUE was given a 2.9 out of a 5.0. The reputation was determined by surveying officials of schools in the same category, according to the report. SIUE was listed as a regional university.

Another 20 percent was determined by the school's freshmen retention and graduation rate. SIUE's retention rate was 69 percent and graduation was 32 percent, but those numbers were taken from the previous year's survey.

Faculty resources made up another 20 percent of the score. The faculty resource score comprises the school's class size, faculty pay, professor's degree and the student-faculty ratio. The only figure U.S. News had available for that section was the student-faculty ratio.

The rest of the scores were based on student selectivity, financial resources and alumni-giving. The survey used the previous year's numbers for all of those except the school's acceptance rate, which was not available. The acceptance rate is used to figure the student selectivity.

Greg Conroy, assistant director of public affairs, said he doesn't normally look at the ratings and could not comment on what he thought of SIUE's low ranking.

When asked if she thought the survey not being turned in affected the score, Ferguson said, "You will have to make that assumption yourself."