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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2001)
US News rates grad schools ■ US News and World Report’s rankings of graduate programs leave some proud while others are puzzled By Brooke Ross Oregon Daily Emerald U.S. News & World Report re leased its annual rankings of the country’s graduate schools Mon day, and several University gradu ate programs received some of the highest ranks in the nation. The survey separately evaluated graduate programs in business, ed ucation, engineering, law and medicine. Based on experts’ opin ions and statistical data, 1,000 pro grams were evaluated and 50 schools were chosen for the top tier of each category. Four University graduate pro grams made it to the top tier. Spe cial education was the third high est in the nation for the second consecutive year. The education program ranked 11th, an improve ment from last year’s 20th-place finish. The cognitive psychology program placed 18th, while the psychology doctorate program re ceived a rank of 45. While several University faculty members are excited about the news, some questioned the merit of the ranking system. “It’s just astounding,” said Mar tin Kaufman, dean of the college of education. “There’s no question that it gives one great pride to be surrounded with a faculty of such excellence and students of such quality.” Kaufman said the education graduate program benefited from 125 grants last year, which is like ly one reason for this year’s higher rank. He said the money from these grants allowed both faculty and students to extend their re search and involvement in com munity education programs. “It’s the importance and impact of this research work that brings visibility,” he said. Kaufman said students have the opportunity to participate in pro grams that involve teaching chil dren how to read, or they can do research to examine and find solu tions for school violence. He said these interactive opportunities have made the program more pop ular, with the number of students tripling in the last 10 years. Michael Benz, area coordinator for the special education graduate program, said both the quality of research and teaching also earned the special education program its high rank. “We have a very strong faculty in special education that’s heavily involved in cutting-edge research,” Benz said. He said students may be drawn to the program because they can do research in a variety of areas in volving people with disabilities, including violence prevention, lit eracy, and how to make school transitions easier. “Our students leave here with teaching licenses and four or five job offers,” Benz said. The special education graduate program has ranked in the top five for several years, which he said is because of the continued research opportunities students have and the quality of the program’s facul ty. “We have a very long, distin guished history both in our teach ing and research,” Benz said. “It’s just an example of the kind of ex cellence we’ve had here.” However, not everyone is happy with the rankings. The University law school ranked in the second tier, below the 50th rank, and James O’Fallon, associate dean for academic affairs, said the rankings do not make sense. “I don’t think they should be do ing these rankings,” he said. “Peo ple should not choose where to go to school based on a crude, manip ulated set of numbers.” O’Fallon said this year’s law school ranking is similar to last year’s, but there are nearly 200 law schools in the country, so no one person can determine a school’s overall quality. For ex ample, he said criteria such as reputation and the salaries of for mer students are considered, both of which can be influenced by outside circumstances that have nothing to do with the quality of the school. “Even the U.S. News & World Report acknowledges there are dif ficulties in ranking, but it’s a pure moneymaker for them,” he said. ELF continued from page 1 charges resulting from the alleged pos session of destructive devices after a June 2000 fire at Romania Chevrolet. Luers, who had his trial post poned after his attorney, Ken Mor row, died unexpectedly last No vember, is scheduled to go on trial today in Lane County Court. Marshall pleaded guilty last No vember to conspiracy to commit arson and possession of a destructive device in connection with the June fire. 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