College rankings and ratings have been in the news, and Gustavus constituencies are following the headlines. The debate going on in the public forum is rich and important. To make matters more interesting, at a time of great institutional robustness and milestone achievements, Gustavus nevertheless recently found itself drawn briefly into ongoing controversy surrounding one popular rankings outlet.
The College was surprised to find itself “unranked” in the 2008 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges guide. This new classification results not from a change in the high quality of a Gustavus education, but from the way it answered a series of questions in the magazine’s survey. These questions concerned the use of test scores in its admission process. Test score submission recently became optional at Gustavus; This year, 81 percent of applicants presented them for consideration.
Choosing a college is one of the most important life decisions many people will ever make. With the consumer in mind, most rankings and ratings outlets seek to capture and contextualize a range of data points of great relevance to young people and their families who are looking for the right school — the best fit at the right price. By those very types of measures, Gustavus remains an excellent choice for students of high promise and aspiration.
“The qualities that make Gustavus distinctive include our talented, well-prepared students; the commitment and high expectations of the faculty and staff; our innovative programs; and the supportive, welcoming environment of the campus,” said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Mary E. Morton. “The hallmark of the Gustavus community is the challenge and support faculty and staff offer our students and we are proud of their success as students and as graduates.”
Gustavus On The Move
The College enjoyed a 24 percent increase in applications for the current academic year and welcomed 670 first-year students and 40 transfer students to campus this fall. This year’s incoming class brought impressive achievements, as is typical at Gustavus. Similar to previous classes, eighty-five percent had completed Advanced Placement courses, average G.P.A. was 3.6, and more than a third hailed from the top 10 percent of their high school class. This year, the college also better balanced its male-to-female ratio. Twelve percent of first-year students come from underrepresented groups, mirroring Minnesota’s overall racial and ethnic demographics. Working to contain costs in a high-inflation industry, Gustavus capped its tuition increase at 6.7 percent this year, below that of many peer schools.
Institutionally, the College is stable and future-focused. In the past year, the LaVonne and Glen Johnson Center for Environmental Innovation was established and its director welcomed to campus. To support excellence throughout the academic program, faculty teaching loads have been reduced. Fundraising is energetic for the new John S. Kendall Center for Engaged Learning, which supports faculty development and faculty-student collaboration.
The College has transitioned to new programs and a new financial model to support growth of study-abroad programs. A new partnership was established with United International College in Zhuhai, China, and connections have been strengthened with higher education in Sweden. Gustavus is developing an innovative leadership development program with both curricular and co-curricular dimensions. Just this month, Gustavus dedicated a new, state-of-the-art football stadium, and plans are proceeding for a new academic building and development of the mall flowing westward from Christ Chapel to the Linnaeus Arboretum.
“Gustavus may have been designated by one magazine as ‘unranked,’” said President Jim Peterson, “but make no mistake: this college is on the move.”
The Board of Trustees has set the foundation for strategic planning, an effort now led by Provost Morton, who began her tenure this summer. Key future directions strongly align with the College’s mission to prepare students for fulfilling lives of leadership and service to society.
Gustavus will continue to enhance its academic program — building on academic strengths for a number of purposes such as the emerging leadership initiative with student affairs, undergraduate research programs, the Kendall Center, and plans for new and renovated academic facilities.
Gustavus is fostering integrated program areas — interdisciplinary centers organized around ideas where it wants to create more energy and focus. Some of these will be current programs that need and deserve more support and others will be new ventures. The focus is on “Education at the Intersections” — the intersections of academic interests and disciplines, of organizational boundaries and relationships.
The College is developing and enhancing positive and productive relationships with the Church and its congregations, and thinking more about the life of faith on campus and how that plays out in an increasingly diverse campus community.
Gustavus has made it a priority to continue globalizing its campus — with long-term goals of more students from abroad, more Gustavus students studying overseas, more faculty here from other countries and cultures, and new emphases in the curriculum as well. This, together with continuing commitments to creating and supporting all forms of diversity across the campus, will also support cultural competency.
Environmental stewardship is crucial at Gustavus, across the campus and beyond. Energy conservation efforts will take an especially prominent position this year. The College is looking seriously at how better to manage its environmental footprint and the influence that this will have on future campus development.
Rankings in Perspective
As Gustavus continues to focus on its own, intentional and mission-centered academic and strategic priorities, the field of ratings and rankings continues to be large and varied — from U.S. News to Washington Monthly, Barron’s, Princeton Review, Fiske, Vanguard, College Prowler and other media. Discussion continues in higher education as to whether and how such media can best help consumers make decisions about college.
Recently, Williams, Vassar, Pomona, Carleton, and Amherst colleges joined a dozen other prestigious schools to announce that they will no longer respond to special requests for data that come from rankings media, other than to provide a standardized form and links to their websites. The schools plan to refrain from use of rankings data in public relations and marketing materials.
The Annapolis Group, a consortium of presidents of 125 national liberal arts colleges including Gustavus, has shared the news that many of its members will no longer complete and return U.S. News’s reputation survey — a questionnaire that accounts for a quarter of the points used in the magazine’s overall ranking formula.
In May, the nonprofit Education Conservancy organized an open letter signed by 64 institutions, criticizing college rankings for what it called “false precision” and for fueling unhealthy “gamesmanship” in higher education. The letter urged schools to resist participation in the rankings and ratings surveys and rankings-based marketing.
Meanwhile, Gustavus is looking ahead to continued positive and supportive partnership with students and families seeking useful and important data to inform college decision-making. It recently joined more than 500 institutions in a new consumer information initiative called the University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN). In a common format, U-CAN will give prospective students and their families concise, web-based information on individual programs. The site is scheduled for launch by late September.
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