If there is one thing I have learned from assessment it’s that it’s always important to use the right metric. In learning outcomes assessment that means that the thing you choose to measure must be easily measurable and sure to shine a positive light on your program or course.
Likewise, it’s important for both individual and institutional self-esteem to always use the right comparisons to your peers. When I meet an academic peer who has a better publication record than I do, I take comfort in the near certainty that on bike ride I could leave them far behind and gasping for air. On the other hand, among my fellow cyclists, I am the best published.
Occasionally this strategy fails when you encounter someone like this guy (teaches at Harvard and holds a world record for most pull-ups in a minute), but in general it a winning plan. As long as you set the goalposts just right, you too can be above average.
At the institutional level this works too. As long as you define excellence narrowly enough, your university is sure to be highly ranked in something.
You may rank 873rd for medical school admissions, but maybe some obscure website ranked you top 10 in affordable online degrees for veterans. Put it on the landing page.
I got to thinking about this after reading a parody on this subject at Michael Morris’ University Life site.
Best of the parody rankings:
— Oberlin College: Ranked #5 in percentage of philosophy majors who can distinguish between post-modernism, Post Raisin Bran, and the U.S. Postal Service (Foucault Institute Journal)
— DePaul University: Ranked #4 in percentage of deceased alumni who enter the Catholic section of heaven without a forced layover in Purgatory; ranked #6 in percentage of undergraduates whose prayers to God for assistance during final exams are answered directly by a member of the Holy Trinity rather than a low-ranking angel (Vatican Daily)