Drop in the rankings?

smunchkins

I was just wondering what anybody made of this "bombshell" reported this morning:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1001/649378-times-university-rankings/

Very different from the QS ratings from last month.

Mr.Saturn

Oh, how surprising, absolutely no mention on the UCD homepage.

smunchkins

Well it will be either really good or really bad for us.
Good if it properly is the wake up call to get more funding channelled in to the sector : surely the politicians can't argue with such a fall being obviously caused by the austerity measures.
Bad if it means less opportunity for private support and partnership and a reduction in student demand for places. Who wants to go to a college that has slipped so far?

tgdaly

It's no surprise, I just finished my master's this year and in the last four years I've been in UCD the decline in standards is noticeable year on year. Quoting the RTE report

"The rankings measure Universities around the world based on a number of criteria, including reputation among other academics, the amount of times academic papers are cited, the number of PhDs and the staff student ratio."

Firstly reputation. UCD has seen its reputation decline through a number of issues that have been discussed frequently on these boards. Some of the academic papers I've read from various lecturers and tutors I've had throughout the years have discussed nonsense issues. I can't comment on the number of PhD's but I imagine the staff student ratio can't be that good, considering the amount of lectures who are lecturing on topics they should have no business of doing. I guess you can't really blame them though to be fair, I imagine many of them are forced to lecture on these topics even though it is not their area of expertise.

beardedmaster

tgdaly wrote: »

It's no surprise, I just finished my master's this year and in the last four years I've been in UCD the decline in standards is noticeable year on year. Quoting the RTE report

"The rankings measure Universities around the world based on a number of criteria, including reputation among other academics, the amount of times academic papers are cited, the number of PhDs and the staff student ratio."

Firstly reputation. UCD has seen its reputation decline through a number of issues that have been discussed frequently on these boards. Some of the academic papers I've read from various lecturers and tutors I've had throughout the years have discussed nonsense issues. I can't comment on the number of PhD's but I imagine the staff student ratio can't be that good, considering the amount of lectures who are lecturing on topics they should have no business of doing. I guess you can't really blame them though to be fair, I imagine many of them are forced to lecture on these topics even though it is not their area of expertise.

With all of these things, I would imagine the differences being immense from school to school within UCD, which is of course its own issue.

tgdaly

beardedmaster wrote: »

With all of things, I would imagine the differences being immense from school to school within UCD, which is of course its own issue.

That's definitely true

ironclaw

smunchkins wrote: »

Who wants to go to a college that has slipped so far?

Maybe try UK full fee's or perhaps America? There are no other options unless you want to start spending money abroad.

Honestly, do people actually care about these rankings? Besides going for a pHD internationally or wishing to progress your academic careers, no employer honestly cares. If you came from any of the major colleges on the isle like Queens, UCD and Trinity then you are in assuming you are not a total lemon. People seem to think the name of your university gets you the job, it doesn't. Granted for some jobs, its advantageous to have a certain course behind you but at the end of the day, I see these rankings purely as a slow news day / graduation speech topic.

More and more employers are crying out for skills not necessarily learned in a lecture theatre e.g. People skills, extra courses and projects etc

Kiltennel

The rankings measure Universities around the world based on a number of criteria, including reputation among other academics, the amount of times academic papers are cited, the number of PhDs and the staff student ratio.

As a student with no intention of pursuing research or academia as a career my major concern is employment prospects and the university's reputation among employers. I can't speak for all faculties but I know in Quinn and Sutherland many of the world's biggest and most prestigious employers still recruit on campus heavily in UCD. What I'd really be concerned about is the university's reputation amongst employers and not academics.

Raspberry Fileds

Kiltennel wrote: »

As a student with no intention of pursuing research or academia as a career my major concern is employment prospects and the university's reputation among employers. I can't speak for all faculties but I know in Quinn and Sutherland many of the world's biggest and most prestigious employers still recruit on campus heavily in UCD. What I'd really be concerned about is the university's reputation amongst employers and not academics.

High academic reputation attracts higth ability students which in turn attracts prestigious employers. So, they're indirectly linked. However, I agree that the rankings give only a vague indication of undergrad teaching. Prestigious companies that decide to recruit in Ireland will continue to go to the best Irish unis (on the basis that they attract the best undergrads in Ireland), regardless of their positioning in world rankigs.

Mr.Saturn

Did find it a fun lesson in PR, given the level of cushioning that went on with the release of the QS rankings. It went from couched terms of 'UCD holds steady' and 'UCD remains competitive' to relative silence, aside from the tidbit they gave RTE.

Darkest Horse

None of this surprises me. It's been going this way for years. I did a master's degree in UCD and don't mind saying that the grade I got was well above the quality of work I submitted. The government perpetuated the whole mess by offering degrees for everyone to attract foreign investment.