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USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> US News Is Wrong
Post Info TOPIC: US News Is Wrong
Baghdad Bob

Date:
US News Is Wrong
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It appears from the comments I have heard and read in the last few days that many Hattiesburg residents and USM friends are concerned about the quality of our university after it was reclassified from a 3rd tier university to a 4th tier university by US News and World Reports.  Such concern is unnecessary.  The reclassification simply demonstrates that the US News definition of quality is not appropriate for the strategic direction of Southern Miss.


Under President Thames leadership, Southern Miss is pursuing a growth strategy rather than a traditional quality strategy.  Consistent with this strategy, the key internal metrics at USM are growth measures rather than quality measures.  For example, both our Carnegie status and our SREB status depend on the number and diversity of Ph.D.s awarded rather than on traditional quality indicators such as students' standardized test scores or faculty publication records.  Similarly, our goal to enroll 20,000 students by 2007 is a growth goal rather than a quality goal.  One negative consequence of this aggressive growth goal is that the university is likely to perform less well on several of the US News quality indicators such as student selectivity, undergraduate graduation rates, and spending per student.


The important point is that the perceived decline in the quality of Southern Miss is an artifact of a mismatch between our strategy and the quality indicators used by US News.  Thus, while we may have seen some decline on US News quality indicators we also have seen improvement on other indicators such as total enrollment, capacity utilization, and cost per student.  If people were to adopt these different outcome metrics that are more consistent with our growth strategy, then USM would appear to perform significantly better.



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truth4usm/AH

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quote:
Originally posted by: Baghdad Bob
"... If people were to adopt these different outcome metrics that are more consistent with our growth strategy, then USM would appear to perform significantly better."

And if this "strategy" continues, USM will cease to be a university in the truest definition of the word, and will become a diploma mill, cranking out the degrees without providing anything resembling an education.


Will they create a new "5th tier" designation for USM?  I shudder to think of the possibility.



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punch line

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Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Baghdad Bob
"The reclassification simply demonstrates that the US News definition of quality is not appropriate for the strategic direction of Southern Miss . . .  the perceived decline in the quality of Southern Miss is an artifact of a mismatch between our strategy and the quality indicators used by US News. 
Surely you jest, Baghead Bob. If USM buys into what you say, heaven forbid, its next catchy slogan would be: "USM: The Rodney Dangerfield of American Universities." ("Nobody respects me.")

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Patti

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What is BB on, and can I get some.

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Emma

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Really, considering what a whirl' crass job SFT has done for this university - I am amazed that the Carnegie people aren't falling all over themselves to change their system to fit His needs. He is the center of his universe after all. At the University of Shelby's Mismanagement, he doesn't have to take responsibility for his own actions.

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Emma

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And those silly USNWR people - how dare they not fit their system to the one He desires. Who cares about issues such as intellectual integrity, academic matters, and faculty concerns - doesn't USNWR knew that it's all about economic development? They must change their system to suit His USM.

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Pop-up

Date:
Permalink Closed


quote:




Originally posted by: Baghdad Bob
Under President Thames leadership, Southern Miss is pursuing a growth strategy . . . . . . .  Consistent with this strategy, the key internal metrics at USM are growth measures . . . . . .


If growth is what USM wants it is sure going about it the hard way. The easiest and fastest way to achieve growth is simply to drop the foreign language requirement from all degree programs. Certain students would beat a path to our door if they heard that. If we could drop the math requirement and still get past the SACS review, the admissions office would be flooded with applications.


However . . . regardless of what you read on those pop-up ads and in your spam mail, size doesn't count. The best thing to do is to build a better mousetrap - i.e., emphasize quality rather than quantity. 


 


 



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foot soldier

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quote:
Originally posted by: Emma
"At the University of Shelby's Mismanagement, he doesn't have to take responsibility for his own actions. "


Mr. Wonderful, I nominate this. Too bad T-SHIRTS isn't around to put this version of "USM" on a shirt. I bet she could do some serious economic development with it.

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Mr. Wonderful's Night Shift Team

Date:
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: foot soldier
" Mr. Wonderful, I nominate this. Too bad T-SHIRTS isn't around to put this version of "USM" on a shirt. I bet she could do some serious economic development with it."
Nomination noted. 

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Googler

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quote:
Originally posted by: truth4usm/AH
" And if this "strategy" continues, USM will cease to be a university in the truest definition of the word, and will become a diploma mill, cranking out the degrees without providing anything resembling an education. . . ."
I don't think Southern Miss will make it to diploma mill status. With open admissions and all of the resulting 099 students, Southern Miss will be bolstering its headcount (it's all about the bragging rights, correct?) and collecting tuition (or financial aid) from students who should have been directed elsewhere but are here, and who will not make it. It's all about the revenue, don't forget that.   

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Outside Observer

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To borrow from Groucho Marx...


"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."



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Interpreter for BB

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Permalink Closed

Thanks all.  Baghdad Bob thought that this would make a perfectly fine satirical letter to the editors of the local newspapers.  BB's publication desk suggested that a sample of the satire should perhaps be test run on the AAUP website first.  You helped to prove the point.



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punch line

Date:
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quote:
Originally posted by: Interpreter for BB
"BB's publication desk suggested that a sample of the satire should perhaps be test run on the AAUP website first.  You helped to prove the point."

Originally posted by: punch line: Surely you jest, Baghead Bob. If USM buys into what you say, heaven forbid, its next catchy slogan would be: "USM: The Rodney Dangerfield of American Universities." ("Nobody respects me.")


Interpreter, so what's the final line? Submit or not submit?



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deju vu

Date:
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: Baghdad Bob
 "the US News definition of quality is not appropriate for the strategic direction of Southern Miss."

Baghdad Bob,


The reason I initially thought there was at least a chance your posting might be serious is because I once called a high-level USM administrator's attention to our department's unbelievably low position in another study. The response I received was not very far removed from what you posted - only the language was a little different. Dead serious, without a smile on his face. That administrator's response told me a lot about what USM was facing as an institution. Your clever posting put me into a deju vu state of mind.



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I for BB

Date:
Permalink Closed

quote:
Originally posted by: punch line
" Originally posted by: punch line: Surely you jest, Baghead Bob (!). If USM buys into what you say, heaven forbid, its next catchy slogan would be: "USM: The Rodney Dangerfield of American Universities." ("Nobody respects me.") Interpreter, so what's the final line? Submit or not submit?"

Alas, I think the publication desk determined that the website was a better home for it than the HA but d..., it would have been fun!


 



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