Re: Incoming Freshman Class
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:42 pm
Regarding US News rankings, the opinion surveys count more than anything. It takes more than improving SAT scores to influence these numbers. Academic raters are usually influenced by the amount and quality of faculty research as well as the prestige of a university's faculty.
SMU set out some goals in its Jan 25, 2012 Provost’s Report (no longer on line):
Our Goals--
*U.S. News Top 50
[Not there yet]
*Average SAT 1300
[Made goal in 2013, 2014 & 2015]
*Top 50 Endowment
[Not there]
*25% of Tenured Faculty in
“Endowed Chairs” or Professorships
[“The University also surpassed the goal of having 25 percent of tenured faculty in endowed chairs or professorships, reaching 29.6 percent in fall 2015, a percentage that places SMU among a select group of peer institutions.” https://www.smu.edu/SecondCentury/CampaignPriorities/FacultyAcademicExcellence ]
*Retention 94% or Better; 6 Year Graduation Rate 80% or Better
[Retention 90%: http://www.smu.edu/-/media/Site/ir/commondatasets/2015/CDS_2015-16_Part_B_Enrollment.ashx?la=en Line B22]
[6 year graduation 79%: http://www.smu.edu/-/media/Site/ir/commondatasets/2015/CDS_2015-16_Part_B_Enrollment.ashx?la=en Line B11]
*Acceptance Rate < 50%
[48.95% in 2015]
*50M+ in Research Expenditures
[$32,401,000 in 2014: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/herd/2014/html/HERD2014_DST_19.html ]
*Multiple Grad Programs Ranked in the Top
25 by NRC
[Anybody know?]
*Multiple Faculty in National Academies,
Fellows, Etc.
[“Several faculty members have been elected to prestigious national academies. Those elected to the National Academy of Sciences are David Meltzer, Anthropology (2009); Lewis Binford, Anthropology (2001); and Fred Wendorf, Anthropology (1987). Faculty elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are David Meltzer, Anthropology (2013); Charles Curran, Human Values (2010); David Weber, History (2007); Schubert Ogden, Theology (1985); and Albert Outler, Theology (1966). Delores Etter, Engineering, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. http://blog.smu.edu/yearofthefaculty/files/2014/04/SMUFacultyHighlights.pdf
SMU Lyle School cyber defender Fred Chang named to National Academy of Engineering
https://www.smu.edu/News/2016/fred-chang-09feb2016
Still a long way from a school like Berkeley:
“Even first-year students may find themselves in a classroom with one of Berkeley's 144 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 32 MacArthur fellows, 235 members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, 13 National Medal of Science awardees or four Pulitzer Prize winners.”
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley/ ]
*Faculty, Students Engaged, Locally,
Nationally, and Globally”
[vague, but I'm sure we can say that we meet this one]
SMU set out some goals in its Jan 25, 2012 Provost’s Report (no longer on line):
Our Goals--
*U.S. News Top 50
[Not there yet]
*Average SAT 1300
[Made goal in 2013, 2014 & 2015]
*Top 50 Endowment
[Not there]
*25% of Tenured Faculty in
“Endowed Chairs” or Professorships
[“The University also surpassed the goal of having 25 percent of tenured faculty in endowed chairs or professorships, reaching 29.6 percent in fall 2015, a percentage that places SMU among a select group of peer institutions.” https://www.smu.edu/SecondCentury/CampaignPriorities/FacultyAcademicExcellence ]
*Retention 94% or Better; 6 Year Graduation Rate 80% or Better
[Retention 90%: http://www.smu.edu/-/media/Site/ir/commondatasets/2015/CDS_2015-16_Part_B_Enrollment.ashx?la=en Line B22]
[6 year graduation 79%: http://www.smu.edu/-/media/Site/ir/commondatasets/2015/CDS_2015-16_Part_B_Enrollment.ashx?la=en Line B11]
*Acceptance Rate < 50%
[48.95% in 2015]
*50M+ in Research Expenditures
[$32,401,000 in 2014: https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/herd/2014/html/HERD2014_DST_19.html ]
*Multiple Grad Programs Ranked in the Top
25 by NRC
[Anybody know?]
*Multiple Faculty in National Academies,
Fellows, Etc.
[“Several faculty members have been elected to prestigious national academies. Those elected to the National Academy of Sciences are David Meltzer, Anthropology (2009); Lewis Binford, Anthropology (2001); and Fred Wendorf, Anthropology (1987). Faculty elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are David Meltzer, Anthropology (2013); Charles Curran, Human Values (2010); David Weber, History (2007); Schubert Ogden, Theology (1985); and Albert Outler, Theology (1966). Delores Etter, Engineering, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. http://blog.smu.edu/yearofthefaculty/files/2014/04/SMUFacultyHighlights.pdf
SMU Lyle School cyber defender Fred Chang named to National Academy of Engineering
https://www.smu.edu/News/2016/fred-chang-09feb2016
Still a long way from a school like Berkeley:
“Even first-year students may find themselves in a classroom with one of Berkeley's 144 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 32 MacArthur fellows, 235 members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, 13 National Medal of Science awardees or four Pulitzer Prize winners.”
http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley/ ]
*Faculty, Students Engaged, Locally,
Nationally, and Globally”
[vague, but I'm sure we can say that we meet this one]