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Letter from the |
June 18, 2007
Dear Alumni and Friends of our Department,
It is an old American obsession to rank things, be it cars, restaurants, athletic teams, or universities. Higher education is particularly affected by the ranking bug, as institutions compete for the “top ten” slots announced every year in various college guides, surveys and reports. At the same time, it is almost de rigueur in academic circles to treat these rankings with a slight disdain. The results are dismissed as arbitrary and superficial, and the quantifying methodology used in these surveys is criticized as an inadequate measurement of real program quality. You will hear these arguments especially loudly from lower ranked institutions. If someone is lucky enough to land at the top of the list, the tune is likely to change. In that case, the ranking is all of a sudden celebrated as a genuine indicator of quality, and the methodological criticism is dismissed as nothing but sour grapes from the less competitive.
Interestingly enough, our department is currently in this precise situation. According to a new annual index for ranking doctoral programs reported in a front page story by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the German Program at Penn State has been ranked number one in the country. The Faculty Productivity Index, partly financed by the State University of New York at Stony Brook and produced by Academic Analytics, rates faculty members’ scholarly output at nearly 7,300 doctoral programs around the country. It examines the number of book and journal articles published by each program’s faculty, as well as journal citations, awards, honors, and grants received (more detailed data from the Faculty Productivity Index, including rankings of the top ten programs in 104 disciplines, can be found on-line at http://chronicle.com/stats/productivity/).
My initial reaction when reading the story in the Chronicle was incredulous surprise. We are better than Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford? Wow! Who would have thought? Contrary to the typical winner attitude described above, though, I have maintained a healthy dose of skepticism as to the methodology used in this ranking. It would no doubt be foolish to go around bragging that we are the certified “best German department” in America. Clearly, these rankings (like all other rankings) have to be taken with a big grain of salt. Nevertheless, I think that they are an indicator of the genuine productivity of our faculty. In this sense, the ranking has been useful in informing a nation-wide audience about something we knew already: we are quite a productive bunch of people! You can find information about recent books published by my colleagues at our departmental Web site (http://german.la.psu.edu/newsevents/newbooks.html). The visibility conferred to our department by the number one ranking is certainly welcome. And as our alumni, you can now feel free to mention casually that you graduated from the top-ranked German program in the nation!
As I said in last year’s newsletter, however, faculty research productivity is really only one indicator among many in assessing the quality of a program. Fortunately, we also continue our tradition of providing a nurturing, personalized learning environment for our German and Russian majors. I would like to conclude this letter with quotes from two of our award winning undergraduate students. Whitney Cleland, the recipient of this year’s Simmons Award for an outstanding senior, writes; “Although I am looking forward to graduating from Penn State, I will truly miss the German department, the community it has created, and the many opportunities I have been presented with. Words cannot fully express my gratitude to the department for all the guidance I have received though my studies. The German department and its special faculty will always hold a special place in my heart.” And here are the comments of sophomore Lauren Rhodes, who received this year’s Stanley Townsend Award for academic excellence in German: “I would like to take the time to acknowledge the superior quality of German professors that I have encountered during my first two years at Penn State. Their diligence, commitment, and passion have inspired me to continue learning the language. Further, their enthusiasm has encouraged me to delve into German language and culture beyond the regular classroom requirements. I feel the intimate size and personable nature of the German department at Penn State is one that should be acknowledged and commended.”
When all is said and done, comments like these mean more to me than any kind of ranking.
I wish you all a happy and productive year, and I hope you’ll stay in touch!
Sincerely,
Adrian Wanner
Department Head
