Transcript Slide 1
Using Rankings to Drive Internal Quality Improvements Dr. Kevin Downing City University of Hong Kong & Ms. Mandy Mok QS Asia Presentation Outline 2 1 Dominant Global Ranking Systems 2 What’s Wrong With Rankings? 3 What’s the Use of Rankings? 4 Final Remarks THE-QS World University Rankings International Student 5% International Staff 5% Score calculated based on the proportion of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) faculty that are international. Score calculated based on the proportion of total students that are international. Academic Peer Review 40% Citation/Staff 20% Score based on research performance factored against the size of the research body . Five years of publication data with citations from Scopus. Number of citations is divided by the number of FTE staff to give an indication of the density of research. THE-QS Rankings Academics indicate which field they specialise in and then list up to 30 universities they regard as leaders in this field. Composite score drawn from peer review survey (which is divided into five subject areas). Results compiled based on three years’ worth of responses totaling 6,354 in 2008. Safeguards against individuals voting for their own university strengthened. Rise of Asian universities is least apparent in this ranking. Employer Review 10% Staff/Student 20% Score based simply on the student faculty ratio, the higher the number of faculty per student the higher the score. Full- and part-time numbers for staff and students obtained; FTEs used throughout as far as possible. Score based on responses to employer survey. 2,339 responses in 2008. Recruiter names are sourced through QS databases, media partners and partner schools & universities. Responses are weighted by region to reach a final score. Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities Per Capita Performance 10% Quality of Education 10% Per capita academic performance of an institution. Alumni of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals. Research Output (Nature and Science) 20% Quality of Faculty (A) 20% Staff of an institution winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals. Quality of Faculty (B) 20% Highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories. Shanghai Jiao Tong Rankings Articles published in Nature and Science in the previous year. A weight of 100% is assigned for corresponding author affiliation, 50% for first author affiliation (second author affiliation if the first author affiliation is the same as corresponding author affiliation), 25% for the next author affiliation, and 10% for all other author affiliations. Only publications of article type are considered. Research Output (SSCI and SCI) 20% Total number of articles indexed by Science Citation Index-Expanded and Social Science Citation Index in the previous year. Only publications of article type are considered. What is Wrong with Rankings The THE-QS Example? Peer Review (40%) International Faculty/Student (5% each) Faculty Student Ratio (20%) Employer Review (10%) • Indicator of existing market position of the institution, rather than its particular merits. • Success of the university or its marketing division? • Not a particularly sophisticated indicator of learning and teaching quality. • Indicator of graduate employability and work-readiness rather than academic strength. Competition: McDonald’s or The Rosetta Stone? The McDonaldisation of Higher Education • Higher education is being turned into a commodity, with a menu of ‘fast’ options emerging from the sectorisation of institutions both within their own countries and globally. Sectorisation • Sectorisation of institutions into high end research intensive universities and learning and teaching-based universities. Benefit of THE-QS for ‘Younger’ Institutions • ‘Younger’ institutions with a rapidly developing research base can take advantage of ranking systems to demonstrate their evolvement to governments and funding bodies to reassess their identified (existing) national roles. Competition and the Rosetta Stone • Competition drives improvements and increases the pace of discovery throughout human history. The cost of avoidance of healthy competition is stagnation. What’s the use of rankings? Global Market Demand • International study trends show that world wide demand for education is on the rise. Higher Education is becoming more global and competitive. Global Market Shaping • University rankings shape the global market in higher education as much as (or more than) they describe it. By changing the rankings we alter global competition. Global Market Value • Knowledge is the key driver of international competitiveness. Ranking will raise global awareness of those institutions and universities being ranked. Using Rankings to Improve Institutional Quality Identify Core Focus Areas • Ranking criteria help an institution focus on core areas of practice and encourage an evidence-based approach to quality improvement. Strategic Planning • Data driven decision making based on institutional performance indicators. Strategy can then be aligned with indicators to improve quality. Funding Lobbying • Rankings can be used to lobby government and funding bodies. What’s the use of rankings? Examples from City University of Hong Kong External Benchmarking Use ranking criteria to identify appropriate benchmarks in line with institutional aspirations. Benchmark against ‘best practice’ and learn from peer institutions. College/School Level Departmental Level Annual assessment based on quantitative performance indicators for learning and teaching, research, and knowledge transfer. Establish panel of management and external experts to consider anomalous data or representations from departments. Strategy can then be developed to address issues of accountability and improve quality. Performance Indicators % International Students Average Entry A-Level Score Input Quality Index % Self-financed Students Average Entry English Score % Faculty to Total Academic Staff % Faculty with PhD or Professional Accreditation Staffing and Resources Index Number of Students Per Faculty % International Faculty % Outbound Exchange Students % Graduates with FT Employment (within 6 months of completion) Output Quality Index % Student with Internship Experience Staircase Model Threshold (One star) Input Quality Index Staffing and Resources Index Output Quality Index Towards Excellence (Two star) Excellence (Three star) Example Growth Chart (Department X) Current Performance Input Quality Index Staffing Resources Index Output Quality Index Threshold * (One star) Towards Excellence ** (Two star) Excellence *** (Three star) Transition Delta Average Entry A-Level Score 15.8 0.2 Average Entry English Score 3 0.5 % International Students 18% 2% % Self-financed Students 0% 0% % Faculty (A to I Grade) to Total Academic Staff 62% 18% % International Faculty (FTE) 51% 0% Number of Studends Per Faculty 9 -2 % Faculty with PhD or Professional Accreditation 91% 9% % Outbound Exchange Students 17% 3% % Students with Intership Experience 53% 17% 97.5% 2.5% % Graduates with FT Employment (within 6 months of completion) Example Growth Chart (Department Y) Current Performance Input Quality Index Staffing Resources Index Output Quality Index Threshold * (One star) Towards Excellence ** (Two star) Excellence *** (Three star) Transition Delta Average Entry A-Level Score 13.8 0.2 Average Entry English Score 1.6 0.9 % International Students 3% 7% % Self-financed Students 39% 1% % Faculty (A to I Grade) to Total Academic Staff 30% 10% % International Faculty (FTE) 31% 9% Number of Studends Per Faculty 14 -1 % Faculty with PhD or Professional Accreditation 60% 20% % Outbound Exchange Students 0% 15% 12.5% 17.5% 93% 2% % Students with Intership Experience % Graduates with FT Employment (within 6 months of completion) Final Remarks “ Rankings provide comparative measures of institutions global standing, they can foster healthy competition among the best higher education institutions. ’’ “ Rankings can be effective selfevaluation tools for universities to bring about practical positive strategic change which will benefit both stakeholders and students. “ ’’ Rankings are here to stay, so better make the best use of them. ’’