Kelley climbs in rankings

U.S. News and World Report ranked IU in the second tier of universities for the second consecutive year. The Kelley School of Business ranked ninth among undergraduate business programs, an improvement from last year's 10th position.\nMost information on the college guide was unavailable online, but will be released in the Sept. 10 print version. \nIU officials believe the rankings don't tell a college's entire story.\n"It's sort of a 'Catch-22.' It's nice to be recognized, but we want to make sure students know what they're seeing," said IU Spokeswoman Susan Dillman. "Rankings are just a snapshot and they may not include all information important to a student."\nThe business school's recognition by U.S. News is positive, said Marc J. Dollinger, chair of undergraduate programs. The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School and the University of Michigan topped the list. \nIU tied with New York University and the University of Illinois for ninth place.\n"It's clearly a nice compliment. Most schools don't get ranked," Dollinger said. "We're in excellent company."\nFactors determining the overall strength of business schools include the quality of faculty and students and facilities, Dollinger said.\nThe Kelley School of Business could climb the list, Dollinger said, by continuing to increase the quality of students and increasing faculty incentives, including higher pay. He said the completion of the new Graduate Executive Education Center building might boost future results.\nU.S. News ranked the business schools through surveying officials from many undergraduate programs, Dollinger said. Officials familiar with specific programs rated them on scales from one (marginal) to five (distinguished), according to the magazine's Web site. The Kelley School of Business' average was a 4.1 of five.\n"The numerical ranking hasn't changed at all. We mostly got fours and fives," Dollinger said.\nIn the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, IU "did well" although not among the top 50 universities, Dillman said. Ivy League universities Princeton, Harvard and Yale topped the list.\nAmong the Tier Two list, IU was 11th in the academic reputation category for public universities, Dillman said. \n"If you look at the ranking for academic reputation, IU has done pretty well. We must be doing something right," she said. "We have record enrollment."\nAcademic quality is difficult to judge and reputations are often permanent, Dollinger said. \n"If you're ranked high, you continue to rank high," he said. "Fortunately enough, because of our history, we're always ranked high."\nBill Stephan, interim vice president for public affairs and government relations, said he was reluctant to stake much claim in the rankings.\n"I'm not sure how legitimate the rankings are," Stephan said. "We do take the rankings with a pretty large grain of salt."\nClimbing the list might require several changes, including intensifying admission standards, although such reactions would jeopardize the goals of the university, Dillman said. \n"IU has as part of it's mission to be accessible," she said. "Our admissions standards don't exclude the majority of Indiana residents. There are several things that we could change that would boost us in the rankings, but might produce some pretty undesirable consequences"