Political Science Department Makes Top 10 in New Rankings

In a new national ranking of graduate departments, the UCSB Political Science Department ranked 8th, tied with Princeton University. These rankings were part of the 2005 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, compiled and produced by Academic Analytics, a company owned in part by SUNY, Stony Brook. The Index ranked 7294 doctoral programs in 104 disciplines at 354 universities.

"We've always known that our faculty are working hard and being productive, but it's nice when an independent source helps document that fact for us," said Department Chair John Woolley.

Unlike other academic ranking systems such as those of the National Research Council or US News and World Report, Academic Index rankings are based solely on "faculty productivity" as measured by per capita publications (books and journal aricles), citations, grant monies received, and honors and awards. The survey time frame for the 2005 report was 2001-2005 for books, 2003-2005 for journal articles, 2003-2005 for grants, and 2001-2006 for most honors and awards.

Chair Woolley notes that the faculty was particularly strong in some areas. "Of the top 10, we were 4th in the percent of faculty with books published, 3rd in number of citations per publication, 4th in grant money per faculty member, and 3rd in dollars per grant." Each of these alone represents a noteworthy achievement.

The new ranking system has produced some unexpected results and has therefore created considerable discussion and controversy in the academic community. A full discussion of the Scholarly Productivity Index and its methodology can be found in the January 12, 2007 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, or online to subscribers at http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i19/19a00801.htm.