For Sultan, How Dartmouth US News Ranking Matters, And Matters A Lot

[Tugg Speedman]

Like I said we can pretend magazine rankings don't matter and we would be wrong.

(Yes they should not matter but they do so you have to manage the process of getting your ranking and MU is absolutely correct to start doing this. )

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Dartmouth’s Tumble From Top 10 Hampers Brand Rebuilding

Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Dartmouth College’s fall from the Top 10 in a national university ranking is the latest setback for the Ivy League school that’s trying to repair its image after controversies about hazing, drinking and sexual assault.

Dartmouth dropped to 11th place from a tie for 10th in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of top U.S. academic research institutions released yesterday.

“Being ranked in the Top 10 for an academic institution is important to a lot of people, right or wrong, subjective or not,” said Allison Ames, president of Beanstalk, a New York-based branding agency. Ames isn’t affiliated with the school.

Dartmouth, ranked ninth by U.S. News four years ago, has been in the spotlight for more than a year for tales of fraternity hazing and a federal sexual harassment probe. The Hanover, New Hampshire-based college has introduced  initiatives to address a student behavior. It now needs to adjust its message and present a plan for Greek life that’s more appealing to parents of prospective students, marketing and admissions consultants said.

“Parents need to be comfortable that colleges are addressing this,” Ames said.

‘Extreme Behavior’

Philip Hanlon, the college president hired last year, called for a halt to sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and “extreme behavior” in a speech in April. He formed a steering committee of students, faculty, staff and alumni to make suggestions for how to curb harmful behavior and has stiffened punishments for students found responsible for assaults.

“He’s not afraid to engage the whole campus in a discussion of behavior that the campus is embarrassed about,” said John Isaacson, a Dartmouth alumnus whose company, Isaacson Miller, was hired to conduct the college’s last two presidential searches. “He has the nerve and the support to do that.”

Dartmouth is focused on teaching and providing research opportunities “and not on any particular rankings,” Diana Lawrence, a spokeswoman, said in response to the U.S. News & World Report story. “Rankings change, but our commitment will not.”

The school held a five-day summit in July on sexual assault where hundreds of college officials and student activists gathered to discuss prevention, education and responses. It also started a program, called the Dartmouth Bystander Initiative, to educate students about intervening in situations where others may be in danger of being assaulted.

Brand Rebuilding

“The brand has been damaged but not destroyed,” said Steven Roy Goodman, an admissions strategist at Top Colleges, an education consultant based in Washington. “It’s not that different from a football or basketball team rebuilding after a down year.”

Dartmouth has been more aggressively recruiting, going to more high schools and making more frequent visits, Goodman said. He said the key is to continue reaching out to potential applicants.

“At the end of the day, it’s just talking to one prospective freshman at a time,” he said.

Dartmouth’s drop to 11th in the U.S. News ranking was the result of “small changes in the ranking factors,” such as its reputation score falling to 4.2 from 4.3 a year earlier, Bob Morse, chief strategist for the online magazine, said in a statement.

“I do think it’s a blow and they’re taking it seriously,” said Lisa Bleich, president of College Bound Mentor based in Westfield, New Jersey. She said Dartmouth will be “trying to do everything they can to bring themselves up.”

Potential Applicants

Bleich, author of “Surviving the College Application Process,” said parents have told her they don’t want their daughters to apply to Dartmouth while another young woman starting her sophomore year said she is happy at the school.

Dartmouth’s initiatives to improve campus life came amid a 14 percent applications decline for the Class of 2018, the biggest drop in 21 years. The decline isn’t reflected in the current rankings for U.S. News.
Lawrence, the college spokeswoman, said a survey of students who didn’t apply found that “Greek life” was one of five factors cited as a turnoff after “fear of rejection,” cost, fit, and location.

‘Animal House’

While headlines about campus violence can have a serious impact on a school’s reputation, Dartmouth’s may be forever tinged by the 1978 movie “Animal House,” said Alex Usher, Higher Education Strategy Associates in Toronto, an educational consulting firm. The comedy based on the drunken follies of Dartmouth’s Alpha Delta fraternity will always be associated with the school, he said.

“Things like that are always going to matter to the type of students you get than a slip in the rankings,” he said. “I’m sure they’d drop that if they could.”

For now, the challenge for Dartmouth will be presenting a cohesive message that focuses on the school’s strengths, rather than its weaknesses, said Deborah Maue, senior strategist at mStoner Inc., a Chicago-based communications company that specializes in higher education brand strategy.

“Get the conversation away from whatever the crisis is,” she said.

[GGGG]

They don't matter on a substantive basis.  I'm sure Dartmouth is really hurting.

[Tugg Speedman]

They don't matter on a substantive basis.  I'm sure Dartmouth is really hurting.

They think it matter and they think falling out of the top 10 hurts.

[GGGG]

My heart goes out to them.  Their poor students are going to be standing in bread lines now.

[reinko]

They think it matter and they think falling out of the top 10 hurts.

Maybe I missed it, but where in your article does it say Dartmouth cares about falling out of the top 10?  One journalist, and one consultant said it mattered.

[Tugg Speedman]

Dartmouth would never admit this.  They will act like Brie eating, in pipe-smoking academics over this subject (Think: Sultan).  So they got others to say it for them.

Restated, you actually think with the administration of Dartmouth that they don't care they are no longer a top 10 institution?  Of course they do.

[reinko]

Dartmouth would never admit this.  They will act like Brie eating, in pipe-smoking academics over this subject (Think: Sultan).  So they got others to say it for them.

Restated, you actually think with the administration of Dartmouth that they don't care they are no longer a top 10 institution?  Of course they do.

Prove it.

[mu03eng]

Dartmouth would never admit this.  They will act like Brie eating, in pipe-smoking academics over this subject (Think: Sultan).  So they got others to say it for them.

Restated, you actually think with the administration of Dartmouth that they don't care they are no longer a top 10 institution?  Of course they do.

Interesting argument....I have no evidence to support my argument but it is so clear to me that all who disagree must be wrong....why?  Because it must be so it supports my argument.