Dartblog

We’ve looked at the QS World University rankings before; they are similar to the Times of London rankings. But let’s examine both of them today in light of the ongoing Trustee-level discussions to change the name of the College to Dartmouth University. IP “All is PR” Folt is pushing this plan — as she has for over a year — to enhance Dartmouth’s global prestige. Her view is that we can’t be a top school unless we have the word university in our name. How about if we test that proposition by looking at the nomenclature of other internationally reputed institutions of higher learning?

Ooops, Carol. It sure looks like a school can be an institute or even, lo and behold, a college, and still make it to the very top, at least as these ratings define it.

Addendum: An alumnus writes in with a comment and a question:

Before dealing with the PR (in truth Folt may be right on a narrow basis), one needs to answer a fundamental question: why does Dartmouth want to be one of the top global universities in the first place, and why do we care about these rankings? Simply for prestige and to satisfy trustee/faculty/student egos? Or are there better things to aspire to, like developing the best-educated, critical-thinking young adults to send off to top university graduate programs and eventual positions of world-wide leadership!?!

There is one other question: would we actually be able to become a top-rank research university? Or, in trying to achieve that goal, would we lose the greatness that we have now as a preminent undergraduate school, and end up as America’s #25 institution.