One of the earliest signs of spring for a college president is the arrival of the U.S. News survey requesting pages and pages of information for the magazine's next college ranking. The success of U.S. News has led to a swarm of other would-be classifiers of higher education - The Fiske Guide, Barron's Best Buys, Yale's Insider's Guide to the Colleges, to name a few - each requiring a slightly different permutation of "the facts." Taken in total, the rankings demand much of our time.

Whenever I meet with alumni, two questions I commonly hear relate to these rankings: 1) Why must we worry about how Centre College is measured against its competition? 2) When will we know that Centre has clearly established itself as one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges?

Therefore, I thought I would share with you some of the remarks I made to the trustees at a recent meeting of the board of trustees.

First, let me be clear that those of us in higher education did not create these rankings and categories. Our first obligation should be to do those things that add real quality to the life of this institution, regardless of whether those actions do or do not benefit Centre in the rankings.

Having said this - and feeling a little righteous, too - I must tell you that these rankings are taken very, very seriously by nearly everyone: prospective students and parents, high school teachers and counselors, captains of business and industry, and, yes, even alumni. They matter!

American higher education is a competitive business. Whether we like it or not, students and their families "shop." They shop for quality. They shop for financial aid. They shop for academic programs, for placement services, for small classes, and for recognized, outstanding teaching. They shop for "perceived prestige," and some are willing to pay almost anything for it.

Continuing and prospective faculty members do the same sort of thing, though the criteria are a bit different. They want to know about starting salaries and benefits, the institution's record for faculty development and research, and the plan for their future.

In recent years, the rankings have helped Centre College. One is known in part by the company one keeps, and Centre is keeping good company when we are included in or near the top tier of the nation's very best liberal arts colleges. Such fame is good for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and for the college. It is clearly something in which all of us take some measure of pride.

I believe Centre can move up further in the rankings. Our first goal should be to secure in every year a position - be it 29 or 37 or 34 - in the top tier of our group (approximately 40 schools): the national liberal arts colleges. Some of the actions we have taken recently, including the $12-million academic initiative launched last fall, will move us in that direction. To move into the top 25 will take even more resources and time, but it is a goal worth pursuing. These rankings do matter. They do not matter as much as doing the right thing for Centre's students, of course, but we ignore them at our peril.

I must say that pursuing such a goal is a tall order that will require your best and our best. Yet Centre possesses a momentum that makes such an advance possible. Our greatest challenge will be to exercise a careful balance between determined, focused effort and a high degree of patience, both individual and corporate.

As Centre aspires to do more, serve more, and make a bigger difference for good, I hope we will move up in the rankings. I know we will provide a better education for our students.

Now that I have shared my thoughts, let me know yours. I would welcome hearing from you by letter or by e-mail jroush@centre.edu.

Centrepiece
Centre College
600 West Walnut St.
Danville, KY 40422

Phone: (859) 238-5717
Fax: (859) 238-5723
E-mail: alumnews@centre.edu
or johnsond@centre.edu