DeKALB | According to the Top Research Universities in the 2005 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index by Academic Analytics, NIU is ranked 17 out of the top 20 small research universities.

While many research facilities attempt to rank universities based on various qualifications, it is difficult to rank a university based on just certain attributes, said Melanie Magara, assistant vice president for public affairs.

“This set of rankings came out of dissatisfaction of the methods of other rankings,” Magara said.

Magara also said it is equally difficult to rank a university’s productivity.

“How do you judge the productivity of a university?” Magara asked. “It depends on who you ask. What are you asking and who are you asking?”

Despite the difficulty in ranking a university, Magara said that 17 out of 20 of the top 20 small research universities is still an accomplishment.

“It’s relative,” Magara said. “We’re there, as opposed to not being there. Whereas thousands of universities are not there.”

In contrast, Rathindra Bose, the vice president of research and graduate studies, is disappointed by the ranking.

“[NIU] should be in the bigger classification, not the smaller one,” Bose said.

Bose also said that NIU would rank higher if the classifications of universities were more specific.

“If you exclude the medical colleges, I think we would be in the top 100 doctoral colleges,” Bose said.

Additionally, Bose said that the scope of faculty productivity should be larger.

“I can name many faculty who are highly productive, but they don’t contribute to the graduate program,” Bose said.

The productivity of faculty is ranked by the index based on articles and books written, as well as the amount of citations received by each faculty member contributing to a graduate program at the university.

Magara also commented on the productivity of NIU faculty.

“Our scholars teach more than at other universities,” Magara said.

Magara said that from the student perspective, it is important to acknowledge that studying with real professors as opposed to graduate students allows less time for professors to do research and more time for one-on-one contact between the student and professor.

The topic of discerning NIU’s focus was also discussed at the Faculty Senate meeting Wednesday.

“The argument is that we are not going to be U of [Illinois, which ranked 34 out of the top 50 large research universities], we can’t be research only and turn over the teaching to our graduate students. That’s not us,” said Daniel Kempton, associate professor of political science.

Kempton suggested a division of teaching and researching to balance both necessities.

“We can’t compete with liberal arts colleges and do only teaching,” Kempton said. “We are a place for both research and our students.”