By wpengine September 5, 2003
For the third straight year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Cornell as the 14th-best university in the country, despite an improvement in some of the key figures reported by the administration. Harvard and Princeton topped the list, while the other Ivies were also in similar positions as last year. Yale placed third, the University of Pennsylvania was fifth, Dartmouth was ninth, Columbia 11th and Brown 17th. In 1999, Cornell ranked sixth. Since then, different weighting of the ranking criteria has dropped the University out of the top ten. The rankings continue to strongly influence where high school students choose to apply despite many in higher education who have criticized college guides that use them. “The rankings do matter, because they are self-reinforcing,” said Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations, director of Cornell’s Higher Education Research Institute and also the former vice president for academic programs, planning and budgeting. “A school that moves up in the rankings, other factors held constant, receives more applications, has more students accept its offers of admission and is able to bring students in with somewhat less generous financial aid packages,” Ehrenberg said. While Cornell’s numbers for the magazine’s key categories, such as faculty salaries, spending per student, student test scores and student-faculty ratio, have improved, they have gone up at a slower rate compared to some of its peer institutions. “We’re not getting better [in the U.S. News categories] at the rate our competitors are,” Ehrenberg said. This year, instead of simply dividing total students by the total number of faculty, Cornell computed a 9:1 student-faculty ratio by including only undergraduates and faculty who teach undergraduates. According to Linda Grace-Kobas, interim vice president for communications and media relations, this change conforms to how peer institutions compute their respective student-faculty ratios. Last year’s ratio, under the old computation, was 13:1. “It’s interesting to see how the numbers play out,” Grace-Kobas said, noting that the U.S. News methodology has become more consistent in recent years. Factors like faculty composition can dramatically affect the U.S. News numbers, Ehrenberg noted. The University of Pennsylvania, for example, trails Cornell slightly in its academic reputation score but is the number-one university in the faculty resources category, compared to Cornell’s 22nd spot. At least part of this might be explained by Penn’s higher average salary, which is the most important factor in computing faculty resources. Since Pennsylvania has 278 business faculty and 51 law faculty, compared to Cornell’s respective 50 and 32, the large difference may be partially explained simply by having a greater proportion of professors in higher-paying fields. The real problem with the rankings, Ehrenberg said, “is the notion that you can add up all the characteristics and come up with a single number.” Cornell students, for the most part, recalled paying little attention to college rankings when applying to universities. “It mattered to my family,” said Jennifer Robinson ’06, “but I applied to schools whose academic reputation I was familiar with, but not because of rankings.” Theresa Hsu ’07 said general rankings “didn’t matter at all” when she chose to study engineering at Cornell. “There’s a lot more that matters to me,” Hsu said.Archived article by Dan Galindo
By wpengine September 5, 2003
A new atmosphere, attitude, and era will be ushered into the Cornell swimming program this season as Syracuse native John Holohan takes over the reins, as head coach of the women’s swim team. With an extensive background in coaching at both the collegiate and club levels, Holohan hopes to improve upon a program that finished eighth overall at the Ivy League championships last season. "Coming to Cornell is simply a dream come true for me," Holohan said. "To be in a position where the institution and the fans are so supportive is really special." Holohan’s coaching career has brought him in contact with some of the most talented athletes in the northeast, having served as an assistant swim coach at both LeMoyne College in Syracuse and Syracuse University. Most recently, Holohan was the head coach and director of the Syracuse Sharks, a nationally recognized club swimming organization that has produced the likes of Olympian Kim Black — a member of the United States‚ gold medal-winning freestyle relay team at Sydney in 2000. Arriving at Cornell, Holohan is excited about tackling the challenges that lie ahead. "I’m looking forward to working with such a great group of young women," he said. "They are an extremely well-motivated team who all want to become faster. Throughout the season we will emphasize attaining personal excellence, and I know we will come together and unify as a team in doing so." As far as preparing for the season, Holohan plans to institute a training regimen with a focus on balancing the various commitments of his athletes’ lives. This holistic philosophy will include weekly heart rate analyses of the swimmers to determine the level of stress they may be under, and whether they need some time away from swimming. "Too many coaches make the huge mistake of concentrating on swimming and swimming alone in a collegiate environment," Holohan said. "I’m going to want the team to be focused, yet also be aware of maintaining a balance in their lives." Returning team members are also encouraged by the coaching change, as they try to put last season’s disappointments behind them. "It is the breath of fresh air that the Cornell swim team definitely needed," sophomore free swimmer Holly Chance reflected. "He has aspirations and big goals for the team, and he will help us realize our potential." Holohan asserts that the team’s motivation should be to improve each and every personal time, and he is confident that the Red will be far more competitive in the Ivy League this season. "The ultimate goal is to win the Ivy League championship," he affirmed. "And to do that, I believe we should focus on improving each individual athlete in addition to promoting a sense of team unity." Holohan also boasts a keen interest in developing athletes with the help of new technologies as well, including the use of underwater cameras to monitor stroke problems and technique. He has already had widespread experience pioneering this breakthrough field, having already utilized such cameras with his club swimmers. "Hopefully we will be able to use this technology to point out errors in mechanics and analyze our strokes," he said. Undoubtedly, the changes under Holohan will indeed breathe some much-needed life into the Cornell swim program. The squad opens the season with a home meet against Harvard on Nov. 15. Archived article by Kyle Sheahen