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Show Westminster Was Great In '88, But What About Now? by Benjamin Williams . ol Forum staff writer U.S. News & World Reports ranking of Americas Best Colleges and Universities comes out in October each year, and if you didnt know by now, Westminster . College of Salt Lake City is listed in the 1988 issue as the no. 24 best regional liberal arts college. This ranking is based on four broad categories using standard guidelines, generally accepted in the academic world and established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, according toU.S. News & World Report staff writer Robert J. Morse, who has been writing the college rankings for several years. Westminster today meas- ures up to the other small regional liberal arts schools in this region as no. 33. First, the ranking system and the statistical data (provided largely by the schools themselves) included the selectivity of the student body , the degree to which the school fullfinancially supports a time faculty, its overall financial resources, and the level of student satisfaction as measured by the schools ability to graduate the students it admits as freshmen. Four subcomponents based upon data forfall 1990 entering freshman determined student selectivity: the acceptance rate (percentage of applicants who were accepted) the yielding (percent of those accepted who actually enrolled); high-schoclass standing and either the average combined scores on the SAT or the composite ACT Assessment For regional schools, class colleges and liberal-art- s standing was measured by the percentage of entering students who graduated in the high-qualit- classes. top 25 percent of their high-schoU.S. News used four measurements to determine academic quality based on faculty resources from data from the 1990 school year the ratio of full-tim- e students to full-tim- e faculty, the percentage of fulltime faculty with doctorates, the percentstatus, and the age of faculty with part-tim- e average salary, including all fringe benefits, for tenured full professors. The strength of a schools financial resources was determined by the 1990dollar total of its educational and general expenditures, divided by its total enrollment. Student satisfaction was measured by the average percentage of the 1983 to 1985 freshmen classes who graduate within five years of the date they enrolled. The U.S. News survey is designednotto measure academic quality as such, but the academic reputations that have become so vital in opening doors after graduation both to graduate education and to employment, said Morse. The data is then broken down into different types of college and university and categorized into regions (North, South, Midwest, West). Out of the 66 colleges in the area, Westminster College is right at the median level, said Morse. He could not give the actual overall score for Westminster but did have the ranking numbers for the individual catego- ries. Westminster is a regional liberal-art- s school and is grouped in the West region. The top 10 schools are listed per region. Here are the top five regional liberal-art- s schools for West region and how Westminster College measures up to them: y, ol Southwestern University (Texas); Overall score: 100.0; academic reputation 3; Student selectivity 5; faculty resources 2; financial resources 2; student satisfaction 3. 1. 2. Pacific University (Ore.); Overall score: 94.7; academic reputation 9; student selectivity 9; faculty resources 1; financial resources 5; student satisfaction 10. 3. Evergreen State College (Wash.); Overall score: 92.3; academic reputation 1 ; student selectivity 4; faculty resources 3; financial resources 22; student satisfaction 25. 4. Texas Lutheran College; Overall score: 85.9; academic reputation 5; student selectivity 24; faculty resources 4; financial resources 13; student satisfaction 14. , 4. Mount St. Marys College (Calif.); Overall score: 85.9; academic reputation 16; student selectivity 3; faculty resources 25; financial resources 1; Student satisfaction 6. 33. Westminster College of Salt Lake ; academic reputaCity ; Overall score: tion 20; student selectivity 50; faculty resources 35, financial resources 40; student satisfaction 40. Based on interview with Robert Morse of the U.S. News & World Report. not available. The U.S. News treats adjunct profes- sors as something negative, that may be one reason for the ranking, but I think it the use of adjuncts is something good, especially for Westminster, said Dr. Steve Baar, academic vice president. And as far as tenured professors, we dont even have tenure here, he said. Craig Green, vice president of enrollment managementsaid,The rankings (U.S. News & World Report) are good if youre on them, when we were on the list in 1988 it was a good selling tool. There are so many publications out there that do college and you know why? Because it ranking sells magazines, he said. Its not going to change the way we run Westminster. Its, just a good public relations tool. Regional liberal-art- s colleges have lower admissions standards than national liberal-art- s standards colleges (national liberal-art- s for freshmen usually have the student in the classes top 10 percent of their high-schoin ) and most cases award more than half of their baccalaureate degrees in the arts and sciences, according to Morse. Shannan Stalnaker, Westminster admissions counselor said, Thats the nature of our school, typically were not as selective as other national universities. We have a niche, like most schools do, and we fill that niche, said Dr. Fred Fogo, assistant professor of communication, said, Ironically, Westminster is probably a victim of its success. Its obvious that our fast growth would negatively affect some of U.S. News criteria such as faculty-studeratios, number of adjuncts and dollars spent per student Within a couple of years after our enrollment reaches the mandated cap of 2,500, look for us to start moving back up the U.S. News & World Reports Rankings. ol nt Fall Ellipsis Release: Largest Issue Is Back To Black And White Ellipsis editor Mary Lang Heather Bush by Tiffanie Vina Forum staff writer issue of Ellipsis The will be released Thursday, Feb. 6. The fall issue is the largest in the publications black-and-whi- te 26-ye- ar history. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of photography, all art will be printed in black and white, featuring mostly photography, according to Ellipsis Editor Mary Lang. black-and-whi- te short stories Ellipsis features-poetry- , and artwork, with this issue containing about twice the usual amount of artwork. Westminster students and outside authors and artists are recognized in Ellipsis with over half of the work coming from within the Westminster community. We want to keep this much of a Westminster project as possible, said Lang. Ellipsis has become an internationally recognized magazine. It receives submissions from as far away as Australia and is referenced in the Writers Market and The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses. Although these publications help promote the Ellipsis, word of mouth is essential in receiving outside work, said Katherine Coles, Ellipsis advisor. Someone in Nebraska gets published, and likes the way it looks and they call someone in California; it brings positive attention to the school. Coles said the growth and greater level of professionalism achieved in the last few years to Scott Cairns, former Westminster English instructor and Ellipsis and Forum advisor. Under his leadership, Ellipsis grew from a staple binding to a square binding, she said. Selected authors will read their works Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. in Nunemaker. Wine and hors doeuvres will accompany the readings. All students and interested parties are welcome to attend. Copies of Ellipsis can be attained, free of charge, at the reception or at the Shaw Center. Funding for Ellipsis comes from the Utah Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and from Associated Students of Westminster College. Their budget is about $9,000 for both the fall and the spring issues, according to Lang. Ellipsis has a staff of over 20 students. The class is a valuable learning experience for students, said Lang. Ellipsis is open to all majors and is worth one credit hour. Ellipsis is now accepting material for its spring issue. Writers and artists receive $15 per page of accepted material. Color photographs will be accepted for the spring issue. Trivia Answers To Win Film Festival Tickets The Forum trivia contest was a screaming success! Answers were submitted by 3 p.m. the next day , claiming all prizes. 1 . Of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, who was the only one to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Answer: Benjamin Franklin 2. Name the last and one of the of all Shakespeare's plays. Answer: "King Henry VIII" The first three readers furnishing correct answers to both questions will re least-perform- ed ceived two tickets to the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. The winners were: 1. Sonja Chesley, director of annual giving 2. Bob Richard, assistant director of annual giving 3. Dana Tumpowsky, director of public relations 4. Bill Cuthbertson, junior in history Tickets were good for either day or night in Salt Lake City showings. ForumPage 7 |