Rutgers ranked among top productive research universities nationwide

Rutgers’ doctoral programs made a strong showing in a ranking of faculty members’ scholarly output, according to a national index published in the November 16 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education [registration required].

The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, produced by Academic Analytics, is a ranking of graduate programs at research universities based on measurement of per-capita scholarly accomplishment. The for-profit company, owned in part by the State University of New York at Stony Brook, compiles institutional rankings on 375 institutions – 130 large research universities, 91 smaller research universities, and 154 specialized research universities in fields such as business and theology.

The index, based on data from 2006, evaluates degree programs on the quality and impact of their faculty members’ research rather than on the sheer quantity of research ventures. The index incorporates such information as book and journal publications, citations of journal articles; grants, and awards and honors received by faculty members to determine the quality of an institution’s doctoral programs. The rankings reflect data gathered from 230,000 faculty members representing 172 academic disciplines in more than 7,400 Ph.D. programs throughout the country.

Of the 11 general areas of study in which Academic Analytics ranked programs, Rutgers–New Brunswick was in the top 25 in the following six categories:

• No. 2 in agricultural sciences
• No. 23 in business
• No. 5 in education
• No. 11 in family, consumer, and human sciences (includes programs in planning, nutrition, and communication)
• No. 10 in humanities and fine arts
• No. 19 in natural resources and conservation (includes programs in environmental sciences)

In addition, the survey ranked individual doctoral programs. Global Affairs at Rutgers–Newark ranked No. 5 among 375 institutions large and small.

Twenty-one doctoral programs in New Brunswick ranked among the top 10 in their fields. They include: Food science and the math education track of the education Ph.D. program at No. 2; women and gender studies and Italian language and literature at No. 3; materials science and engineering at No. 4; atmospheric sciences at No. 5; environmental sciences and oceanography (physical sciences) at No. 6; urban planning, evolutionary anthropology, and oceanography (marine sciences) at No. 7; pharmaceutical sciences at No. 8; operations research, cultural anthropology; the education policy track of the education Ph.D. program, and social work at No. 9; and animal sciences, computational biology, English, philosophy, and computer science at No. 10.

Overall, Rutgers ranked 48th among the top large research universities in faculty productivity; while Rutgers–Newark ranked 20th among small research institutions (fewer than 15 doctoral programs).

To view a list of the top 50 large institutions and top 20 small institutions, click here.