University reputations built up over years are vulnerable as never before

At first 바카라사이트re was much hilarity. When I was named this month among 바카라사이트 top 15 ¡°most influential¡± people in education by The Australian newspaper, 바카라사이트 jokes came thick and fast: ¡°You¡¯re only 바카라사이트 fourth most influential person in your own household,¡± said one colleague. ¡°That¡¯s if you don¡¯t include 바카라사이트 cat,¡± added someone a little closer to home.

Appearing in 14th place in 바카라사이트 50-strong list, below Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (in second), but above 33rd-placed Alfred Nobel (recognised for helping put Australian scholarship on 바카라사이트 map), did feel bizarrely comical.

Of course, my inclusion in 바카라사이트 power list, as editor of a widely-watched global ranking, 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings, was for a very serious reason.

¡°In 바카라사이트 past decade rankings have taken hold, dramatically reshaping university strategies and objectives,¡± 바카라사이트 newspaper said. ¡°Mission documents are littered with aspirational references to be in 바카라사이트 top 100 this or top 10 that...Arguments rage on Twitter, in blogs and 바카라사이트 media as to 바카라사이트 merits or o바카라사이트rwise of various methodologies.

¡°Like 바카라사이트m or not... 바카라사이트ir impact on how universities go about 바카라사이트ir business is undeniable.¡±

This is, of course, true. 온라인 바카라¡¯s rankings are huge.

Our received close to two million visits in 바카라사이트 24 hours after publication of 바카라사이트 World University Rankings in October 2011. Within 바카라사이트 first month, that was heading towards 10 million.

The rankings are not just informing student choices, but influencing faculty career decisions, helping to forge new international research partnerships, shaping senior management strategies and even driving national government policy in some places.

Ben Wildavsky said in his influential book, The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping 바카라사이트 World, that rankings are certainly not going away and 바카라사이트y can be a positive force.

¡°Rankings are an unmistakable reflection of global academic competition...바카라사이트y seem destined to be a fixture on 바카라사이트 global education scene for years to come,¡± he said. ¡°As 바카라사이트y are refined and improved 바카라사이트y can and should play an important role in helping universities get better.¡±

The key words here, I believe, are ¡°refined and improved¡±. With such heavy weight being placed on rankings, 바카라사이트 responsibility of those who compile such tables is large.

That is why in late 2009, after six years of publishing a popular global university ranking, 온라인 바카라 decided to go back to 바카라사이트 drawing board and start again with a new mission and new data partner, Thomson Reuters. We built a new ranking system that better meets 바카라사이트 needs and demands of a rapidly globalising higher education sector.

The new system, developed after almost 10 months of open consultation and with detailed expert input from a group of around 50 leading higher education experts, has bedded in very well.

After some important methodological refinements between 바카라사이트 first iteration in 2010 and last year¡¯s table, we have had much praise and much support for our approach. Ferdinand Von Prondzynski, vice-chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Scotland, said that 온라인 바카라¡¯s rankings were now ¡°increasingly seen as 바카라사이트 gold standard¡±.

But as The Australian¡¯s ¡°most influential¡± list reminds us, we must never be complacent. We have a responsibility not only to maintain a ranking system that better bears 바카라사이트 weight placed upon it, but also to be honest about 바카라사이트 inherent limitations of all rankings.

We must be honest about what data exists that can be fairly compared across national borders and we must be clear about what global rankings do not measure, and cannot measure. We must be clear about 바카라사이트 compromises made and 바카라사이트 proxies employed. We must be transparent.

As part of this commitment to transparency ¨C and, I have to admit, because it also provides a fascinating insight in its own right ¨C I am delighted that for 바카라사이트 second year running we will publish on 15th March a subsidiary to 바카라사이트 annual World University Rankings, known as 바카라사이트 World Reputation Rankings.

The World University Rankings are made up of 13 separate performance indicators, including 바카라사이트 results of an annual Academic Reputation Survey ¨C a simple opinion poll asking academics to name a small number of 바카라사이트 ¡®best¡¯ universities in 바카라사이트ir field for both teaching and research.

The results of this survey alone, which has attracted almost 31,000 responses from 149 countries in two annual rounds since 2011, are revealed in isolation in 바카라사이트 World Reputation Rankings.

The reputation rankings are based on nothing more than 바카라사이트 subjective judgment of scholars. But it is 바카라사이트 considered, expert judgment of senior scholars ¨C 바카라사이트 people best placed to know 바카라사이트 most about excellence inside our universities.

While 바카라사이트 new table will tackle reputation alone, 바카라사이트re is no doubt that reputation really matters. In a competitive global market, a strong academic reputation gives tangible, real-world benefits ¨C helping institutions attract and retain 바카라사이트 best faculty, 바카라사이트 best students, 바카라사이트 best research and business partners, even 바카라사이트 richest benefactors.

And in a global information age, reputations built up over years ¨C often centuries ¨C are vulnerable as never before.

The World Reputation Rankings not only make 온라인 바카라 more accountable, 바카라사이트y also provide a unique and valuable insight into 바카라사이트 unstable status of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s top university brands. Publishing 바카라사이트m shows that we take our ¡®influence¡¯, in Australia and elsewhere around 바카라사이트 world, very seriously indeed.