Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

Kimberly M. Janssen
University of Arkansas

Comment [MH1]: You need to see APA

manual p. 41 for proper title page formatting.
You need to have Running Head on the first
page and page numbers on all the pages.

Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

There is a continual effort among institutions of higher education to raise their ranks in order to

Comment [MH2]: Restate title. See APA

manual.

gain access to a status of prestige. This effort entails a very strategic process in which

Comment [MH3]: Who is making the effort?

Passive construction.

institutions are constantly attempting to outdo each other in order to gain an advantage over their

Comment [MH4]: What does this mean?

competitors. Perhaps that is why the University of Arkansas has joined the rat race. In 2012 the
University of Arkansas created a strategic plan aimed at assisting the institution in joining the
ranks of prestige. Prestigious or not, that is the question.
According to Johansen (YEAR), a college or university defines itself as a prestigious institution
by the weight of the reputation, increased selectivity, the amount of funding received, as well as
the impressive faculty it houses. As these ranks increase so do the chances of the institution

Comment [MH5]: I dont think institutions

define their prestige. That is done mostly by
people external to the institution. That is,
Harvard is prestigious because most
Americans believe it is, not because Harvard
faculty and staff believe this.

being labeled as prestigious. Students and faculty alike use the ranking system as a way to select
which college they will attend. It is important to assess these categories with respect to the
University of Arkansas to determine whether or not it is a prestigious institution.
REPUTATION

Comment [MH6]: For a thesis, you should

tell your reader what you will argue up front,
not save it for later.
Comment [MH7]: Incorrect heading format.
See APA manual.

In 1967 The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching created The Carnegie
Classification on Higher Education in order to study and make recommendations regarding the
major issues facing U.S. higher education (McCormick and Zhoa, 2005, p.???). In 1970 upon
realizing there was a need for a classification system that differentiated colleges and universities
along the dimensions that were most relevant to its work (McCormick and Zhoa, 2005) a new
classification system was implemented. This classification system used indicators such as
undergraduate academic reputation, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial
resources, graduation rate performance and alumni giving rate. Each of these intangible
indicators quantitatively measured the academic quality of an institution. The two highest

Comment [MH8]: Again, passive

construction. The Quality Writing Center can
help you catch these.
Comment [MH9]: Carnegie used
reputation?
Comment [MH10]: I dont think Carnegie
was measuring quality They were
categorizing, not judging.

Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

ranked indicators were undergraduate academic reputation and retention at 22.5 percent. The

Comment [MH11]: Are you sure youre not

talking about US News rankings?

Carnegie Foundation categorized the University of Arkansas as a research institution with very
high research activity leading to its current vision of becoming a top 50 research institution.
The University of Arkansas named 15 goals within its Providing Transparency & Accountability
to the People of Arkansas: A Progress Report (TAP) aimed at achieving this vision of increasing
its rank and prestige. By putting students first and creating a high quality institution through the
development of and engaging campus life, lowering costs and enhancing student success the

Comment [MH12]: But most institutions of

high prestige are more, not less, expensive.

university increases its chances of obtaining a higher reputation.

SELECTIVITY

Formatted: Highlight

As an institution increases its rank it is able to become more selective in the admissions process.

Comment [MH13]: Passive.

With more students applying to institutions of higher rank, the institutions in return have a larger

Comment [MH14]: How do you know this?

Citation.

pool of students to choose from. In response to this, institutions are able to raise the
qualifications the students must possess in order to be considered for admission. The website for
U.S. News and World Report ranks the University of Arkansas as a more selective institution.

Formatted: Font: Italic

Requirements for automatic admission at the University of Arkansas are a minimum grade point
average of 3.0, 16 high school credit hours divided between English, Social Studies,
Mathematics and Electives as well as an ACT score of 20 or higher or a SAT score of 930 or
higher. This simply means that all students that have applied to the university with these criteria
will be automatically admitted and students that fall below this category may or may not be
admitted.

Comment [MH15]: And what does this have

to do with selectivity? Are theses especially
high standards?

Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

FUNDING
It is difficult for the University of Arkansas to compete on a national scale without the necessary

Formatted: Highlight

Comment [MH16]: Why are you not

indenting your paragraphs? See APA manual.

state appropriations to do so. According to Peter D. Eckel (2008), the National Association of
State Business Officers (NASBO, 2007) warns that public agencies many not see an

Comment [MH17]: Page number?

immediate benefit because of pent up demand from past cuts and ongoing strains caused by
healthcare, pensions, and demographic changes. In 2012 state appropriations that funded the
university only accounted for 75 percent, which was down by 10 percent since 2008. Although
there have been efforts to combat this issue, such as the New Arkansan Scholarship Program and

Comment [MH18]: 75% of what? I do not

think that 75% of the UofAs budget comes
from state appropriations.

the prospect of out-of-state graduates enhancing Arkansas economy, private gifts are imperative
to overcome the rising costs of tuition. As reported in the 2012 TAP report, the University of
Arkansas has raised nearly $500 million in private gifts since 2008, with a year-end total of $778
million.
Over the years the University of Arkansas has increased its affiliations with the three Fortune
500 companies in northwest Arkansas: Walmart, Tyson and J.B. Hunt. These affiliations have
brought in large amounts of donor gifts as well as assist in making the university a more
reputable organization. In 1998 the Walton family contributed $50 million to the College of
Business. At the time it was the largest gift donated to an American business college. In return
the college was renamed, after Walmarts founder, Sam M. Walton College of Business. The
Walton family donated another $300 million to the university. The Graduate School received a
third of this funding in order to support efforts such as endowed fellowships, a research fund for
graduate students as well as eight new faculty chairs.

Comment [MH19]: How do you know that

these gifts have come and that they have
influenced the Universitys reputation?

Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

FACULTY
Faculty is a necessity when it comes to higher education. In the TAP report the University of

Comment [MH20]: Provide appropriate APA

citation.

Arkansas set a goal to increase the amount of faculty being recruited. In addition the university
aimed to increase promotion in current faculty in order to obtain titles from full Professor to
Distinguished Professor. New faculty welcomed to the university received competitive salaries
and start-up packages. As for seasoned professors, annual compensation packages of $500 were
provided.
CONCLUSION
Rankings tend to be the validating factor for institutions of higher education to indicate prestige.
Institutions focus on a multitude of ways they can raise their ranks in order to be included in this
category. The University of Arkansas has implemented several initiatives in order to become the
flagship institution within the state of Arkansas. While the institution has attained many of the
goals set forth in order to raise its ranking, it is my opinion that the institution has not reached the
ranks of a prestigious organization. With this being said, I do believe that the university does
possess the potential of becoming a prestigious organization if it were to continue to improve the
initiatives already set forth.

Comment [MH21]: This would have been

great information to put in your thesis,
demonstrate this in the body of the
paragraph, and then remind the reader in the
conclusion. As written, this is new information
in a conclusion, which isnt the purpose of a
conclusion.

Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

References

Becoming a Top 50 Public Research University. (n.d.). Increase Reputation. Retrieved from
http://top50.uark.edu/reputation.php
Eckel, P. D. (2008). Mission diversity and the tension between prestige and effectiveness: An
overview of US higher education. Higher Education Policy, 21(2), 175-192.
Johansen, Paige. (n.d.). What makes a university prestigious? Seattle P.I. Retrieved from
http://www.seattlepi.com/
How U.S. news calculated the 2015 best college rankings. (2014, September). U.S. News and
World Report. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/education/bestcolleges/articles/2014/09/08/how-us-news-calculated-the-2015-best-colleges-rankings
McCormick, A. C., & Zhao, C. M. (2005). Rethinking and reframing the Carnegie classification.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 37(5), 51-57.
HIED 5003 Midterm Rubric
Comments:
Kim,
Im concerned with this midterm, which was late (without proactively notifying me), fell below the page expectations for the
assignment, only demonstrated a surface-level familiarity with the course readings, and often had APA errors. Some of the prose
here is engaging, which is good, though there is also quite a bit of passive voice. The Quality Writing Center should be able to help
accentuate the strengths of your writing while helping you address the problem areas of writing. My larger concern with this
assignment is that, a year into the program, I would expect both a much stronger submission. Im happy to talk with you more about
my concerns with this assignment and your progress in the program.
Exceeds
expectations

Meets expectations

Room for
improvement

Major improvement
needed

SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE
X

The paper demonstrates focused,

insightful, original analysis and deep
familiarity with course readings.
The paper addresses each aspect of
the selected question prompt (Prompt
1, 2, or 3).
ORGANIZATION, EXPRESSION,
& READABILITY

Comment [MH22]: This is not right but

because it is imbedded as a URL for some
reason I cant edit it. I suspect there is a date
here, also the University of Arkansas is the
author and the capitalization within the title is
not correct.

Comment [MH23]: Most newspaper articles

have dates.
Comment [MH24]: Should be the specific
URL.
Formatted: Font: Italic

Determining Prestige at the University of Arkansas

The paper opens with a strong and

interesting introduction.

The paper includes a clear and early

thesis statement.
The papers paragraphs support the
thesis statement, include clear topic
sentences, and include citations from
course readings as appropriate.

The papers conclusion summarizes

the paper and does not introduce new
information.

STYLE, USAGE, MECHANICS

The paper is 5-6 pages in length,
double-spaced, and in a 12-point serif
font.
The paper is well organized and does
not contain errors in grammatical
structure or spelling.
The paper adheres to APA formatting.

(double-spaced,
serif font)

(length)

Grade: 69% (grade if assignment had been 3.5 pages) x 70% (percent of assignment completed, 3.5/5 pages) 10 (late) =
38%