THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGE

Changes in the Carnegie Classifications:

What They Mean for Colleges & Universities

Perry Deess Ph.D.Director of Institutional Research and Planning, NJIT

Annual Meeting of the Association of NJ Graduate SchoolsMarch 24, 2006

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEA Little History

1970: The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education creates a classification system to serve its research program

1973: Classification published to assist research on higher education

1976, 1987, 1994, 2000: revised editions

2005-06: major revisionsClark Kerr

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEOriginal Design Principles

Seek comparability with respect to: Functions of the institutions Characteristics of students and faculty

Use empirical data about what institutions do Secondary analysis of existing data

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEWhy Was The Classification Changed?

Higher education has changed1970 framework has weaknesses

and blind spotsA single framework is not sufficientValue in acknowledging complexity

BIG REASONTo reduce competition based on the

classification system

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGESummary of Changes

Comprehensive (all-inclusive) schemes

Basic, with changes Instructional Program

Undergraduate Graduate

Student Profile Overall Undergraduate

Size & Setting

Elective (voluntary) schemes

Outreach & Community Engagement

Undergraduate Education Inquiry & Support

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEBasic Classification

Associate’s: subcategoriesDoctorate-granting: index of research

activityMaster’s: finer distinctionsBaccalaureate: “liberal arts” to “arts &

sciences”Special focus: sharper definition

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEDoctorate-granting: index of research activity

Doctoral institutions are a key area of competition

Three categories now Research universities—very high research activity Research universities—high research activity Doctoral/Research universities

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEDefining Doctoral Institutions*(IPEDS based doctoral conferrals; professional doctorates not counted for the base of 20; research staff from NSF survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering )

“ The research index is based on the following correlates of research activity: research and development expenditures in science and engineering (NSF R&D survey); research and development expenditures in non-science and engineering fields; science and engineering research staff; and doctoral conferrals in humanities fields, social science fields science technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, and professional fields. These data were statistically combined using principal component analysis to create two indices of research activity. The first index was based on aggregate levels of these factors ,. The second index, of per-capita research activity, used the expenditure and staffing measures divided by the number of full time faculty members whose primary responsibilities were identified as research, instruction, or a combination of instruction, research and public service. (From IPEDS)”

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEDefining Doctoral Institutions (continued)

“ The values in each index were then used to locate each institution on a two-dimensional graph (scatterplot). Each institution’s distance from a common reference point was calculated, and the results were used to assign institutions to three groups based on their distance from the reference point. Thus the aggregate and per-capita indices were considered equally such that institutions that were very high on either index were assigned to the “very high” group, while institutions that were high on one but (but very high on neither) were assigned to the ‘high’ group.”

[The Chronicle of Higher Education March 3, 2006]

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEWhat does this mean? “Ain’t nobody gonna figger how ta game it.”

The point of this is to prevent competition and limit the explosion of doctoral programs for competition in a ranking system.

The system is fundamentally relational The mathematics are virtually inscrutable It IS competitive, but few schools will spend the

time to work out how to compete

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEHow to game the doctoral ranking system?

Have a long talk with the people completing the NSF R&D Survey, the NSF Graduate Student and Post-doctorate Survey, and the IPEDS.

If they carefully and position the university based on the criteria described above they can maximize your chances of reaching a higher tier.

Remember you only need one VERY HIGH index score to achieve the VERY HIGH category.

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEInstructional Program

Undergraduate Degree level Balance of arts &

sciences and professional fields

Correspondence with graduate programs

Graduate Degree levels Mix of offerings

Comprehensive Focused

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEStudent Profile

Overall student profile

Mix of undergraduate and graduate/professional enrollments

Undergraduate profile

Proportion full- & part-time

Achievement characteristics of first-year students

Transfer-in percentage

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGESize and Setting

Total enrollment

Residential character

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEElective (voluntary) Schemes

Outreach & community engagement Mix of outreach and

engagement activities

Undergraduate education inquiry & support Efforts to assess

undergraduate education Support for assessing & improving teaching & learning

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEHow to do peer analysis? (cont.)

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEHow to do peer analysis? (cont.)

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THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEWhy was all of this done?

To facilitate peer analysisTo aid research To develop generally non-competitive

scalesTo encourage more sophisticated

ranking—particularly by US News

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEAdvantages

ComplexityFlexibility

More nuanced classification Better matching of classification to purpose Possibilities for customization

Responsibility Make & justify choices

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEHow to do peer analysis?

Start at this site:

http://www.carnegieclassification-preview.org/

How to do peer analysis? (cont.)

How to do peer analysis? (cont.)

THE EDGE IN KNOWLEDGEWhere to Learn More

www.carnegiefoundation.org/classifications

Copies of slides: http://www.njit.edu/v2/Directory/iresearch/index.html.htm

For more information contact: Perry Deess deess@njit.edu