9/28/2010: The NRC graduate rankings are out, Chronicle.com has a spiffy interactive tool, probably only accessible from campus. Many UO programs do very well – even without adjusting for shitty faculty pay and the fact that UO research support is 63% of average.
The new quantitative methodology adopted by NRC emphasizes productivity per faculty. The fact UO does so well on this dimension should be a big shot in the arm for Lariviere’s restructuring plan, which will presumably promise specific productivity targets. We have nothing to fear from this. Well, most of us don’t.
As a random example consider UO’s economics department, in comparison to, say, UT-Austin. Taking the midpoint of the range estimate Oregon is #51, Texas is #67, out of 118 ranked programs. UO full professor pay is 30% below that at Texas.
In these rankings, we lose the most points because we have so few new students with full support. Where did that money go, coach?