NDSU in the new normal

[roadwarrior]

Attached is a letter from Pres Bresciani on the plans NDSU has for resuming on campus instruction. The state gave final approval today of a $19.7 million grant to facilitate the changes.

https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/news/detail/58766/

Another letter addressed to NDSU students:

https://www.ndsu.edu/police_safety/news/detail/58764/

[Hammersmith]

Speaking from my background, I wonder what this will do to the music department. The lecture classes can be adapted, but it will be difficult or impossible to do that for the group performance classes. For music, that's like trying to get a degree in chemistry without ever being able to take a lab course. I wonder if they'll try to keep some of the large groups intact but restrict them to music majors to keep a risk of an outbreak from spreading to the greater student body.

[roadwarrior]

This was probably the easiest money NDSU has ever asked for. Prepare proposal, get approval, get check.

The money comes from the CARES act Congress passed in March.

[WhoRepsTheLurker]

New WUR rankings – “Since 2012, CWUR has been publishing the only academic ranking of global universities that assesses the quality of education, alumni employment, research output, and citations without relying on surveys and university data submissions.”

So this is upstream of all the various .com rankings (Forbes, Useless News, etc…)

cwur.org/2020-21.php

Methodology is here - https://cwur.org/methodology/world-university-rankings.php
Combines quality of faculty with research impact

The Dakota 4 within the USA pool (goes up to 357):
210 - NDSU
248 - SDSU
257 - UND
285 - USD

Notable Points of Reference:
UMN (28), UC Davis (45), Blue Hens (103), KSU (124), BYU (155), UNH (160), Wyoming (162), Bobcats (178), Grizzlies (182), Denver (183), Toldeo (189), UNLV (191), Salukis (194), NMSU (197), Akron (201), Michigan Tech (205), Army (237), BGU (258), BSU (262), WMU (272), UMD Bulldogs (280), TCU (283), JMU (311), Appy State (315)

Montana schools are kicking Dakota schools in the ass academically. Does it matter? Why do you suppose that is? CA influence? UST isn’t on the list yet.

[Hammersmith]

New WUR rankings – “Since 2012, CWUR has been publishing the only academic ranking of global universities that assesses the quality of education, alumni employment, research output, and citations without relying on surveys and university data submissions.”

So this is upstream of all the various .com rankings (Forbes, Useless News, etc…)

cwur.org/2020-21.php

Methodology is here - https://cwur.org/methodology/world-university-rankings.php
Combines quality of faculty with research impact

The Dakota 4 within the USA pool (goes up to 357):
210 - NDSU
248 - SDSU
257 - UND
285 - USD

Notable Points of Reference:
UMN (28), UC Davis (45), Blue Hens (103), KSU (124), BYU (155), UNH (160), Wyoming (162), Bobcats (178), Grizzlies (182), Denver (183), Toldeo (189), UNLV (191), Salukis (194), NMSU (197), Akron (201), Michigan Tech (205), Army (237), BGU (258), BSU (262), WMU (272), UMD Bulldogs (280), TCU (283), JMU (311), Appy State (315)

Montana schools are kicking Dakota schools in the ass academically. Does it matter? Why do you suppose that is? CA influence? UST isn’t on the list yet.

It looks like the difference between schools at our level is purely due to the types and amounts of research(articles published, not dollar amounts). Also, the differences between schools at our level is actually pretty minor. If you go by the typical 90/80/70/60 scoring system, the Montana schools are low Cs, NDSU is barely a C, and the other three Dakota schools are high Ds.

Ranking scores(Harvard #1 at 100pts, Kyonggi University #2000(last) at 65.8 pts)
72.2 MSU
72.0 UM
70.8 NDSU
69.5 SDSU
69.1 UND
68.1 SDSU

Of all the sub-values, only research performance matched the same order(numbers are rank out of 2000):
680 MSU
713 UM
879 NDSU
1093 SDSU
1135 UND
1358 USD

Quality of Education - MSU wasn't even ranked in the top 2000, yet they were still #1 among the big Mont and Dakota schools
273 UM
291 USD
297 SDSU
320 NDSU
NR MSU
NR UND

Alumni Employment - NDSU ranked best among the six, but everybody was low
1092 NDSU
1235 UND
1261 MSU
NR UM
NR SDSU
NR USD

Quality of Faculty
none ranked


Here's what seems to make the difference between schools are our level:
4) Research Performance:
i) Research Output, measured by the the total number of research papers (10%)
ii) High-Quality Publications, measured by the number of research papers appearing in top-tier journals (10%)
iii) Influence, measured by the number of research papers appearing in highly-influential journals (10%)
iv) Citations, measured by the number of highly-cited research papers (10%)

[WhoRepsTheLurker]

It looks like the difference between schools at our level is purely due to the types and amounts of research(articles published, not dollar amounts). Also, the differences between schools at our level is actually pretty minor. If you go by the typical 90/80/70/60 scoring system, the Montana schools are low Cs, NDSU is barely a C, and the other three Dakota schools are high Ds.

Yes, this is true. If you look at the relative output of each school at our level, you can see the variability, particularly by topic.

Take chemistry, for example. The number of papers in the top publisher (ACS) over the last year:

UMN (Just MPLS) (300-400?, I didn’t bother to filter out editorial affiliations, which is significant)

MSU (89), NDSU (57), UM (30), UND (34), SDSU (23), USD (15)

So with respect to the top, the Dakota 4 and Montanas all look basically the same, even though the variation at our level is measurable, particularly by topic. This is why small schools should specialize when it comes to research.

[ByeSonBusiness]

Yes, this is true. If you look at the relative output of each school at our level, you can see the variability, particularly by topic.

Take chemistry, for example. The number of papers in the top publisher (ACS) over the last year:

UMN (Just MPLS) (300-400?, I didn’t bother to filter out editorial affiliations, which is significant)

MSU (89), NDSU (57), UM (30), UND (34), SDSU (23), USD (15)

So with respect to the top, the Dakota 4 and Montanas all look basically the same, even though the variation at our level is measurable, particularly by topic. This is why small schools should specialize when it comes to research.

What happens when you specialize and then that field becomes "irrelevant" or is no longer a priority for research grants though? Is that possible? I'm just thinking in terms of eggs and baskets...probably way wrong lol

[WhoRepsTheLurker]

What happens when you specialize and then that field becomes "irrelevant" or is no longer a priority for research grants though? Is that possible? I'm just thinking in terms of eggs and baskets...probably way wrong lol

That is a legitimate concern, but specialization is the only way to stand out and get noticed at this level. So pick wisely and then adapt and evolve.

Using sports as an analogy, it’s similar to choosing hockey over football (for example) or vice versa. UMD is a good example (same ranking as the lower end of the Dakota schools). They are world renown for lake science and D1 hockey, and they stick to what makes them unique and what they do best.

[Bison bison]

Pfft.

Lakes doesn't even believe in science!