CSOM Awarded Top Ten Ranking

BC’s Carroll School of Management students recently learned that their undergraduate program has been ranked in the Top Ten in the nation for 2010. A leap upward from number 17 in 2009, CSOM’s current place at number nine is certainly an incredible achievement. How did CSOM make such a drastic improvement, according to Business Week? Well, first we should consider how the publication determines their rankings.

Two primary components go into determining a school’s rank: the results from two surveys distributed by Business Week, as well as an academic quality gauge. Distributed to 88,000 students from 139 schools, the student survey examined “everything from the quality of teaching to recreational facilities.” These results were combined with those of 2008 and 2009 to ultimately count for 30 percent of the final ranking.

Business Week also surveyed 718 corporate recruiters from some of the major employers of business graduates, asking questions regarding the background of top graduates, various curricula, and career services. The results from the recruiter survey were also combined with those of the two previous years to contribute 20 percent of the overall ranking.

The remaining portion of the score is determined by the school’s academic quality gauge, which includes average SAT scores, the ratio of full-time faculty to students, average class size, percentage of business majors with internships, and average time spent studying. These five factors contribute 30 percent. Average starting salary and a measure of which schools send the most graduates into the top 35 MBA programs contribute the last 20 percent.

So where does CSOM fall with all of these numbers? BC received a 21 in the student survey and a 3 for its recruiter ranking. Academic quality rank was 23, faculty-student ratio was 26.0 and the average SAT score was 1345; average starting salary was $55,000 and MBA feeder school rank was 14. Richard Keeley, Associate Dean for Undergraduates, gives his take on the numbers.

Primarily, Dean Keeley attributes the jump in rankings to CSOM’s “great students and great faculty.” CSOM students are well-rounded; not only do they excel in academics, but they are leaders in their everyday activities. They know how to work with people, a quality that shines when working with recruiters. Dean Keeley quotes a statement he often hears from recruiters: “BC students pass the airplane test.” Essentially, a recruiter would be more than happy sitting next to a BC grad if flying alone – an interesting, but revealing, measure in the business world.

Giving students proper credit, Dean Keeley goes on to acknowledge the excellent undergraduate faculty. According to Dean Keeley, “six years ago, there were only two and a half people in the Undergrad Dean’s office.” Today, Dean Keeley works with Dean James Halpin, Dean Ethan Sullivan, Erica Graf, and his always-pleasant secretary, Sara Nunziata, on an everyday basis to increase faculty contact with students. The team has worked together to institute several new programs in recent years, all with the goal of providing opportunities for students to work with faculty on a daily basis. Dean’s Coffee, which meets every Thursday afternoon in Fulton, allows undergraduates to meet with administration in a comfortable setting; increased drop-in hours are a convenient time to ask questions ranging from course selection woes to study abroad information; and a weekly “This Week in CSOM” email alerts all undergraduates of upcoming events and opportunities within the Carroll School.

Last, but certainly not least within Fulton, Dean Keeley gives special credit to Andrew Boynton, Dean of the Carroll School. Dean Keeley describes Dean Boynton as “Oz, the man behind the function.” Dean Boynton “has pushed to make the undergraduate program a priority, providing effective resources which make a tremendous difference.” It is with his full support that the undergraduate program has flourished in recent years.

Dean Keeley also goes out of his way to recognize BC’s Career Center, whose services are crucial to senior job placement. CSOM graduates in recent years have been so pleased with career advising and assistance that they rated job placement with an A+ when surveyed.

In response to much praise for the undergraduate program, Dean Keeley cautions that the Carroll School’s prestigious Top Ten rank may be subject to change in coming years, simply because of the nature of the ranking method. He describes the overall process as “an apples and oranges kind of thing – it can be misleading.” How exactly can a publication compare a program with 190 students, such as MIT’s Sloan School of Management, with CSOM’s 1,970 undergraduates? “How are we going to beat that faculty-student ratio?” continues Dean Keeley, “We cannot budge this number without reducing students or increasing faculty, which is an expensive proposition.”

Despite certain flaws of the ranking system, CSOM’s newest achievement reflects the success of the tremendous effort and resources that have gone into the undergraduate program in recent years. “Overall, we are happy with where we are,” says Dean Keeley, “and the thing that has made a difference is how well students have done.” The Carroll School faculty will certainly continue to work toward improvement. The next step? Dean Keeley hopes “to grow the faculty and increase faculty contact with students … the advising process is crucial.”

For now, however, Fulton will continue to celebrate its recent achievement. Anyone passing through Fulton cannot miss the banner currently hanging in the main lobby, congratulating all who have contributed to the Top Ten rank. Students and faculty gathered during Thursday’s Dean’s Coffee to celebrate over a chocolate fountain and a layer cake.

Congratulations, Carroll school faculty and students – the celebration is certainly well-deserved.

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