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Index ranks Sanford PhD faculty first in scholarly productivity

The Sanford Institute of Public Policy’s PhD faculty rank first among their U.S. public policy peers, according to a new measure of scholarly productivity. The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index (FSPI), developed by Lawrence B. Martin, graduate dean at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, rates annual faculty output by counting the publications, awards, honors and grants of faculty members. The weight given to each variable differs by academic discipline.

Some of the FSPI results, calculated with 2005 data, were reported in the Jan. 12, 2007 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Fritz Mayer, the Sanford Institute’s Director of Graduate Studies, is currently evaluating more than 100 applications for the Institute’s first class of PhD students, who will start this fall.

“Since we are only now admitting our first doctoral students, we can hardly claim to be the top PhD program in public policy,” Mayer said, “but the faculty ranking suggests something about our potential. It’s a bit like being ranked #1 in pre-season basketball polls -- it’s what you do when the season starts that counts. But I’m not surprised by the rankings. We have a terrific faculty.” 

Because it is based on measurable data, the FSPI provides a welcomed alternative to the often cited and often criticized U.S. News and World Report graduate school rankings, which are based on program reputation. Academics prefer data-derived evaluations such as the National Research Council’s doctoral program rankings, but the NRC rankings have not been updated since 1995.

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