Rankings of universities and departments in many disciplines, including health education are commonplace. Rankings done by U.S. News and World Report and Money are frequently referenced and utilized by institutions and departments. Utilizing a set of eight variables (4 faculty and 4 student variables) weighted by a board of reviewers composed of leaders and scholars in health education, the first ranking of health education doctoral programs was published in 2000. Variables included measures of faculty productivity in terms of articles published, citations received, and editorships in preeminent health education journals; total program external funding for research, grants, and contracts (not training or service) in health education; activity of doctoral students pertaining to research, teaching, and service; student/faculty ratio; mentoring of students and quality of student placement on graduation; and, student support (financial support and assistantships for teaching and research). Twenty-eight of 44 doctoral programs (64%) in health education participated in the ranking study. While providing rankings, the study did not provide a descriptive data analysis of the eight variables. This study provides a descriptive analysis of the data used to generate the doctoral program rankings. Results indicated a wide range of findings for some variables. Analysis of measures of central tendency indicated that median data was more appropriate than mean data for most variables due to the data being skewed. Doctoral programs in school health may find the results helpful in assessing program quality and enhancing doctoral program ranking.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in the session will be able to: 1. Describe four major types of contemporary methods to rank academic programs. 2. Identify variables used to measure faculty and student productivity when ranking academic programs. 3. Describe and analyze the productivity of faculty and students in doctoral programs of health education. 4. Identify ways to enhance doctoral program ranking.
Keywords: Health Education, College Students
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.