U. image improves over last 10 years

Shortly after Judith Rodin took the helm of the University in 1994, she began crafting a strategic plan that pinpointed a specific goal for Penn: "Solidify and advance its position as one of the premier research and teaching universities in the nation and in the world."

Now, 10 years later, Penn has jumped eight spots in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, achieving a 2003 high of fourth place among national universities.

Regardless of the constant debate over the validity of such numbers, this climb sends a clear message that, at least in terms of reputation, the University has reached new heights.

Provost Robert Barchi pointed to a number of factors upon which a school's reputation is built, including quality and prominence of the faculty and perception among current and incoming students.

Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Education Tom Kecskemethy agreed, adding that research grants and prominence of researchers is another factor upon which a reputation is based.

"However you slice and dice it, Penn is now... one of the strongest research universities in the country," Barchi said. That is "a change from where we were 15 years ago."

However, when speaking of high-profile schools -- a category in which Penn is included more often than not these days, the rankings in national publications are a major representation of a school's reputation.

U.S. News is not the only publication that matters, though it is often the first that comes to mind. Others, including the Princeton Review's 351 Best Colleges -- a student-reported ranking system -- and John Lombardi's Top American Research Universities consistently rank Penn among the top institutions.

When you "put [the rankings] all together, what you're impressed with is that Penn is in the top echelon of research universities in all of them," Barchi said.

Former managing editor of America's Best Colleges -- U.S. News' annual edition containing college rankings -- Alvin Sanoff echoed Barchi's comments but cautioned against using the rankings themselves as an indicator of progress from year to year. Some statistics, he said, are more significant than others.

Sanoff warned that the metrics used to formulate the rankings change from year to year -- so if a school's ranking in a category is high one year but not the next, it is likely a result of changing metrics, not a drastic change in the school's programming.

Some statistics, he added, cannot be altered significantly and, as such, can be useful indicators of progress.

One such category is the graduation rate. In the 1995 edition of America's Best Colleges, published in August 1994, shortly after Rodin's arrival, Penn's four-year graduation rate was 90 percent. In this year's edition, the rate tops out at 92 percent.

"That may not seem like a lot, but that's a significant increase," Sanoff said. "Schools in the upper echelons tend to be grouped close together, so moving up a little is considerable."

Another indicator of the rising esteem in which the University is held is its acceptance rate, which has declined steadily over the last 10 years. In 1994, Penn admitted 36 percent of its applicants, and in 2003, a mere 20.5 percent.

The declining rate suggests a larger and more talented applicant pool -- a direct result of the school's reputation, Barchi said.

The improved applicant pool likely has much to do with Penn's rising perception among incoming students.

Robert Hill, director of college advising at St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., said that SPS alumni at Penn have caused the University's reputation to increase back in New Hampshire.

"I see our alumni when they come back [to St. Paul's] and they're raving about it," he said. "They are then speaking to the kids who are a year or two behind them, their friends from the year before, and those kids then turn around and are interested in Penn."

"Word gets around," Sanoff agreed. "Students who go there report back to their high schools that Penn's a good place now."

While climbing national prestige has been one focal point of Rodin's administration, her tenure has been marked by a particular emphasis on improving Penn's image in the more immediate community.

Though this has been a goal for decades, there is disagreement as to whether relations with the city have actually improved in recent years.

According toPrinceton Review's rankings, there has not been a major change in the strain of Penn's so-called "town-gown" relationship with the community.

In the 1996 edition of the publication, Penn ranked 15th in worst college-town relations, and in the 2004 edition the school remains on the list, improving only slightly to the 19th position.

City Councilman David Cohen argued that the University has allied itself with only the wealthiest members of the Philadelphia community and shut itself off to a large core of Philadelphians -- a group he describes as predominantly poor and in need of assistance.

He agreed that the University has better relations with the mayor's and even the governor's office, but this has not improved the school's image with the average Philadelphian.

"Most people in Philadelphia do not have a clue about the University and what it does," Cohen said. "Judith Rodin has continued a long line of University presidents and provosts who feel no obligation to city."

"They are aligned with the wealthy instead of recognizing that Philadelphia is a cosmopolitan city, and a poor city that needs assistance," he said.

However, Barchi argued that there is no doubt that in Rodin's tenure, the University's relationship with the greater Philadelphia area has improved.

Rodin "has done a tremendous amount to improve West Philadelphia itself," Barchi said, citing community programs including the formation of the University City District and the school's devotion to the economic development of West Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley region.

"She has changed the nature of our relationship with the city. I don't think there is any question about that," he said.

Kecskemethy emphasized Penn's commitment to the city and neighborhood in which it resides.

"I think that Dr. Rodin, Penn and the Graduate School of Education's commitment to our urban neighborhood was exactly the right strategic move for this University to make," Kecskemethy said.

"That was evident in Dr. Rodin's last strategic plan, and it's evident across the University. Embracing West Philadelphia and greater Philadelphia rather than turning our back on it is the right thing to do."

"It gives the right message to people who would want to invest in our school and our research."

About this series Penn is a very different place now than it was back in 1994, when University President Judith Rodin first took the helm. And now that Rodin has announced that she will leave her position in June, the University is apt to see more changes in the future. For the next week and a half, The Daily Pennsylvanian will examine a variety of issues, events and people on and around campus that have been affected under Rodin's decade-long tenure. Topics will range from Penn's reputation in higher education to the build-up of retail around campus to expectations for Rodin's successor.

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