Columbia University, in its announcement on Friday, September 9, acknowledged that it had received some inaccurate data as part of its participation in the university rankings carried out by US News and World Report for the 2022 edition of its Best Colleges (published September 2021). was received.
The revelation came as part of a message from Provost Mary Boyce that Columbia would now begin accumulating data in the Common Data Set, which would be used by colleges and universities to provide the public with comprehensive data about their institutional performance. . is an initiative.
The point was that the math professor presented data on "graduation class size, percentage of faculty with terminal degrees, percentage of full-time faculty, and student-faculty ratio" presented by Columbia University to US News & World Report and compared the data. Compare "with". Figures calculated by other means, based on information made public by Colombia elsewhere." He acknowledged that this is why Columbia University submitted incorrect data for the rankings last year.
The university stated that previously presented figures were inaccurate and did not conform to USA News instructions, resulting in "over-reporting of classes with fewer than 20 students and under-reporting of classes between 20 and 29". student. In its revised count, Columbia reports that in the fall of 2021, 57% of undergraduate classes had enrollments under 20, 74% under 25, and 77% under 30.
In the announcement, Columbia claimed that its undergraduate experience "has been and has always been centered around small classes taught by highly accomplished teachers." But it states that "anything less than absolute accuracy in the data we report - regardless of size or cause - is inconsistent with the standards of excellence to which Colombia holds itself. I am deeply sorry for that and we are committed to doing better."
Describing the instructions to complete the Common Data Set as "complicated" and necessarily in need of interpretation, Columbia took a precautionary step in the form of asking that Ankura Consulting Group compile that data from the university's system. . be reviewed.