Ithaca College has decided to opt out of this year’s ranking of “eco-enlightened schools,” by Sierra Magazine.
Marian Brown, special assistant to the provost, and Mark Darling, the Sustainability Programs Coordinator, decided not to participate because the process was deemed to be too time-consuming for the lack of feedback the college would receive.
Darling said the college opted out because surveys, like Sierra’s, fail to objectively compare colleges.
“Some of these surveys compare us to schools that are twice our size or have different program structures,” he said. “That isn’t objective.”
Brown also said the framing and structure of how questions are asked attributes to the college’s decision not to participate.
“After we’re done being evaluated, we receive no feedback other than a numerical or letter score,” Brown said.
Last year, the college was ranked 47 out of 135.
Administrators at the University of Vermont, St. Olaf College and Luther College have also begun expressing their distaste with current ranking systems, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.