Spring Break
What lies beneath is what counts
Editorial Board
Issue date: 8/8/08 Section: Ed-Op
It wasn't a surprise to many people when Drexel was once again ranked as one of the "least beautiful" campuses in the Princeton Reviews rankings this year. The University was ranked the third least beautiful campus, slightly better than the second worst last year, and the worst a year before that.
The Princeton Review has stated, "The book is based 100 percent on student opinion." Sure, student opinions are very important for things like campus image, but where are the deeper metrics when it comes to academics, the very thing that is supposed to be the foundation of universities everywhere?
Each year the student body notices our beauty rating first and foremost. What we should really stop to take a look at are some more alarming ratings - the fact that we rated high on the lists for Least Accessible Professors, Professors Get Low Marks and Long Lines and Red Tape.
While using a small sampling of student opinions alone without any objective way to measure such categories is probably not the most accurate benchmarking tool, these ratings should still stand out and make us push the administration for changes. And we don't mean more shiny new buildings, LED lights or fountains. Let's let up on the fact that we don't have a "beautiful" campus for a minute, and instead focus on improving students' relationships with professors and the visibility and accessibility of our University's administrative side.
If you are frustrated about something around Drexel - don't complain to the Princeton Review. Get involved in the student community to really make a difference from the bottom up. Then and only then will we be able to get others to see the real efforts that have made us a just as worthy as those "beautiful" schools - like our 98 out of 99 rating on the Princeton Review's new "Green Grade," or the fact that we have one of the top entrepreneurial undergraduate programs in the country.
Lead the changes you want to see at Drexel University, and then work hard to make others see them also. Our campus "beauty" rating is only skin deep - let's work to make sure that what's inside is amazing.
The Princeton Review has stated, "The book is based 100 percent on student opinion." Sure, student opinions are very important for things like campus image, but where are the deeper metrics when it comes to academics, the very thing that is supposed to be the foundation of universities everywhere?
Each year the student body notices our beauty rating first and foremost. What we should really stop to take a look at are some more alarming ratings - the fact that we rated high on the lists for Least Accessible Professors, Professors Get Low Marks and Long Lines and Red Tape.
While using a small sampling of student opinions alone without any objective way to measure such categories is probably not the most accurate benchmarking tool, these ratings should still stand out and make us push the administration for changes. And we don't mean more shiny new buildings, LED lights or fountains. Let's let up on the fact that we don't have a "beautiful" campus for a minute, and instead focus on improving students' relationships with professors and the visibility and accessibility of our University's administrative side.
If you are frustrated about something around Drexel - don't complain to the Princeton Review. Get involved in the student community to really make a difference from the bottom up. Then and only then will we be able to get others to see the real efforts that have made us a just as worthy as those "beautiful" schools - like our 98 out of 99 rating on the Princeton Review's new "Green Grade," or the fact that we have one of the top entrepreneurial undergraduate programs in the country.
Lead the changes you want to see at Drexel University, and then work hard to make others see them also. Our campus "beauty" rating is only skin deep - let's work to make sure that what's inside is amazing.
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