2008 Woodie Awards
Union makes several Princeton Review lists
Jasmine Maldonado
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: News
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Union College placed on several of Princeton Review's lists for its The 366 Best Colleges: 2008 Edition. Union placed in categories including "Little Race/Class Interaction," "Lots of Beer," "More to Do on Campus," and "Town-Gown Relations are Strained."
The school led in categories like "More to Do on Campus" at #1 and "Town-Gown Relations are Strained" at #2. It made #17 on the "Lots of Beer" list and #18 on "Little Race/Class Interaction."
Whether these rankings have any legitimate implications for the institution is debatable. The methods used for the list compilation are sometimes regarded as unreliable because it is not scientific and uses randomly administered surveys.
The Princeton Review claims that their lists "will give you an unbiased and uncensored view of the chosen colleges," and that "almost every ranking is based on what…current college students…tell us about their schools."
For the most part, members of the administration seem to think the lists are not a true indicator of the institution. Dean of Residential and Campus Life Thomas McEvoy challenged the method of compiling the information for the rankings.
"Who is doing the responding? Are they getting the opinions of a lot of students? I would question how reflective [the results are] of the entire student body," McEvoy stated.
The question posed by the Princeton Review regarding "More to Do on Campus," according to their website, is "based on students' assessment of the surrounding city or town." Therefore the data, if it exposes anything at all, may expose more about the town than the institution.
Director of Student Activities Matt Milless maintains, nonetheless, that there is plenty to do on campus and that "anybody who lacks something to do on campus lacks a variety of interest. We are working with a lot of the same entertainers that bigger universities do," citing Gym Class Heroes as a recent example.
He attributes the quality of Union's variety of student activities to Union students, not to his office, which he says is mainly responsible for giving students the tools and leadership skills necessary to successfully execute events and programs that attract members of the student body.
The school led in categories like "More to Do on Campus" at #1 and "Town-Gown Relations are Strained" at #2. It made #17 on the "Lots of Beer" list and #18 on "Little Race/Class Interaction."
Whether these rankings have any legitimate implications for the institution is debatable. The methods used for the list compilation are sometimes regarded as unreliable because it is not scientific and uses randomly administered surveys.
The Princeton Review claims that their lists "will give you an unbiased and uncensored view of the chosen colleges," and that "almost every ranking is based on what…current college students…tell us about their schools."
For the most part, members of the administration seem to think the lists are not a true indicator of the institution. Dean of Residential and Campus Life Thomas McEvoy challenged the method of compiling the information for the rankings.
"Who is doing the responding? Are they getting the opinions of a lot of students? I would question how reflective [the results are] of the entire student body," McEvoy stated.
The question posed by the Princeton Review regarding "More to Do on Campus," according to their website, is "based on students' assessment of the surrounding city or town." Therefore the data, if it exposes anything at all, may expose more about the town than the institution.
Director of Student Activities Matt Milless maintains, nonetheless, that there is plenty to do on campus and that "anybody who lacks something to do on campus lacks a variety of interest. We are working with a lot of the same entertainers that bigger universities do," citing Gym Class Heroes as a recent example.
He attributes the quality of Union's variety of student activities to Union students, not to his office, which he says is mainly responsible for giving students the tools and leadership skills necessary to successfully execute events and programs that attract members of the student body.
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