February 19, 2007

Public Administration Program Tops Productivity List

The Public Administration Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago has been ranked first nationally among such programs in public universities, and third overall, in a new index based on faculty productivity.

The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index ranks 7,294 Ph.D. programs -- and nearly 178,000 faculty members -- at 354 institutions on the bases of each faculty's publishing in books and journals, citations of journal articles, awards and honors, and federal grants.

The index is produced by Academic Analytics, an organization of researchers at Stony Brook University and Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc.

Faculty who regularly conduct cutting-edge research bring immediacy and relevance to graduate education, said Michael Pagano, director of the Public Administration Program in the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

"Our students see leading scholars using best practices to solve real-world problems while bringing experiential knowledge to the classroom. The students understand how their education in public administration can advance the functions of government as well as their own professional development," Pagano said.

Robin Hambleton, dean of the college, said, "The drive and enthusiasm of our faculty has led to a steep climb in scholarly productivity in recent years, and as this high ranking demonstrates, public administration at UIC is now recognized as a national leader."

The rankings appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education on Jan. 12. In the overall rankings, including both public and private universities, UIC ranked behind only Duke and Northwestern universities in public administration programs.

In 2004, US News and World Report ranked UIC's Public Administration Program sixth in the country for city management and 31st for public financial management.

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public
medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.

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