Testimony, February 19, 2004, Office of the President, University of Maryland

Closing the Gap

How does Maryland fare in competition with the best? "Move Over UVA," a full length comparison of the strengths of the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia in the January 2004 Washingtonian magazine puts it pretty well.

"Not long ago, talking about Maryland in the same breath as Berkeley and Michigan—let alone Virginia—would have seemed laughable. But no longer."

In every measure of performance and expectation, from student qualifications at admission to faculty research to service to business development (incubator, research park, entrepreneurship) to performing arts and athletics, the University is more competitive than it has ever been, and it receives the highest recognition for its advancement.

Overall rate of progress

The rate of progress is the key indicator of performance. In July 2000, TheCenter at the University of Florida published its first annual report titled "The Top American Research Universities." Based on the work of the Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance, TheCenter study ranks the top American research universities on the basis of such compelling measures as faculty productivity in terms of research and awards, loyalty of friends and alumni as a donor base, and quality of students admitted. Over recent years the University's rise in quality measures and reputation has outpaced all others in the country.

Figure 2 illustrates the percent at which our programs are rising in the rankings of academic programs in U.S. News & World Report, reflecting the strong upward path of our quality indicators.

The Washingtonian magazine article comparing UM and UVA gives a big edge to Maryland as a "Science Power." There are only 10 universities nationally that have programs in computer science, engineering, mathematics and physics all ranked in the top 20; three are in the west, two in the mid-west, one in the south, and the four in the east are Maryland, MIT, Princeton and Cornell. This map shows why the flagship campus is well positioned to help the State take advantage of technology growth and opportunity.

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is also moving up rapidly. As Figure 4 illustrates, according to the latest Financial Times rankings, the MBA program at the Smith School is ranked #4 among all U.S. business schools at public universities, #18 among all MBA programs in the United States, and #27 in the world. The rankings are consistent with the findings of other leading business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, which placed the Smith School's MBA program #19 worldwide in its most recent rankings. "An extraordinary appetite for innovation characterizes the school be it in course construction, career development or technology," noted the Financial Times in a Smith School profile article accompanying its 2004 MBA rankings. "The building at the Smith school is probably the most technology-intensive of any business school," the Financial Times reported.

>>How Do We Stack Up?

Office of the President, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742