The Chronicle of Higher Education’s third annual survey of scholarly productivity names University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) faculty as being among the best in the nation.
CAFNR Animal Science faculty ranked fifth most productive among its peer institutions. MU agriculture faculty overall ranked seventh.
The national publication’s 2007 index rates educator-researchers according to the number of scholarly papers and books published, citations in scientific journals, federal grant dollars awarded and other honors and awards.
The Chronicle examined 164,843 Ph.D. faculty members at 375 universities that offer a Ph.D. program.
MU Animal Science faculty ranked fifth in the 2006 survey, also. In that year, MU Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences educators ranked sixth among their similar programs nationwide. MU’s Plant Sciences research faculty ranked sixth and the Forestry faculty was tenth.
“We’re pleased by the rankings, but not surprised,” said Tom Payne, vice chancellor and dean of CAFNR. “I feel the ranking would be even higher if our teaching programs were considered. CAFNR is an outstanding college with great faculty, staff and students.”
“CAFNR’s national ranking is also reflected on campus as our faculty consistently ranks first among MU schools and colleges in sponsored research expenditures, a measure of research activity,” said Marc Linit, CAFNR associate dean and associate director of the Office of Research and Extension.
The rankings are made for the national newspaper by a for-profit company, owned in part by the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The firm released the rankings in November.
According to the index, 61 percent of MU Animal Science faculty wrote articles that appeared in scientific journals. On average, each of these faculty members published 3.39 articles. Research by these MU faculty members were often cited in journal articles written by other scientists.
Sixty-nine percent of MU faculty, involved in various agriculture-related disciplines, published an average of 2.36 articles each.
Scholarly articles and research funding money are considered two important methods that determine an institution’s intellectual heft. Scientific contributions are also linked to quality of graduate and undergraduate education.