Untitled Document

Friday, August 18, 2006

Good morning! Here's today's summary of news coverage of Auburn University.
NOTE: Any errors in text are due to formatting by the publication.

Total Clips: 9

	Date	Outlet
AU again in U.S. News ranking	08/18/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
College costs Up, up and away	08/18/2006	CNNMoney.com
UA, Auburn tied for 38th in ranking of public schools	08/18/2006	Birmingham News
Auburn, Alabama tie in academic rankings	08/18/2006	Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Auburn, UA tie in ranking of top colleges	08/18/2006	Press-Register
AU and UA tie on list of best schools	08/18/2006	Montgomery Advertiser
Alabama, Auburn tied in college rankings	08/18/2006	Tuscaloosa News
Fans, alumni boost sports hotel-condos	08/18/2006	Business Week
Jags' D will rise to the occasion	08/18/2006	News Leader (Florida)


AU again in U.S. News ranking 08/18/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Amy Weaver		Return to Top
U.S. News & World Report has named Auburn University to its national survey of the top 50 public universities for the 14th straight year. The annual survey, released today, ranks AU 39th among public universities nationwide, in a seven-way tie with the University of Alabama, California-Riverside, Kansas, Missouri-Columbia, Tennessee and Vermont. Last year, Auburn was 38th, the highest in the state. AU Interim President Ed Richardson found the most significant news to be the university's "rising academic reputation and programs," including the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. "We are attracting outstanding freshmen and the value-added ranking, among the region's best, shows we are providing them with meaningful academic opportunities when they arrive on campus." Auburn's College of Engineering was ranked 60th nationally overall, 35th among public universities, that offer doctoral programs in engineering. Last year, the engineering college ranked 67th among all engineering programs and 40th among such programs at public universities. "Moving ahead in these rankings is central to our strategic planning as we position the college to compete for the best students to learn in an environment that joins a world-class faculty with state-of-the-art facilities that are now coming on line with the construction of the Shelby Center for Engineering Technology," said AU Engineering Dean Larry Benefield. "I appreciate the support we have received from the university, our alumni and industrial partners. Our faculty has in particular made the kind of effort needed to bring us to the next level through a renewed focus on our outreach and research efforts while maintaining our core competencies in undergraduate instruction. This is made more remarkable in the face of intense competition from competing engineering programs throughout the nation." The $108 million Shelby Center is currently being constructed along Magnolia Avenue. The first phase is expected to be done by next August. By the time the entire project is completed in about three years, Benefield anticipates the college’s ranking to be much higher. "We are going to have some incredible facilities and I think it is going to make an incredible difference in the kind of faculty and students we will be able to attract," he said. "My concern is with quality and performance. When that is in place, the reputation will come in time." Auburn has acquired significant recognition in recent years as the first school in the Southeast to offer a software engineering degree. And, it remains the only university in the country to offer a degree in wireless engineering. Benefield said the wireless program has grown from 23 students when it first started in 2002 to more than 200 currently, making it the fastest growing engineering program at Auburn. U.S. News & World Report is known for its annual college rankings. Benefield says he watches them closely from year to year. "You have to put a lot of emphasis on it because employers put a lot of emphasis on it and students deciding where to go to school put a lot of emphasis on it. Their parents do too." To establish its rankings U.S. News categorizes colleges and universities primarily by mission and, in some cases, region. The magazine then gathers data from each on up to 15 indicators of academic excellence, assigning each factor a weight that reflects the magazine's judgment about how much each measure matters. The indicators the magazine staff uses to capture academic quality fall into seven categories: academic reputation among its peers, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, alumni giving, and (for national universities and liberal arts colleges) the graduation rate performance, or the difference between the proportion of students expected to graduate and the proportion who actually do.
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College costs Up, up and away 08/18/2006 CNNMoney.com		Return to Top
AU's tuition mentioned in this survey of college and university tuitions. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The cost of higher education looks like it's climbing ... again. While the final trend figures for the fast-approaching 2006-2007 academic year are still being compiled, students can expect about a 5 percent increase in both tuition and fees, says Carl Buck, vice president for college funding for the college information firm Peterson's. "It is likely that college tuition and fees will continue to rise." Last academic year, the median annual tuition for a four-year private college crept up 5.7 percent to $16,950, according to an annual college cost survey by Peterson's. And that doesn't include room and board and other fees that can easily push the cost of a private college education above $22,000 a year. Even students attending a public university in their home state paid 6.3 percent more for tuition in 2005-2006, or $4,224 per year. A preliminary survey of 10 schools varying in geography and size conducted by CNNMoney.com reveals that the cost of everything from tuition to books to room and board is on the rise for the upcoming academic year. From a small liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,000 to a large public university with 10 times as many students, tuition appears to be heading higher. Auburn University, which boasted the lowest tuition of the state schools polled, reported a 4.1 percent increase in the cost of its tuition, which will be $4,570 this academic year. Tuition at the University of California-Davis however, will remain unchanged -the California state budget this year provides $75 million to cover any fee increases. Private universities are reporting big tuition increases. Gonzaga University, for example, will charge $24,950 in tuition this year, a 7.82 percent increase from the last academic year. Furman University, located in Greenville, S.C., is upping its tuition 9.51 percent this year to $28,352 as the university has just kicked off a $60 million expansion and renovation of its science facilities. Schools such as Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Richmond and George Washington University, typically considered among the most expensive schools in the country with annual tuition exceeding $30,000, should remain at the top of the list this year, according to preliminary numbers from Peterson's upcoming annual college cost survey. Room, board and fees Room and board costs, which rose approximately 5 percent at both public and private schools for the 2005-2006 academic year, appeared to be heading higher based on the schools surveyed. DePaul University in Chicago estimates that room and board will roughly cost an undergraduate $9,076 this year, a 4.32 percent increase from last year. A student attending the University of Wisconsin at Madison should pay about 6.46 percent more this year for room and board, or $6,920. Some schools are even projecting that books and supplies will be more expensive. At the University of California-Davis, for example, students can expect to pay $68 more this year on books and supplies, a 4.7 percent increase from last year. Student fees, which typically cover recreation center costs or campus activities, are up, too. The required fees at Baylor University, for example, are up 5.66 percent this year to $2,240. Between the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 academic years, student fees were among the fastest-growing areas for college costs, according to Peterson's. The median fee increase at private schools was 9 percent, while public university students experienced a 8.7 percent increase. Who's getting squeezed? And if this year is anything like past academic years, says Buck, the out-of-state students attending public universities might experience the biggest percentage increase in tuition. In 2005-2006, the median tuition for that same student was $11,577, up 8.5 percent from the previous academic year. "For recent years, the median increases in tuition and fees at public institutions have surpassed the same at private schools, especially for out-of-state students," he observed. "While the collection and analysis of tuition data is ongoing for 2006-07, it is safe to say that this trend will continue for the immediate future."
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UA, Auburn tied for 38th in ranking of public schools 08/18/2006 Birmingham News Thomas Spencer		Return to Top
Auburn University and the University of Alabama are tied at No.39 in the latest public university rankings from U.S. News and World Report. Birmingham-Southern College and Samford University also received accolades. Samford ranks No.4 in the South among master's granting universities and Birmingham-Southern ranks No.74 nationally among liberal arts colleges. In recent years, Alabama and Auburn have traded the lead back and forth in the rankings. This year, they're tied at 39th along with several other public universities, including the University of California-Riverside, the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the University of Tennessee and the University of Vermont. When private and public national universities are considered, Alabama and Auburn are tied for No.88. Among Southeastern Conference schools, public and private, Vanderbilt University, the only private university, ranks far ahead of the rest at No.18, followed by the University of Florida at No.47, and the University of Georgia at No.60. The rankings are based on academic reputation, graduation rates, and the test scores and high school performance of incoming students.
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Auburn, Alabama tie in academic rankings 08/18/2006 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Associated Press		Return to Top
This AP story was also carried by TimesDaily, WTVM-TV (Columbus) and WAFF-TV (Huntsville). Good news for Alabama's two major universities. Auburn University is ranked 39th in an annual survey by U.S. News and World Report. The school has been listed as one of the top 50 public universities for 14 consecutive years. The academic ranking for the University of Alabama is also 39th -- up 11 spots in this year's survey. U-A has been among the top 50 public universities for six years running. It marks the first time that the state's two major colleges tied in a national ranking of colleges. The magazine's top ranked college is Princeton. The guide to "America's Best Colleges" hits newsstands Monday and bases rankings on 15 factors including resources, alumni contributions and reputation among other schools.
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Auburn, UA tie in ranking of top colleges 08/18/2006 Press-Register Rhoda A. Pickett		Return to Top
Auburn University and the University of Alabama are each ranked 39th among the nation's top public universities, according to the annual survey by the U.S. News & World Report for 2007 released today. Auburn and UA share the 39th ranking of the top 50 public national universities with University of California-Riverside, University of Kansas, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Tennessee and University of Vermont. In the overall rankings of best national universities, Auburn and UA tied for 88th, sharing that ranking with eight other schools. That represents a slight drop for Auburn, which ranked 85th last year. UA rose from being tied for 104th last year. Mobile's Spring Hill College tied for 15th among Southern schools that offer bachelor's and master's degrees. Spring Hill was ranked 12th last year. The University of Mobile ranked 93rd in that group. The University of South Alabama ranked 239th among national universities. The "America's Best Colleges" guide will go on sale Monday. The magazine ranks colleges and universities based on variables such as graduation and retention rates, class size, faculty and financial resources and the share of alumni giving. "I think we are continuing to improve," The Rev. Gregory Lucey, Spring Hill's president, said Thursday. "The freshman class that is arriving today will be a notch higher than the freshman class from last year. In the next five years we would like to be in the top 10, like No. 7 or 8, but we're not going to run ourselves down trying to chase these things." Spring Hill also ranked 12th out of the 15 colleges or universities listed as offering the greatest value for the price. "We see this ranking as well as our dramatic increase in enrollment and student quality as indicators of our continued progress," UA President Robert E. Witt said in a statement. "Our vision of being a university of choice for the best and brightest is becoming a reality. I am particularly pleased to see steady improvement in our retention and graduation rates -- indicators of the commitment to excellence demonstrated by our students, faculty and staff." Auburn interim President Ed Richardson said, "We're pleased that we have again been ranked among the top 50 public universities in the country. When you look at the data, what stands out about this university is our rising academic reputation and programs, including our College of Engineering, which performed exceptionally well in this survey." AU's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering ranked 60th nationally, 35th among public universities.
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AU and UA tie on list of best schools 08/18/2006 Montgomery Advertiser		Return to Top
In this faceoff, Alabama's biggest college rivals are deadlocked, with the state's students emerging as the winners. Auburn University and the University of Alabama each ranked 39th among the 50 best public universities nationwide, according to an annual survey released today by U.S. News & World Report. The formula for the rankings includes variables such as graduation and retention rates, faculty and financial resources, and the percentage of alumni donating money to their alma mater. The biggest single variable is a reputation assessment by peer institutions. "When you look at the data, what stands out about this university is our rising academic reputation and programs, including our College of Engineering, which performed exceptionally well in this survey," said interim AU President Ed Richardson in a statement. Auburn's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering was ranked 60th nationally overall -- 35th among public universities that offer doctoral programs in engineering. Last year, the college ranked 67th among all engineering programs and 40th among such programs at public universities. University of Alabama President Robert Witt was equally pleased. "We see this ranking as well as our dramatic increase in enrollment and student quality as indicators of our continued progress. Our vision of being a university of choice for the best and brightest is becoming a reality," said Witt in a statement. Princeton takes the top spot in the magazine's rankings, breaking a three-year tie for No. 1 with Ivy League rival Harvard. Yale again took the No. 3 spot in the controversial but closely watched rankings, followed by the California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford -- all tied for fourth. The University of Pennsylvania drops from fourth to seventh, and Duke from fifth to eighth. The guide to "America's Best Colleges," hitting newsstands Monday, again names Williams the top liberal arts college. The University of California, Berkeley, is the top-rated public university, tied for No. 21 overall. The ranking marks the 14th consecutive year the magazine has ranked Auburn among the top 50 public universities.
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Alabama, Auburn tied in college rankings 08/18/2006 Tuscaloosa News Adam Jones		Return to Top
TUSCALOOSA \| Alabama’s two major public universities for the first time tied in a national ranking of colleges. The University of Alabama jumped 11 spots in the public institution rankings released today by U.S. News & World Report. UA landed at 39, a spot held by six other public institutions, including Auburn University. "We consider this very good news," UA President Robert Witt said. "On multiple fronts there has been improvement, and it is all tied back to a concerted effort for the university to be the choice for the best and brightest." Released online today and on newsstands Monday, U.S. News' America’s Best Colleges 2007 edition ranks institutions based on several measures of academic quality in seven categories, weighted to make the final score. UA ranked 88th out of 248 public and private universities offering a wide range of doctorial degrees, a rise of 16 places from the publication's 2005 rankings. Meanwhile, Auburn fell three spots to tie with UA, along with Howard University and the universities of California-Riverside, Denver, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Tulsa and Vermont. Auburn also slipped one spot in the public school rankings. "We're focused on the long term performance of the university, and we are pleased to maintain the momentum gained last year," Auburn spokesman David Granger said. "The state of Alabama is fortunate to have two outstanding universities." This is the 14th consecutive year Auburn has been ranked in the top 50. Its highest public ranking was 30th in 2000. UA is marking sixth consecutive year in the top 50 public universities, and its spot this year matches it's highest ranking in 2004. That year, Witt took pride in passing Auburn in the rankings, but has since backed off the rhetoric. "“The fact that both institutions are getting stronger is good for the state," he said. As in previous years, neither school had much fluctuation in their actual score. Colleges' scores in the rankings are determined by formulating a peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. Top-ranked Princeton University scored 100. The top public school, University of California-Berkley, scored 77. UA and Auburn scored 45, down one point for Auburn and up two for UA. "[UA's] score increased slightly, but to some degree it's exaggerated because of ties," said Robert Morris, director of data research for the publication. "They had a number of small increases in their data." Witt said there's probably too much emphasis placed on rankings, especially since a school could improve in the criteria without moving up in the ranks. Still, the university can continue to carry the moniker of a top 50 public institutions. "To say we are a top 50 public university carries some weight," Witt said. "To try to zero in on that we're number 39, that doesn't really communicate that much." Bob Halli, dean of Honor's College, often personally recruits high performing students, and said he those students don't choose schools based on rankings. "Presidents of the institutions pump it up, but I don't think anybody picks Alabama over Auburn or Auburn over Alabama because who's ahead of who in U.S. News." The public schools ahead of UA and Auburn in from the Southeastern Conference are the universities of Florida [16th] and Georgia [19th]. Witt said UA could enter the top 20 or 30 public schools by 2013, the final year of Witt's expansion plan for UA. "Schools make moves like that," Morris said. "It's rare, but it does happen." STATE RANKINGS State schools ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s college rankings. Doctoral universities Auburn University – 88th University of Alabama – 88th Third Tier (127 to 182) University of Alabama at Birmingham University of Alabama in Huntsville Fourth Tier (189 to 248) Alabama A&M University University of South Alabama Southern Master's universities Samford University – fourth Spring Hill College – 15th Tuskegee University – 37nd University of Montevallo – 59th Third tier (64 to 94) Auburn University-Montgomery Jacksonville State University University of Mobile University of North Alabama Fourth tier (99 to 127) Alabama State University University of West Alabama Southern comprehensive bachelor's colleges Stillman College – 35th Third tier (55 to 79) Faulkner University Liberal arts colleges Birmingham Southern University – 74th Fourth tier (165 to 215) Huntington College Judson College
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Fans, alumni boost sports hotel-condos 08/18/2006 Business Week Vinnee Tong, Associated Press Business Writer		Return to Top
AU is mentioned in this roundup story about hotel-condos built for sports fans. The story also appeared in the Boston Globe, News Sentinel (IN), and on broadcast outlets nationwide. Fans of the Fightin' Irish at Notre Dame may soon have a new place to rest their heads at the end of the long football-filled Saturdays in autumn. A developer plans to build hotel-condos in downtown South Bend, Ind., and is targeting the near-fanatical Notre Dame football fans as potential condo buyers. Gary, especially season-ticket holders, and graduates by building condo-hotels near college campuses. He has finished four developments and has five more planned. The sports-themed hotel-condos are part of a wider trend, with hotel-condo developments spreading into small and mid-size cities across the country, a departure from the expected locations such as New York, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas and San Francisco. In some cases, the developments are changing the faces of downtowns and altering the way people vacation. In this case, builders are capitalizing on the nostalgia of college alumni and sports fans. "I found out they want to come back and they want to invest in their college town, but they don't want the hassles that come with it," Spillers said. "We basically created a hassle-free option that produces income when they're not using it." The Gameday units are operated like traditional hotel-condos, with owners buying a unit and, when they're not using it, letting hotel management rent it out. The owner and hotel share revenue. Dante Alexander, the president of the condo hotel owner association, said hotel-condos will increasingly be built around groups of people with common interests, such as sports fans, college students, alumni and business travelers. Gameday Centers has finished four such plans near football schools such as the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Auburn University in Alabama, the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and the University of Georgia at Athens. Spillers said the developments sold quickly, with nearly all units sold when the buildings opened. Five more are planned, including the one near Notre Dame, and others near Texas A&M, Texas Tech and the University of Texas. Within a month, the developer will finish another near the University of Florida near Tallahassee. "We found the market is deeper than we originally anticipated," Spillers said. "We've gone to bigger buildings now." Spillers said the planned developments will each have between 125 to 150 condo units. Alexander said developers will soon target other communities of people. "Why put your son or daughter into a dorm when you can buy a condo unit," he said. "Eventually there will be sporting condo-hotels and hunting and fishing ones. Football is already there, so the next thing will be other sports, convention centers. It will progress to all economic segments and the condo-hotel will spread into other lifestyles."
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Jags' D will rise to the occasion 08/18/2006 News Leader (Florida) John Crawford, Sports Talk		Return to Top
AU's directed studies discussed briefly in this roundup of sports-related stories. So the Jacksonville Jaguars' first-team offense appeared a little shaky during the first half of the team's 31-26 exhibition win over the Miami Dolphins. Don't sweat it, Jags' fans. The offense is what it is and anyone who follows Jacksonville closely knows that the success or failure of the 2006 squad will be determined largely by the play of the defense. Now if the defense gives up 26 points at home against Dallas in week one of the regular season, there will be cause for concern. But I'm going to go out on a limb early and say this defense won't give up more than 20 points too many times after the final pre-season game... The Florida Gators hit the field for two-a-day football practices a little over a week ago and, probably to no one's surprise, the team's second-string defensive line is reportedly dominating its first-team offensive line. The good news is that Florida is expected to have as strong a defensive front seven as ever, which could account for the struggles of the big guys on offense. The bad news is that LSU, Auburn, Georgia and Florida State are expected to be pretty good on the defensive front as well. While Florida's young offensive line is rumored to be more talented than last year's, it will have to grow up in a hurry for a shot at what has proved to be an elusive SEC Championship... Florida State seems to have found a gem in freshman defensive back Myron Rolle, who most expect to work his way into the 'Noles starting lineup before their game against Miami. But above and beyond what the kid might bring to the table athletically is his academic prowess. Get this: The last time Rolle achieved a grade other than an A was in his freshman year of high school. And he is already a college sophomore academically because of his dual enrollment work as a high school student. Whether or not Rolle ends up on the Jim Thorpe watch list for college football's best defensive back, which most expect he will before his time expires at Florida State, remains to be seen. But it's obvious that the kid has his priorities straight... A recent probe at Auburn University found that athletes were not being steered by the athletic association to take easy classes to help them remain eligible. But that doesn't mean the easy classes weren't available. Auburn sociology professor Thomas Petee was accused by a colleague of helping Tigers' football players stay eligible by offering "directed reading" courses, which required little to no work and no classroom attendance. Speculation was that Petee was in cahoots with the athletic association to steer athletes his way, which an investigation proved to be false. Good for Auburn athletics, but the real issue isn't about who's telling who to do what. The fact that such easy courses exist should be the focus in this situation. Because I, for one, was never lucky enough to take a college course that required little to no work... The Atlanta Braves should replace their tomahawk tune with Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." Because that ship is sinking quickly.
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