A new index for ranking doctoral programs - conducted by Academic Analytics - has ranked the top programs in 104 fields and the top 10 programs in 24 disciplines. The University's social welfare program ranked fifth in its discipline, while the educational administration and criminal justice programs ranked seventh and tenth in their disciplines, respectively.

"We're gratified to be recognized once again for our outstanding academic programs and the quality and productivity of our faculty," said Provost and Officer in Charge Susan Herbst.

The 2005 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index ranks 7,294 individual doctoral programs in 104 disciplines at 354 institutions. It also ranks institutions in broader categories, including humanities and biological sciences, as well as institutions as a whole. Index findings were released in the Jan. 12 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education

"Although there is no one way to measure excellence in graduate education, Academic Analytics has chosen to focus on the single variable most highly correlated with program quality, namely, the scholarly productivity of its faculty.The FSP Index provides one objective measure of quality," said Marjorie Pryse, dean of graduate studies.

Institutions are categorized as large research universities (those with 15 or more doctorate programs) and small research universities. For a program to be included in the 2005 index, it must have 10 or more faculty members or one-half the median number of faculty members for a program in that discipline.

The productivity of each faculty member is based on the number of books and journal articles published; citations of journal articles; federal-grant dollars awarded; and honors and awards.

Founded in 1968, the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany was as a result of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller's desire to provide a program of education and research organized around issues of crime and justice. It became the first doctorate-granting criminal justice program in the nation and its interdisciplinary "Albany Model" curriculum has been emulated by many of the doctoral programs founded since then. Its faculty members, who represent the disciplines of law, political science, sociology, psychology, and public policy as well as criminal justice, are internationally known for their research; its students are actively engaged in learning the craft of research and are themselves regular participants in the national scholarly societies and frequent contributors to the literature; and its alumni are widely recognized for their leadership positions in criminal justice and criminology research, policy making, and practice.

In 2005, U.S. News & World Report ranked the School of Criminal Justice second in the nation.

The School of Social Welfare faculty consistently rank in the top five of all schools of social work for their research and scholarship and are ranked second in per capita productivity. Like its faculty, students and alumni are an impressive force as they pioneer new services, teach and conduct research in communities across the country and world. The School of Social Welfare seeks to expand its national and international leadership by virtue of increasing its excellence in research and scholarship, teaching and learning, and professional service; broadening its achievements related to multiple kinds of collaboration and community partnerships; deepening its ability to act strategically in relation to rapid and dramatic social change; and furthering its reliance on systematic and planful organizational and programmatic assessment and evaluation for mutual learning, improvement, innovation and knowledge development.

The Department of Educational Administration & Policy Studies (EAPS) in the School of Education seeks to enhance the understanding and practice of educational leadership and policy at all levels of schooling. The faculty are regionally, nationally and internationally recognized experts in educational policy as well as elementary, secondary, and postsecondary school management and leadership. Through studies leading to a master's degree, advanced graduate certificate, certificate of advanced studies or a doctorate, students are prepared to be successful educational leaders as school and district level administrators, college and university faculty and administrators, and researchers and policymakers at domestic and international agencies and foundations around the world.

Earlier in January, UAlbany made Kiplinger's Top 100 list of schools offering the best value in the nation among public colleges. UAlbany ranked 46 for in-state students and 36 for out-of-state students in best education for the price.