More Than Our Rank Community Calls
The INORMS Research Evaluation Group regularly run More Than Our Rank Community Calls to advocate for, and share signatories’ experience of joining the initiative.
Spotlight Session: The Role of “Quality”, Commercial Players, and Popular Media in Global University Rankings
When: Thursday, 2 May 2024, 15.00-16.00 GMT
Dr. Riyad A. Shahjahan is an Associate Professor of Higher, Adult and Life Long Education (HALE) at Michigan State University, whose current research examines the role of commercial players and media in global university rankings. In this Spotlight Session, Dr. Riyad Shahjahan will discuss the ideas of evaluating research quality and the role of for-profit business and media influence on global university rankings. There will be plenty of time to ask questions and openly discuss these topics.
Previous More than our Rank Calls
Spotlight Session: How to challenge the coloniality & biases of the global university rankings
16 April, 2024
Professor David McCoy of the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health recently led on a significant review on the coloniality & biases of the global university rankings. This exposed the rankings as a mechanism by which the concentration of power and prestige among universities in the Global North is maintained and describes the resulting negative influence on global health priorities. The expert group who authored the report subsequently published a separate set of recommendations that sought to address the issues they raised. In this spotlight session, David will describe how the review came about, what it found, and offer advice to all stakeholders as to how they can play their part in challenging the coloniality and biases of the global university rankings. There will be plenty of time to ask questions and openly discuss these topics.
Spotlight Session: Withdrawing from the university rankings – the Utrecht story.
December 11, 2023
The University of Utrecht recently announced that, in addition to signing up to More Than Our Rank, they had withdrawn altogether from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In this Spotlight Session, Dr Jacob Nelson, Research Policy Officer, and Dr Jeroen Bosman, Open Science Specialist, from the University of Utrecht outlined the background to their decision, the process by which the institution came to withdraw, the reaction from their academic community, and any predicted outcomes from their decision.
Asia-Pacific
March 24, 2023,
Keynote talk: “Teflon tables: is there any criticism of university league tables that will stick?” by Professor Adrian Barnett, School of Public Health & Social Work, Queensland University of Technology
Why we support More Than Our Rank: The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), DORA Vice Chair, Professor Ginny Barbour
Why we became an early adopter of More Than Our Rank: Queensland University of Technology. Dr John Byron, Principal Policy Advisor
The practicalities and benefits of participating in More Than Our Rank. Mediated discussion.
Africa, Americas, Europe
When: April 17, 2023
Keynote: “The Hidden Costs of Rankings” by Leslie Chan, Associate Professor in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media and the Centre for Critical Development Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Why we support More Than Our Rank: The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University. Professor Ludo Waltman, Deputy Director of CWTS
Early adopter panel. Contributions from More Than Our Rank signatory universities
The practicalities and benefits of participating in More Than Our Rank. Mediated discussion.
The More Than Our Rank initiative has been developed in response to some of the problematic features and effects of the global university rankings. By participating academic institutions are demonstrating a commitment to responsible assessment and to acknowledging a broader and more diverse definition of institutional success.