Syracuse University ranked 144 out of 177 U.S. universities in a recent study conducted by The Alumni Factor, a new company that measures a university’s alumni network.

“It doesn’t sit well,” said Brian Spector, president of the SU Alumni Association. “The ranking doesn’t equate well to the feedback I get as alumni president.”

Alumni Factor, similar to other college guides, includes graduation rates, tuition costs and student-faculty ratios in its report. But the study also includes attributes such as overall happiness of graduates and average income of households of graduates.

Spector said he feels these rankings do not reflect the actual alumni connections at SU because he doesn’t know exactly how these rankings were compiled. Data is collected through proprietary research conducted among graduates in the United States age 24 and above, according to the Alumni Factor’s website. But Spector sees this as a major flaw in the rankings.

“Proprietary is the equivalent of confidential,” he said. “Any ranking system based on something confidential means that it’s not transparent. There’s no way to look at the components for each university and how it’s evaluated.”

There are also many different ways alumni are involved with the university, Spector said. Programs such as SUccess in the City, local alumni clubs and multiple Facebook and LinkedIn groups directly connect alumni with current students. Having a strong alumni network has become more important in recent years for students searching for jobs and selecting universities, Spector said.

Kim Brown, assistant director of alumni programs for SU Career Services, also said she thinks the university has one of the best alumni networks in the country. She said she also questions the methodology behind the Alumni Factor rankings.

“How do you gauge happiness in a survey, and what is career success?” Brown said. “I just think that there are so many different ways to judge success.”

When students are looking at universities, Brown said, they should take into account all of what the university has to offer, rather than focusing on certain scores.

Brown, who is also an SU alumna, said seeing the campus and school spirit played a big part in her college decision. Syracuse excels at connecting alumni with students to help them get jobs right out of college — something she doesn’t think was shown in the Alumni Factor report.

“I just think that you can take it for what it’s worth,” she said. “Or you could actually go to campus, visit and get the feel.”

Current students also believe SU has a very good alumni network. John Nolan, a senior broadcast journalism major, said he disagrees with the rankings because of his own experiences at SU.

“From my experiences, it seems like Syracuse alums are still pretty passionate about their university after they graduate,” he said. “Rankings like this are kind of silly in the first place because I just don’t know how you can determine something like this.”

Nolan said he believes alumni are important when choosing a university, and seeing the list of SU alumni impressed him.

“I would say that when prospective students come to visit SU, they leave being pretty impressed by the fact that our alums include the likes of Bob Costas, Aaron Sorkin, Joe Biden, Mike Tirico,” he said. “That in itself is more relevant than these rankings.”

Published on September 19, 2012 at 1:55 am

Contact Tyler: tagreena@syr.edu