FOR THE FIFTH consecutive year, UST failed to
gain a spot in the Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) worldwide subject rankings, left behind
by University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University.
UP ranked in four subjects, down from last
year’s 11 subjects. The state university placed in the 101-150 bracket for
English and Literature, 151-200 for both Agriculture and Forestry and the
Modern Languages, and 301-400 for Medicine.
La Salle entered the 151-200 and 201-300 brackets
for English Language and Literature and Education, respectively. Ateneo also
placed at the 151-200 bracket for English Language and Literature.
The last time UST figured in the top 200 of
the subject rankings was in 2011, when it entered the 101-150 bracket for
English and Literature. The latest QS ranking by subject is the world’s largest
subject ranking, covering 42 disciplines.
According to the official QS website, the
annual World University Rankings by Subject provide employers, students,
parents, and academics with the “most comprehensive insight into global
university performance at the subject level.”
Beyond
rankings
Former rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy O.P. said
UST was not in the QS subject rankings due to the University’s failure to
submit data required by the London-based QS.
“I think hindi
tayo seryoso mag-submit nung mga
data na kailangan ng QS. You have to
provide QS with the research and activities of the particular department where
you want to be ranked,” Fr. Dagohoy said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
While research in UST is improving, there is a
need to establish a central data management system, he said. “Our problem is
structural in the sense that we need to have more dedicated people and come up
with a very good data management system because our data is not yet
computerized and that takes a lot of time,” Fr. Dagohoy said.
But UST’s failure to appear in the QS subject
rankings does not define its overall performance as a competent institution, he
said.
“Universities are complex institutions and no
ranking can say that one university is better than the other. The ranking does
not capture the University’s role in the community,” Fr. Dagohoy said.
Lack
of focus in research
General education department chairs pointed to
the University’s perennial problems in research and publication.
Augusto de Viana, history department chairman,
there were limited slots for faculty who want to do research. “In our
department, there are 28 tenured professors and there are only very limited
slots for members who could be allowed to do research. The University also has
limited funds for research,” De Viana said in an interview.
De Viana said the cessation of the
publication of Unitas, the official
scholarly journal of UST for the humanities, liberal arts and the social
sciences, in 2009, and Ad Veritatem, the
official multidisciplinary research journal of the Graduate School, in 2012, forced
faculty members to publish outside UST.
“As a result of the two journals being shut
down, we have to publish outside UST or abroad. The good thing is that our research
are accepted abroad. The bad thing is we are killing our own publication and
promoting the publications of others,” De Viana said.
Literature department chairwoman Joyce Arriola
said research and publications in the University were not extensive.
“We have faculty members who are still just
finishing their doctorate degrees so their priorities are in their coursework
and dissertation writing. We have only a few faculty members doing research and
a number are fellows of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies
(CCWLS),” Arriola said, adding that creative writing under CCWLS is only half
of the literary research required. The other half is the publication of criticism,
which UST is poor at, Arriola added.
The Philippines is one of the 60 countries
worldwide that have universities recognized by QS. The rankings are based on
academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact.
In the QS world university rankings last
year, UST kept its place in the 701+ bracket. UP, Ateneo and La Salle
slid, placing in the 401-410 bracket, 501-550 bracket and 701+ bracket
respectively.
Harvard University and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology dominated the QS subject rankings. Alhex Adrea M. Peralta and Jerome
P. Villanueva
