U.S. NEWS' SURVEY: JMU AMONG NATION'S TOP 35 IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

From: Media Relations

 August 18, 2006

HARRISONBURG, Va. — Holding its regional place for the 13th straight year as the South's top public, master's-level university, James Madison University also takes a top national spot for offering its undergraduates solid experience in research and creative projects in the annual "U.S.News & World Report" 2007 America's Best Colleges guide.

In the combined ranking of both public and private Southern master's-level institutions, the top public school, James Madison, maintained its second-place spot just below the South's top private school, Florida's Rollins College, which has a considerably higher tuition and smaller enrollment than does JMU.

JMU also maintained the highest graduation rate — 80 percent — in the South overall, public or private college. The University of Mary Washington in Virginia had the next highest rate at 73 percent.

In the national newsmagazine's "Programs to Look For" section, James Madison was one of 12 public colleges and 35 institutions overall from across the country spotlighted for excellence in "undergraduate research/creative projects" opportunities for undergraduate students. In such programs, undergraduate students, working independently or in small teams and mentored by faculty, conduct intensive and self-directed research or creative work that is presented on or off campus.

JMU, a predominantly undergraduate college with 30 master's and five doctoral programs, places a strong emphasis on undergraduate research and has encouraged such "learning by doing" study for its bachelor's-level students in all academic areas for many years. In JMU's department of psychology, for example, 26 students were co-authors of publications and 129 were authors or co-authors of presented research papers.

"It is not unusual for our undergraduate students to be co-authors on national conference presentations and publications," said Dr. A. Jerry Benson, dean of the JMU College of Integrated Science and Technology. "We constantly hear from other institutions that our students who go there for graduate work have had research experiences at the undergraduate level comparable to master's-level experiences at their institution."

Benson added that the majority of CISAT academic programs are professional preparation programs and that CISAT encourages and supports strategic alliances with private- and public-sector entities. Examples of undergraduate students' research include student research teams working with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases and students working in the areas of wind energy and alternative fuels for vehicles.

"The undergraduate research and service/project experiences prepare our students to enter their first position running," Benson said.

The "hands-on" research learning experiences at James Madison are significant in preparing students for doctoral-level study and research as well as for jobs.

"JMU is ninth in the number of graduates earning Ph.D.s in the physical sciences and 13th in the life sciences among baccalaureate and master's degree institutions," said Dr. David F. Brakke, citing a National Science Foundation summary for 1999-2004. Brakke, dean of the JMU College of Science and Mathematics, added that JMU's programs in the physical and life sciences have expanded in the past seven years and he expects JMU's ranking among Ph.D. producers will rise.

JMU's department of chemistry held its 33rd undergraduate research symposium in 2006; the department was the first at JMU to offer an undergraduate summer research experience program, which received its first NSF funding 14 years ago. Other NSF-funded summer programs have followed in biology, mathematics, materials science and an international program in Ghana.

"We have had as many as five (NSF-Research Experiences for Undergraduates) programs at one time," Brakke said. "Very few universities have two or more."

Both deans pointed to JMU's excellent facilities — including a new building for chemistry and physics that opened in the past year — and equipment available to students for study and research, as well as "creative" faculty who are "high-quality teachers" interested in working with undergraduates in research.

"Visitors to campus from the NSF and professional organizations are impressed and amazed at the level of undergraduate research being conducted, both in terms of quality and the number of students involved," Brakke said.

James Madison sent 19 undergraduates — in biology, physics, chemistry, kinesiology, psychology, political science, and integrated science and technology — to the 20th National Conference on Undergraduate Research, held in April at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. More than 2,000 undergraduates and faculty from 282 U.S. colleges participated in the conference, which showcases undergraduate research and promotes undergraduate scholarship and creative activities. At the American Chemical Society's national meeting in Washington, D.C., last September, 24 JMU students were involved in 20 different presentations.

In March, JMU hosted the fourth Colonial Academic Alliance Undergraduate Research Conference, an annual academic event among the 12 schools that compete in the Colonial Athletic Association.

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  • The top public, master's universities in the South in the 2007 guide are:

    1. James Madison University
    2. University of Mary Washington (Va.)
    3. The Citadel (S.C.)
    4. College of Charleston (S.C.)
    5. Appalachian State University (N.C.)
    6. Murray State University (Ky.)
    7. University of North Carolina-Wilmington
    8. Winthrop University (S.C.)
    9. Mississippi University for Women
    University of North Carolina-Charlotte
    11. Longwood University (Va.)
    Tennessee Technological University

  • The top 10 of all Southern master's universities, public (denoted with an asterisk) and private, are:

    1. Rollins College (Fla.)
    2. James Madison University (Va.)*
    3. Elon University (N.C.)
    4. Samford University (Ala.)
    5. Stetson University (Fla.)
    6. University of Mary Washington (Va.)*
    7. The Citadel (S.C.)*
    Loyola University New Orleans (La.)
    9. Mercer University (Ga.)
    10. Belmont University (Tenn.)

  • "Programs to Look For": Undergraduate Research / Creative Projects
    (listed alphabetically by U.S. News; no rankings made)
    (public colleges marked with *)

    Allegheny College (Pa.)
    California Institute of Technology
    * Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
    Carleton College (Minn.)
    Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.)
    College of Wooster (Ohio)
    Cornell University (NY)
    Davidson College (NC)
    DePauw University (Ind.)
    Duke University (N.C.)
    Elon University (N.C.)
    Furman University (S.C.)
    * Georgia Institute of Technology
    Grinnell College (Iowa)
    Harvard University (Mass.)
    Harvey Mudd College (Calif.)
    Hope College (Mich.)
    * James Madison University (Va.)
    Johns Hopkins University (Md.)
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Oberlin College
    Princeton University (N.J.)
    Reed College (Oregon)
    Stanford University (Calif.)
    * SUNY-Stony Brook
    Swarthmore College (Pa.)
    * Truman State University (Mo.)
    * University of California-Berkeley
    * University of California-Los Angeles
    * University of Delaware
    * University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
    * University of North Carolina-Asheville
    University of Richmond (Va.)
    * University of Texas-Austin
    * University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Highlights of the college rankings are scheduled for publication in the Aug. 28 edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine, available Monday, Aug. 21, the same day that the America's Best Colleges guidebook also is available.