Tuesday, March 3, 2009

– Local News: JMU College of Business holds top 5 percent spot in BusinessWeek rankings, Tuesday, 2 p.m.
– Local Events: Harriet Tubman Day in Harrisonburg, Tuesday, 11 a.m.

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Local News: JMU College of Business holds top 5 percent spot in BusinessWeek rankings, Tuesday, 2 p.m.

After four years of surveys, James Madison University’s College of Business remains in the top 5 percent of undergraduate business schools ranked by BusinessWeek magazine.

According to the publication, positive student feedback places the JMU business program among the best in the nation. Students rated the program 16th overall and fifth in the nation among public universities.

Students tell BusinessWeek that talented faculty, with few teaching assistants, creates a strong learning environment in JMU’s business program. In the survey that uses nine measures of student satisfaction, postgraduate outcomes and academic quality, student responses count toward 30 percent of the final totals.

While JMU’s College of Business remains in the top 5 percent, the undergraduate program climbed 10 slots from ranking 54 in 2008 to 44 in 2009. Dr. Robert R. Reid, dean of the College of Business, credits student satisfaction, smaller class sizes and lower faculty-to-student ratios with the higher ranking in 2009.

“We are continuously working to improve our program. In the last two years we’ve reduced the size of the college slightly, bringing our student ratio to 25 to 1, in an effort to improve the student experience,” said Reid.

The college also underwent a core curriculum review recently and is in the process of implementing recommendations to adjust curriculum to meet the changing needs of the market.

BusinessWeek uses nine measures to calculate rankings after surveying more than 20,000 business students, more than 500 employer recruiters and gathering data from business schools about their programs.

Current surveys and data are combined with data from previous years to arrive at a score for each school. The publication gathers data about everything from faculty qualifications to facilities. Since the first ranking in 2006, students have responded positively in favor of JMU’s College of Business.

Among Virginia public schools, JMU ranked third. The University of Virginia ranked number 1, The College of William and Mary ranked 30th and Virginia Tech ranked 54th.

  

Local Events: Harriet Tubman Day in Harrisonburg, Tuesday, 11 a.m.

The Harriet Tubman Cultural Center is marking Harriet Tubman Day, March 10, with a special production of Harriet Tubman … Her Story! featuring international storyteller and poet Oni Lasana.

An opening performance by Underground Railroad is also on the bill for the event, which will begin at 6 p.m. at the Lucy Simms Center Auditorium, 620 Simms Ave., Harrisonburg.

The event is sponsored by Commonwealth Cleaning Co.