From Deseret News archives:
U. students say professors 'scarce'
Under the category "low accessibility rating," the U. ranked 12th worst among all the schools surveyed.
"That surprises me," said U. Academic Senate President Larry DeVries, a mechanical engineering professor. "In my college, I think we make ourselves very accessible."
DeVries said he knows professors who hold office hours on Saturday mornings just for students who work and go to school. "The professors I know," he added, "bend over backwards for the students."
An average of about 300 students per campus were surveyed for the book over the 2003-2004 school year and/or in the previous two years, according to a press release.
Some aren't convinced that the Princeton Review is even in the right ballpark on professor accessibility.
"I am not willing to concede that it's a problem at all," said David Pershing, U. senior vice president for academic affairs. "We're a big state university with limited funding given the funding we have, we think we are doing a decent job at providing one-on-one experiences between our students and faculty."
It's a subject that doesn't exactly make the U. look good in a book that's supposed to guide students to the "best" colleges.
"We're not trying to put gratuitous praise out there for schools or marginalize them," said the book's author, Robert Franek.
The book's senior editor, Erik Olson, said the fact that the U. is even included in the guide puts the school in the top 15 percent of more than 2,400 schools in the nation.
All the schools in the book have good academic records and beyond that, Franek said, it's his goal to provide "balanced" profiles that look at quality-of-life issues inside and outside of the classroom.
Some schools, he added, may need some improvement in certain areas.
The U. also ranked 15th Brigham Young University was seventh in the area of "low acceptance of gay community." Compared to schools across the country, Franek said, the U. is still "fairly" conservative, despite its reputation of being the most liberal among Utah schools.
"That seems very logical, considering the demographics of your state," he said.
In the category of "students pray on a regular basis/most religious students," the U. came in 10th BYU topped that list.
According to U. officials, the breakdown of students there who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is about half.
Contributing: Tad Walch; E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com
Comments
- Sports on the air 1:21 a.m.
- 2009 MLS Cup recap 12:45 a.m.
- MLS Cup winners, MVPs 12:41 a.m.
- Real Salt Lake: Game at a glance 12:36 a.m.
- Paper circulation worse than it looks 12:28 a.m.
- RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks 12:22 a.m.
- Editorial: Cancer screening 12:15 a.m.
- Afterthoughts 12:15 a.m.
- Treat teachers with respect, trust 12:15 a.m.
- 'Reform' helps old, hurts young 12:15 a.m.
- BYU records with win
- Glenn Beck to enter politics?
- Jazz outlast Pistons in overtime
- Cougars turn focus to dreaded rivals
- Cougars put the fun back in football
- Former BYU professor remembered
- Kirilenko heating up for the Jazz
- Police link alcohol to murder
- Wendover airfield's legacy lost?
- Florida No. 1, TCU 4 in AP Top 25
- Buttars wants to limit gay rights laws
202 - Glenn Beck to enter politics?
191 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
178 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
130 - BYU records with win
129 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
125 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
103 - BYU cuts Women's Research Inst.
100 - Jazz finally win in San Antonio
98 - Utes knock off rival Aggies
93
A little after midnight Wednesday morning, about 21 hours ago as I write...
There's a lot of reason to leave your plastic home as you shop:
That game was amazing! I think this will really help the sport grow in Utah....
Congrats on a great win. Utah as a whole should be proud not just of a major...
Congrats Real Salt Lake! but, they aren't the first major sports team to...
I told ALL of you how much i liked NED Pure irony his contributions vs x...
this is to NevadaUTE @ 10:25!!! I love soccer, I love Real and it brought a...
wow!!! amazing. UTAH JAZZ DO SOMETHING!!!
So much fear and anger from Beck lovers. You all lost the last election, we...
This is the most emotion I have had watching a sporting event since my...
Nicky Rimando is my hero! I love that guy. He has had his detractors, but...
Two stars means nothing! We played as a team and it showed! I'm still in...



You can be the first to comment on this story.