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Graduate School News Archive

Gaining Ground in Rankings Departments in College of Engineering improve in rankings of graduate schools, according to U.S. News and World Report
-- Posted by tfisher on Monday, April 17 2006

Several programs within the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas are rising quickly toward the top of the U.S. News and World Report rankings of America's Best Graduate Schools 2007.

The industrial engineering program was ranked 26th in the nation, while the computer engineering program took a 20-point leap over last year's ranking. In the past two years, mechanical engineering has risen 38 positions in the rankings, while electrical engineering rose 20 points in the same time frame.

"Our goal is to move into the list of top-tier colleges of engineering," Ashok Saxena, dean of the College of Engineering, said. "Our departments are taking us there one year at a time."

Peer perception is a major component of the rankings method, and John English, chair of the industrial engineering department, said many of his department's faculty members serve on prominent editorial boards, are doing review work on key research, and write hard hitting articles that are getting attention in professional journals.

"Our ranking is recognition of the exceptional perceptions that people across the country have about our program," English said.

The College of Engineering as a whole maintained its overall ranking of 113, but Saxena said he is most encouraged by the growth of the departments.
"I am pleased with the progress made by our college in a very short time and even happier that we are getting better each year," Saxena said. "Rankings influence the perception about our quality and are a measure of our success in implementing continuous quality improvement processes that make us truly better at serving each of our constituencies."

Joe Rencis, chair of the mechanical engineering department, said the jump in rankings in his department was the result of recruiting high-caliber students, offering a challenging curriculum and providing top-notch research opportunities through the recruitment, development and retention of outstanding faculty.

NIH Grant Funds Emphysema Research
-- Posted by tfisher on Thursday, April 13 2006

Nursing professor secures first such award for College of Education and Health Professions to study ways to delay diaphragm fatigue

Nan Smith-Blair, assistant professor in the University of Arkansas Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, has won a National Institutes of Health grant of $200,000 to fund work that could improve the lives of patients with emphysema.

Smith-Blair will continue her research focusing on the effects of exercise on diaphragm fatigue. Initially funded by the Arkansas Biological Institute, which administers the state's tobacco settlement funds, the research holds the potential to reduce patient suffering along with cost and length of stay in the hospital. Smith-Blair's new research funded by the two-year NIH grant will incorporate the use of dobutamine, a drug that improves cardiac output and is used primarily for congestive heart failure.
Reed Greenwood, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions, noted the grant is the first from the National Institutes of Health for the college and supports an interdisciplinary approach.

To read more, please go to http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/8466.htm

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