RANKINGS WORKSHOPSTRATEGIES FOR MARKETING, BRANDING, AND

IMPROVING INTERNATIONAL RANKINGS

MICHAEL FUNGDIRECTOR OF PLANNING & INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHINOLOGY

26 MARCH 2013VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

HO CHI MIN CITY, VIETNAM

1

IMPROVING RANKINGS PERFORMANCE

2

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

• Rankings Analysis – 7 Steps1) In-depth understanding of methodology2) Conduct trend analysis3) Benchmarking analysis4) Analyze subject rankings5) Verify the results6) Rankings simulations/projections7) Engage with ranking agencies

3

In-depth understanding of methodology - 1

Larger faculty number scores better.

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

4

In depth understanding of methodology - 2

Indicator Weight Strategy

1 Total students / academics 4.5% faculty2 PhD awards / bachelor’s awards 2.25%

3 PhD awards / academic 6% Faculty4 Reputational survey on teaching 15%

5 Institutional Income / academic 2.25% Faculty6 Academic papers / academic + research staff 6% Faculty7 Research income / academic staff 6% Faculty8 Reputational survey on research 18%

9 Citation impact (normalized average citations per paper)

30%

10 Research income from industry / academic staff 2.5% faculty11 International / domestic staff ratio 2.5%

12 International / domestic students ratio 2.5%

13 % of internationally co-authored research papers 2.5%

Smaller faculty number scores better.

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

5

In depth understanding of methodology - 3

QS – Definition of academic faculty staff (2012):

Research staff can included, as long as they can publish their own research outputs.

“Faculty staff from off-shore campus” can be included.

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

6

Trend Analysis - 1

Maxed out in Internationalization

(10%)

Improved in Reputation

(50%)

Improved(20%)

Worse (15%)Improved

(15%)

Rank in AUR 2009 2010 2011 2012HKUST 4 2 1 1

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

7

Trend Analysis - 2

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

8

Benchmarking - across indicators, universities and countries

ChinaSingapore

Hong KongTaiwan

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

9

Benchmarking - across indicators, universities and countries

AustraliaNew Zealand

Japan S. Korea

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

10

Analyze Subject Rankings - 1

Rank* UST HKU CUHK

Engineering & Technology

Computer Science 13 21 41

Chemical Engineering 20 53 122

Civil Engineering 18 14 -

Electrical Engineering 17 20 64

Mechanical Engineering 19 30 102

Rank UST HKU CUHKOverall 276 193 167Engineering/Tech & Comp Sci 38 111 82Computer Science 26 80 30Mathematics - - 40Chemistry 192 74 86Social Science 64 128 130Economics & Business 48 112 109

Rank# UST HKUOverall 65 35Engineering & Technology 23 43Life Sciences - -Physical Sciences - -Clinical, Pre-Clinical & Health - 36Social Sciences 50 30Arts & Humanities - 29

2012

2012

2012

Engineering - Leading in Asia

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

11

Rank* UST HKU CUHK

Social Sciences & Management

Statistics & Op Research 14 16 39

Economics 35 29 53

Accounting & Finance 22 26 49

Rank UST HKU CUHKOverall 276 193 167Engineering/Tech & Comp Sci 38 111 82Computer Science 26 80 30Mathematics - - 40Chemistry 192 74 86Social Science 64 128 130Economics & Business 48 112 109

Rank# UST HKUOverall 65 35Engineering & Technology 23 43Life Sciences - -Physical Sciences - -Clinical, Pre-Clinical & Health - 36Social Sciences 50 30Arts & Humanities - 29

Kellogg-UST EMBA Program2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

1 2 1 1 1 1

UST CUHK NUS

Rank 17 66 42No. of articles 145 65 94

Top 100 Business School Rankings 2012

2012 2012

2012

Rank UST HKU CUHKOverall 10 37 28

UST Full-time MBA Program

Analyze Subject Rankings - 2

Leading in business research and business professional education

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

12

Verify the Results - there might be errors!

Top 100 Worldwide Economics Schools Research Ranking

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Total

-          American Economic Review 1 1 1 2-          Econometric Theory 2 1 2 1 6-          Economic Theory 3 1 1 1 6-          Econometrica 1 1-          European Economic Review 1 2 1 3-          Games and Economic Behavior 1 1 1 1 3-          International Economic Review 1 1-          Journal of Applied Econometrics 1 1 1 1 3-          Journal of Development Economics 1 2 1-          Journal of Econometrics 1 1 2 1 1 5 1 0 6-          Journal of Economic Dynamics & Control 1 2 1 1 1 5-          Journal of Economic Theory 1 3 4-          Journal of Finance 1 1 1 1 4 4 3 12-          Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 6-          Journal of Financial Economics 4 3 2 1 1 1 4 11-          Journal of Financial Intermediation 1 1 2-          Journal of International Economics 1 2 1 1 4-          Journal of Monetary Economics 1 1 2-          Journal of Political Economy 1 1 2-          Journal of Public Economics 1 1 2-          Rand Journal of Economics 3 1 4-          Review of Economic Studies 1 1 1 2-          Review of Economics and Statistics 1 3 1-          Review of Financial Studies 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 6Total no. of publications 18 11 13 17 17 16 2 15 2 17 95

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)

2011 2012Old Rank 77 93New Rank 60 59

Rank improved by 34 places

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

13

Modeling, Simulation/Projection Result in 2011 (actual)Post 334

(projection)1 HKUST NUS2 HKU HKUST3 NUS HKU4 U of Tokyo U of Tokyo5 CUHK Seoul N U6 Seoul N U Kyoto U7 Kyoto U Osaka U8 Osaka U CUHK

9= Tohoku U Tohoku U9= Tokyo IT Tokyo IT11 KAIST KAIST 12 POSTECH POSTECH13 Peking U Peking U14 Nagoya U Nagoya U15 CityU Tsinghua U16 Tsinghua U NTU17 NTU CityU

18= Kyushu U Kyushu U18= Yonsei U Yonsei U

20 Hokkaido U Hokkaido U21= Fudan U Fudan U21= NTU NTU

23 Tsukuba Tsukuba24= UST of China UST of China24= Keio U Keio U

26 Korea U Korea U27= Sungkyunkwan U Sungkyunkwan U27= Zhejiang U Zhejiang U

29 Nanjing U Nanjing U30 PolyU Tsing Hua U

y = -0.6606x2 + 3.141x + 102.63R² = 0.9979

35.0

45.0

55.0

65.0

75.0

85.0

95.0

5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0

Scor

e

FSR

Student-Faculty Ratio vs Scores

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

14

Engage with Ranking Agencies - 1

Hong Kong Taiwan

China Singapore

2011 – introduction of discipline normalization and regional modification weightages

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

15

Engage with Ranking Agencies - 2

S. Korea

GermanyFrance

Japan

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

16

Engage with Ranking Agencies - 3

New Zealand

United States UK

Australia

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

17

Engage with Ranking Agencies - 4

QS AUR 2011

Papers per Faculty (15%) Citations per Paper (15%)

Institution data score data score

HKUST 8.0 86.7 3.6 94.1 CUHK 6.7 87.4 3.4 96.4

Damping Approach: smoothen out the impact of data changes.

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

18

19

Limitation of Rankings

Limitation of methodology – heavy reliance on reputation and perceptions

HKUST ranked 96th in 2012.

HKUST ranked 107th in 2012.

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

RANKINGS ANALYSIS

• Understand methodology optimize results

• Key aspects assessed in rankings– Reputation– Teaching performance– Research productivity and impact– Internationalization– Funding and sources of incomes– Faculty and staff strength– Student numbers

20

RANKINGS STRATEGY

BREAKOUT DISCUSSION

•In the context of Vietnam:– What are key opportunities for improvement?– What strategies and actions should be taken?– What issues are expected?

•Group sharing

21

RANKINGS STRATEGY

Case Study – HKUST

•Reputation– Brand statements– International promotion– PR work

•Teaching performance– Incentives– Faculty appraisal

22

RANKINGS STRATEGY

Case Study – HKUST

•Research productivity and impact– Seed large collaborative projects– Mainland research operations and collaborations

•Internationalization– Diversity in student recruitment– Global faculty recruitment– Student and faculty exchanges

23

RANKINGS STRATEGY

Case Study – HKUST

•Funding and sources of incomes– Fundraising– Mainland funding sources– Large research funding

•Faculty and staff strength– Maintain / improve faculty-student ratio

24