University of Baltimore Ranked #113 in U.S. News & World Report

The latest U.S. News and World Report has the University of Baltimore ranked #113. Last year, UB was #117. Improvement is good, sure. Still, I wonder if the Dean Closius debacle hurt the school’s ranking.

These U.S. News and World Report rankings are so silly. And, geez, does U.S. News have much relevance anymore beyond those rankings? I subscribe to just about every world news magazine except U.S. News and World Report.

Yet they mean everything. Dean Closius brought UB into the 21st century, by pulling a “don’t hate the player, hate the game” and doing what every other smart dean in the country was doing: gaming the system. It did not push UB ahead of where it should be; it allowed the school to catch back up to where it belonged. Because, did I say this yet, EVERYONE is gaming the system. UB suffered for years from a lack of gaming the system because everyone else was doing it.

I hope the next dean, whoever that is, gets this. I’m glad I don’t have the burden of hiring the next dean at UB. Because it will be the most important choice in the school’s history.