Rider's Financial faculty ranked

Mercer Business, May 01, 1996

Results from a five-year study examining the extent and importance of faculty research and publication in the nation's business schools show that Rider University's College of Business Administration Finance Department achieved the highest rating of any private university in New Jersey. Seton Hall University and Fairleigh Dickinson University were also ranked.

Research and publication define the finest minds in education today. More and more, it defines the institutions they represent as well, largely because of the influence such scholarship wields within the academic community. An analysis of that premise is found in a recent report in The Journal of Finance describing the search for a link between the rankings of prestigious business schools and their publication frequencies, and the relation between an institution's prestige and its level and quality of finance research.

The study, conducted by educators from Lehigh University, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Cincinnati, confirms that the nation' s finest business schools, in terms of the quality of education being delivered to students in the classroom, are in fact those associated with a high level of publication from their faculty. As reported in The JournaL of Finances, the study examined differences in finance research productivity and influence across 661 academic institutions during the five-year period from 1989 through 1993.

It was determined that prestigious business schools are indeed associated with high publication productivity and influence. Findings also showed conclusively that the number of publications and publication influence increase with academic accreditation of an institution and the size of its faculty. Rider's business school is among a select group in the nation to receive professional accreditation from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. Barely 19 percent of college business schools nationwide have been awarded AACSB accreditation and only three in New Jersey.

While Dr. Maury Randall, chairman of the Rider Finance Department, was pleased to view Rider' s number one ranking among New Jersey private colleges and universities, he was not surprised. "Educational institutions are measured in many ways," he said. "Our programs, the facilities, our location, quality of life for our students these are all important. But the quality of our faculty is what leads us and these individuals are all in the classroom, serving our students. We don't use teaching assistants at Rider -- the full-time faculty is front and center every day."

"They are active and energetic. Men and women who have stayed out front. They keep up with what is going on in their fields and they can identify major trends and developments early. Better yet, they bring that knowledge and expertise right into the classroom. That's what it's all about," continued Dr. Randall, emphasizing the value of an education, at both graduate and undergraduate levels, presented by such an advanced group of educators. "Certainly our large numbers of Ph.D.s bring more to the process. Published research by the Rider finance faculty includes such topics as international financial analysis. mergers and acquisitions, investment analysis, insider trading activity, and corporate restructuring," he said.

To the degree that they are well published, professors at the university level are perceived to be on the cutting edge. They are described in the Journal of Finance study as individuals having influence and prestige in their fields and they are sought out as the best sources of knowledge in the classroom setting. More importantly, they combine with the institutions they represent to weld a superior package at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Rider is highly accredited, recognized and accepted as a superior academic facility, to be sure, but there is no ivory tower on campus. More than 90 percent of the university's faculty hold doctoral degrees (all professors in the finance department are Ph.D.s) and most of them have real-world experience in their fields. They know the meat and potatoes end of their functions and they strive to mold students into the kinds of people who will move easily and proficiently into the private sector. With a Ph.D./student ratio of 13 to 1, it's working. Almost 93 percent of last year's graduates are successfully employed or pursuing graduate studies.

While Rider prides itself as a teaching institution, it is gratifying to be recognized nationally for the high level of research and publication conducted at the university. That research, however, is in specifically applied areas dedicated to issues and ideas which are relevant in the classroom. So, what does the level of publication mean to students? Where is the payoff for the people who are paying tuition?

Students benefit directly from an active faculty, says Kenneth A. Borokhovich, Ph.D., one of the authors of the study on finance research productivity, who is today a visiting professor of finance at Leigh University. "Educators who rank high in publication levels, tend to be the ones who actually do research," he said. "They are people who usually drive the academic field and students benefit from exposure to such a group."