BC among most publicized schools

In a recent study by the Global Language Monitor, Boston College placed among the top 15 in a ranking of the nation's most publicized universities. The Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based company that documents, analyzes, and tracks trends in language across the world, ranked the colleges and universities according to their appearances in the global print and electronic media, the Internet, and throughout the blogosphere. BC placed 14th in this study and 17th in a corresponding study of "media momentum."

University Spokesman Jack Dunn said, "Boston College's ranking in this study serves as an affirmation of what we have long believed. Academic research and accomplishments along with media citations and this recent ranking are all affirmations of the growing steam of this university." Other schools that were ranked within the top 15 were Harvard, Stanford, Yale, University of Pennsylvania, and Duke. Some schools that ranked below BC included New York University, MIT, and Georgetown.

The major factors that contributed to BC's high ranking were a well-published academic community, a strong public relations office, and a successful sports program in recent years.

"We are fortunate enough to have academic luminaries such as Alan Wolf, Alicia Munnell, Joseph Quinn, and countless others who generate so much media attention through their writing and commentary … and the Office of the Public affairs works diligently to promote faculty experts on a daily basis. That, combined with our daily effort to pitch stories on faculty, students, and University accomplishments, contributes to our current position," Dunn said.

Other faculty members such as Donald Fishman, a professor in the communication department, had similar thoughts. "I am not surprised at the outcome of the study, it's not something you would look at and go, 'Oh Wow!' … when you have a very solid public relations program andmore Division I sports teams than most other schools in the country, you're going to get a lot of media hits."

Indeed, BC has had its share of athletic success in the past few years. Last year, the football team enjoyed a No. 2 seat on the national rankings, as well as an ACC championship appearance, while the men's hockey team won its second national championship in eight years against Notre Dame earlier this year. "Given our recent success, particularly last year … we were written about quite a bit and received unbelievable exposure," said Christopher Cameron, associate athletics director for media relations. "Our strong teams as well as our move to the ACC increased our exposure on the national level." Indeed, much of this athletic success was factored into the study, and did play a part in BC's ranking. "I think that our athletic success definitely played a part in that [study], but there are a lot of things happening on the athletic front here at BC also. It is a combination, really," Cameron said.

While athletic media coverage did represent a portion of the data used in this study, the Global Language Monitor made efforts to ensure that no particular genre of print or electronic media dominated the data. "We incorporated a variety of databases and used the right methodology to make sure that people have the right information," said Paul JJ Payack, president and chief word analyst at The Global Language Monitor. "At the beginning, we were afraid that schools with large sports programs would dominate the survey, but this wasn't the case," Payack said. "We simply want to offer a non-biased snapshot of how the world looks at these institutions, with all the aspects of these institutions factored in … sports is just one aspect of a school's personality." When questioned about BC's placement in the survey, Payack said, "Since the study was released, there have been a lot of people calling from all over the world asking about BC and its rankings, so that is very interesting, both to us and to the University.

"We are a very objective group - we don't plan on becoming like U.S. News and World Report in our college rankings. We would just like people to look at what we do and use the information we provide to them," Payack said.

Similarly, many here are looking to the future and expecting great things from it. "We hope that this media momentum will continue in the years to come, and I perceive that it will, given our increased scholarship and research," Dunn said.