The ISU administration isn’t putting stock in the 2003 edition of a review that lists Iowa State as having professors that “suck all life from materials” and “make themselves scarce.”

“The Princeton Review Guide: The Best 345 Colleges,” which was released this summer, listed Iowa State as No. 5 on the “professors suck all life” list, and No. 14 on the “scarce” list.

While the review recognizes that all colleges listed are recognized as outstanding academic institutions, it does not claim academic rankings alone can tell the whole story about a school.

“We place schools in categories dealing with campus experiences,” said Robert Franek, editorial director of the review. “We do this to help applicants and their families decide which of these colleges is best for them.”

Readers are told “a determined student who makes the most of an ISU education should find an `abundance’ of research opportunities and an astonishing array of academic specialties, but is less likely to find consistent, high-quality instruction.”

“We certainly take things like this seriously, but I don’t get it,” said Howard Shapiro, vice provost for undergraduate programs. “Even if

it is true, I don’t know how we would deal with it.”

The review does not show its criteria and breakdown of rankings like the U.S. News and World Report, Shapiro said.

“The review is something I have never paid much attention to, and most people in higher education don’t,” said President Gregory Geoffroy. “It is constructed to sell copies.”

David Bousquet, assistant vice president for admissions, agreed.

“These tests are remarkably subjective. By being sensational, they will sell their issues,” he said.

Questions may not always be “phrased quite as clearly as maybe a reporter would say it,” but the company stands by its findings, said the review’s publicist, Jeanne Krier. The Princeton Review, a New York-based company that also provides test-preparation course and other services, has conducted these surveys since 1992.

Though not using the same definitions and terms as the review’s surveys, some ISU students did say they agreed with the results.

“They get the job done, but outside effort is minimal,” said Tiana Brown, junior in liberal studies. “Most professors are focused on research and not necessarily on the students.”

Another junior complained of tangents during lectures, and agreed with the “sucked all life out of the material” description.

“They draw out the things that have nothing to do with the course,” said Chioke Jones, junior in aerospace engineering. “If I’m here to learn calculus I don’t need to hear about how your fishing trip went in Canada.”

Other students believe the rankings are not representative of the entire university.

“It depends on the subject. I know my adviser is pretty hard to get a hold of, but he teaches a lot of classes and is out at the dairy farm,” said Kathy Jacobs, senior in dairy science.

Erin Fett, junior in child and family services, said her experiences with ISU professors have been positive.

“I have always been able to talk to the professors in my major,” she said. “Some of them will even know my name.”

The review enters campuses with permission, and asks staff members to help distribute surveys.

The company uses a grid-based questionnaire, asking students 70 questions about experiences at their respective schools and to score each on a one-to-five scale.

For the two categories, students were asked whether they strongly agree with “Your instructors are accessible outside of the classroom” and “Your instructors are good teachers,” said Erik Olson, senior editor of the Best 345 Colleges.

“After we receive the student’s responses, we process the evaluations,” he said. “Some lists are compiled with complex calculations, but most lists are easier to develop because they are based on only one question.”

The review only prints the top 20 colleges of each list.

“We want a high level of consensus from the students,” Olson said. “If the results are inconclusive, the extreme opinions would cancel each other out and those colleges would end up near the bottom of the list.”

While Iowa State did help distribute the surveys to students, Bousquet, the assistant vice president, said fewer than 100 students turn the surveys in. There is, however, a discrepancy between Iowa State’s statistics and the review’s.

Olson’s records show a total of 350 student replies – not the 100 Bousquet noted – from Iowa State for this year’s edition, attributing the success to online surveys.