The College is ranked 21st among the nation's
four-year baccalaureate institutions in Yahoo! Internet Life magazine's
annual “100 Most Wired Colleges” ranking.
The College last year was listed 160th in a category
that then included research universities, which now are ranked separately.
“Just as prospective students have long been paying
attention to things like quality of faculty, the library, class size, and
living quarters, they are asking more and more questions about information
technology,” said David Cossey, executive director of the Office of
Computer Services.
In a brief narrative, the magazine cited Union's
International Virtual Design programs that team engineering students with
their counterparts at institutions in Turkey and France.
The ranking, which appears in the magazine's May
edition and online, listed Williams College first, Colgate University
second, and Bates College third. Among other institutions listed, Trinity
was 10th, Swarthmore 15th, Colby 20th, Vassar 22nd, Bowdoin 25th and
Skidmore 27th.
The survey scored institutions in four general areas:
access and infrastructure, administrative, general resources and support.
Union scored 78.25. The top school scored 86.89, the 100th (Grinnell)
68.96.
Among some of the trends nationally, 98 percent of
schools allow online applications, 84 percent offer electronic library
book reservations, 68 percent offer Web based registration, and 41 percent
offer wireless access.
The survey was conducted in partnership with Peterson's,
which collected data via online surveys. Results were tabulated and
reviewed by Yahoo! editors, who then determined rankings.
Critics have faulted the ranking, claiming that the
criteria are changed year-to-year, said Cossey. Some institutions –
including six Ivy League schools – elected not to participate in this
year's survey.
Details on the top 100 are on the Web at www.wiredcolleges.com.