Southern Mississippi programs rated in National Top 10.

* The University of Southern Mississippi College of Science and Technology's science education and engineering programs have been rated in the top 10 nationally, according to an index measuring the scholarly output of faculty members at colleges and universities.

Academic Analytics' findings were the subject of an article in the Nov. 16, 2007, edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

In the article, the most recent index examines the productivity of 164,843 faculty members in 7,400 programs at 357 institutions. The Chronicle published data on the top 10 in 172 disciplines.

At "Southern Miss," the Center for Science and Mathematics Education was rated seventh in Science Education, and the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials was rated eighth in the category of Other Engineering.

The indicators included publications, citations, number of grant awards and total dollars of grant awards.

Dr. Bob Lochhead, professor and director of the School of Polymers and High Performance Materials, said the school is delighted with the Academic Analytics ranking.

"This is a significant milestone," he said. "Being ranked within the top 10 programs in the nation attests to the high quality of research and education that is a hallmark of our polymer program at Southern Miss, and it is gratifying when an outside ranking acknowledges our untiring efforts."