TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s mass communication doctoral program faculty was recently ranked sixth in the nation, according to the inaugural release of the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index.

The new index, partly financed by the State University of New York at Stony Brook and produced by Academic Analytics, rates faculty members’ scholarly output at about 7,300 doctoral programs around the United States. It examines the number of book and journal articles published by each respective faculty member, as well as journal citations, honors, awards and grants received, and assigns a weight to each variable.

“These rankings reflect the high caliber of our faculty and their contribution to the mass communication field,” said Dr. Jennings Bryant, Reagan Chair of Broadcasting in the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences. “It is well-deserved.”

The index, touted as the first completely objective measure of productivity, is based on data from 2005.

The College of Communication and Information Sciences is among the largest and most prestigious communication colleges in the country, having graduated more than 12,000 students and ranking among the top institutions in the country in the number of doctorates awarded. Communication graduates have earned four of the six Pulitzer Prizes awarded to UA alumni.

The University of Alabama is a top-quality, student-centered, research university. In keeping with its vision to be the university of choice for the best and brightest students and to offer an excellent education to all its students, UA is in the midst of a planned, steady enrollment growth with a goal of reaching 28,000 students by 2010. The state’s flagship university, UA is an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians.