After two mandates of Allan Rock, U of O standing continues to crash, and the false spin continues to gush -- again

Last month we learned that the U of O standing had collapsed by 66 spots (LINK), and we saw the university communications agent give blatantly false spin about the collapse (LINK).

As part of Rock not accepting responsibility for his record, the university shot back that it was in the top 200 in a separate ranking. Well, this week, that other ranking has released its 2015-2016 report... and guess what?

The U of O has dropped out of the top 200 list produced by Times Higher Education.

In response, Rock's communication front "blamed its decline in the rankings on Times Higher Education’s decision to double the number of universities it evaluated" (LINK).

It seems rather hard to swallow that on the one hand Rock has been claiming that U of O is in the top 200 universities, while on the other hand he now claims that if one considers more universities then it is not in the top 200 universities. Either the logical flaw here has escaped lawyer Rock, or Mr. Rock has intentionally been misleading the public. It's one or the other.

Furthermore, the new excuse given by Rock is not compatible with a reality in which the Times has explained "This is one of those cases where other institutions have simply improved more quickly." (LINK)

What is of even greater concern is that Rock's spin doctor has again given false spin to cover up Rock's record (LINK):

"In a statement Wednesday, the University of Ottawa noted it was still ranked eighth among universities in Canada".

Well, that is blatantly false. The Times 2015-2016 ranking, for Canadian universities, has U of O in twelfth place (LINK), behind U of T, UBC, McGill, McMaster, U of M, U of A, U of W, Western, U of C, Dalhousie, and Laval; and fifth in Ontario despite its size and being in Canada's capital.

That is twice now, in as many rankings, that the university administration has factually mislead the public in media interviews to cover up Rock's failure to increase the standing of the university. And Mr. Rock himself is personally being very silent on these reports.

Allan Rock predictably sends out his director of communications rather than answer for his own record, caught making blatantly false spin

The U of O has taken a massive hit in its institutional reputation under Rock (LINK).

Rather than take responsibility and make a realistic assessment, Rock has sent out his director of communications to cry about the crash in the public media (LINK):

But some schools aren’t happy with that explanation. “We are disappointed by this change as it does not properly reflect our strengths and excellence,” said Patrick Charette, director of corporate communications for the University of Ottawa, which fell 66 spots to 284.

“Our university still ranks among the best universities in Canada and uOttawa researchers continue to excel,” Charette told Yahoo Canada News in a statement. “For four consecutive years, the University of Ottawa has been ranked among the top 200 universities worldwide by Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, for example.”

The school also ranked in the top-ten for reputation among Canadian universities according to the QS Rankings, Charette said. ...

Charette's last point is blatantly false spin. Oooops. The QS Ranking has U of O in 13th place among Canadian schools, behind the leaders (LINK):

24. McGill University
34. University of Toronto
50. University of British Columbia
96. University of Alberta
115. Université de Montréal
149. McMaster University
152. University of Waterloo
192. Western University (University of Western Ontario)
204. University of Calgary
206. Queen’s University
225. Simon Fraser University
277. Dalhousie University

U of O has, under Rock's leadership, dropped from being in the top ten Canadian schools, after almost eight years of Rock.

Furthermore, no other comparable Canadian school has fallen 66 spots. And the QS evaluators made it clear that:

... Simona Bizzozero, a spokeswoman for QS — whose annual rankings are considered among the three most influential in the world — said only about 30 per cent of the University of Ottawa’s decline was attributable to the new approach while the rest “reflects a genuine deterioration in some indicators.”

By misleading readers in this way, Rock through Charette does not give a good example coming from an institution of higher learning...

U of O crashes under Rock

U of O tumbles in world university rankings

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen

Published on: September 15, 2015

“As a result, our ranking has changed significantly,” Charette said. “We are disappointed by this change, as it does not properly reflect our strengths and excellence.”

But Simona Bizzozero, a spokeswoman for QS — whose annual rankings are considered among the three most influential in the world — said only about 30 per cent of the University of Ottawa’s decline was attributable to the new approach while the rest “reflects a genuine deterioration in some indicators.”

President Allan Rock re-invented the school using his own people from outside rather than value the inside people, and has generally taken a confrontational approach with all the staff and student unions, rather than trying to include and work together.

The Rock approach has deeply eroded the university. A fish rots from the head down.

The last two VP-Academics have left. Professors are expected to jump onto Rock's bandwagon of globalization schemes, or be ignored. The Medical Neurology Department has been told that it could be closed by the College of Physicians. The professors' union has often noted unjustified increases in executive salaries. The school is being sued for millions because Rock dismissed the entire Gee-Gees hockey team without regard for the lives of the athletes, over criminal charges that involved two players. And when controversies have hit, Rock has systematically hidden behind someone or some committee, not hesitating to throw whoever under the bus (a VP-Academic, a coach, an entire hockey team...), and often made a point of being out of town. Now the francophone associations are calling for the creation of a real francophone university in Ontario. ...

Meanwhile Rock has a hand in a new family business of growing medical marijuana.

The damage will take some time to repair. The politician who was called "ethically challenged" by the Ottawa Citizen in 2003, before being shipped off to the UN and then landing on the steps of Tabaret Hall, moves on to greater things in 2016.

"[Rock's] behaviour since the Irving affair became public has revealed him to be ethically challenged. […] it took Rock days to apologize. And he only grudgingly did so after Labour Minister Claudette Bradshaw rose in the Commons and offered an unqualified apology for accepting a ride on the Irving corporate jet three years ago. She also announced she was reimbursing the family for the flight."
– Ottawa Citizen, November 8, 2003, page 1.

University of Ottawa spirals down world university rankings -- media report

University of Ottawa spirals down world university rankings (LINK)
By Don Butler, OTTAWA CITIZEN October 3, 2013

U of O Watch comment: In two years the U of O has fallen 14 places from 171st to 185th towards the 200 mark cutoff. It is now only 15 places from falling out of the top-university ranking. This ranking system puts emphasis on "international outlook", rather than prioritizing student experience.

The U of O ranks 10th out of 15 in Canada in its category according the the Macleans 2013 ranking (same rank as last year). The Macleans ranking puts emphasis on factors relating to student experience.

This blogger thinks the U of O should mind its business at home and concentrate on taking care of its students rather than peddle an "international outlook", which has been the focus of the Rock administration, while student satisfaction remains unacceptably low and unchanging.