OCTA awards UCI transportation program A...

OCTA awards UCI transportation program

A transportation pilot program created by UC Irvine that works to

prevent traffic congestion, air pollution and oil dependency won the

2002 Transportation Excellence Award from the Orange County

Transportation Authority.

ZEV* NET -- Zero Emission Vehicle Network Enabled Transport -- was

recognized during a ceremony on Sept. 30. It is the largest

shared-use project in the country, combining rail and zero- and

low-emission vehicles in a far-reaching initiative led by UCI’s

National Fuel Cell Research Center and Institute of Transportation

Studies. Partners include the California Institute for

Telecommunications and Information Technology, the city of Irvine,

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. and The Irvine Company.

“ZEV* NET is a unique university research platform for exploring

transportation alternatives in our future,” said engineering

professor Will Recker, director of the Institute of Transportation

Studies, which is managing the transportation research aspects of

ZEV* NET. “In addition to shared-use, station-car applications, the

OCTA award acknowledges the role of ZEV* NET to explore next

generation vehicles and next generation vehicle communication and

information systems.”

ZEV* NET was launched at the Irvine Transportation Center in

April. By December, more than 10 corporations will be sharing a fleet

of 50 vehicles to complement employee rail commutes and facilitate

workday business appointments.

UCI supports a new, honest reporting policy

The dean of UC Irvine Graduate School of Management is challenging

her counterparts across the country to publicly attest that their

numbers are correct.

Jone Pearce, interim dean of the business school, is concerned

that some business schools may be inflating their reported grade

average, entrance test scores, job placements and starting salaries

of their students -- all to boost their school’s ranking.

Pearce and two school directors recently signed a statement

attesting to the accuracy of UCI’s books, patterned after statements

required of major American corporate executives. The statement is

posted on the school’s Web site (www.gsm.-

uci.edu/go/attest).

The Wall Street Journal and Business Week publish their annual

business school rankings in the fall, followed by Financial Times in

January and U.S. News & World Report in April.

This year has been poor for job placements for graduates with

masters in business administration nationwide because demand for

consultants and information technology for management specialists --

two popular jobs for these graduates -- collapsed in the weak

economy.

Business school professional associations are taking steps to

support honest reporting. The Graduate Management Admission Council

is initiating reporting standards for admissions data. UCI is among

124 schools that have signed onto the standards.

Also, faculty members in business schools around the country have

begun conducting their own analyses of the flaws in journalists’

business school rankings. One flaw is the rankings game itself, which

diverts business schools from longer-term investments, such as Ph.D.

education and research, Pearce says.

Most schools differ little from their close competitors in quality

of educational programs and rankings provide no useful information

about programs, Pearce asserted.

-- compiled by

Deirdre Newman