Rankings

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University has been named a best value by “Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.” The university ranked 69th in the magazine’s annual list of the top 100 liberal arts colleges that combine outstanding quality with affordability. “College is a significant investment,” said Brad Goan, Transylvania’s vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions. “The four years a student spends at Transylvania are exceptional, but the real value of a Transylvania education is in how it empowers our students and alumni to envision the possibilities in life and provides them with the skills, wisdom and courage to pursue them.” Kiplinger’s assesses quality according to measurable standards, including the percentage of students who are admitted out of those who applied, the test scores of incoming freshmen, the ratio of students to faculty members and the four- and five-year graduation rates. This year, Kiplinger’s adjusted the criteria to better reflect the issues affecting families. Now, the rankings give more weight to the four-year graduation rate—a measure of the college’s ability to deliver academic support and of the overall cost to families—and to colleges that keep student debt down. “We are pleased to see Kiplinger’s confirm what our graduates already know—that a Transylvania education is a great value,” said David Cecil, Transylvania’s associate vice president for financial aid. Ninety-six percent of Transylvania’s graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate programs within six months of graduation, and 93 percent of graduates complete their degree in four

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University was recently named a Great College to Work For by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The ranking is based on survey responses from nearly 44,000 people at 310 institutions. Transylvania is among the 111 colleges across the country to be named to the final list, each having received recognition in at least one of 12 categories. The response rate to the surveys was 40 percent nationwide, but Transylvania’s response rate was 60 percent. The assessment process had two components: a questionnaire about institutional characteristics and a faculty/staff questionnaire about individuals’ evaluations of their institutions. The 12 categories of recognition included collaborative governance, professional/career development programs, compensation and benefits, job satisfaction, work/life balance and supervisor/department chair relationship. Transylvania was recognized in the supervisor/department chair relationship category. “I was extremely pleased to learn that Transylvania was recognized as a great place to work in our first year of participation,” said Jeff Mudrak, director of human resources. “We excelled in many areas and received recognition in one area, department chair/supervisor relationships.” Mudrak said that with a record number of schools competing for recognition, making the list was no small feat.  “Moving forward, we will continue to build on our strengths and make improvements in other areas with the goal of being recognized as an honor roll institution next year,” he said. “I firmly believe that providing a great place to work undoubtedly contributes to making Transylvania University a great place

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University has been named a Fit-Friendly Company at the Gold Level by the American Heart Association, which recognizes workplaces that champion the health of employees. Transylvania is one of only 19 colleges in the country to be recognized as a Gold Level company. To make the cut, Transylvania had to demonstrate participation in areas outlined by the American Heart Association to promote physical activity, nutritional well-being and an overall organizational culture of health consciousness. Transylvania demonstrated its commitment to being a healthy place to work through its Wellness Works initiative, which offers various programs to faculty and staff that target physical, financial, emotional, occupational, intellectual and social wellness. Ashley Hinton-Moncer, director of fitness and wellness and chair of the Wellness Works committee, said committee members have worked with the university’s food service contractor to help promote balanced eating and to serve more healthy options. “We’ve also worked with our vending machine supplier to offer water,” said Hinton-Moncer. “And, we agreed on 10 healthier snack options to be stocked in all machines with promotional signage regarding nutritional data.” The American Heart Association also looked at smoking policies, and Transylvania has been a tobacco free campus since August 1, 2010. Among the free wellness initiatives that Transylvania offers to its employees are an annual health fair with flu shots, counseling sessions with a nutritionist, smoking cessation courses, fitness classes, financial and retirement planning sessions, group walks to the Farmers’ Market,

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University has been named one of the “Top 100 Social Media Colleges” in the country, a list that includes more than 6,000 colleges and universities. To determine its rankings, StudentAdvisor.com looked at schools in terms of how active and effective they are at engaging their audiences on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, iTunes and other social media tools. One of the criteria the site uses in its rankings is enrollment, and it judges the effectiveness based on how many people it is reaching. Transylvania’s enrollment is 1,110, and it has over 3,600 fans on its main Facebook page and over 1,100 followers on its main Twitter account. The Office of Communications manages the main university social media accounts listed in the ranking (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube). “We are very excited to be considered among the social media elite like Harvard, Stanford, Notre Dame and Princeton,” said Sarah Emmons, associate vice president for communications and public relations. “Social media is a powerful way to connect and interact with our constituents and the outside world. Facebook and Twitter, especially, have become important communications platforms for us.” Also included in the “Top 100” ranking is an institution’s score from TwitterGrader.com, which grades the power and reach of any Twitter account based on a number of factors. Transylvania’s Twitter account scores a 96.8 on a 100-point scale and ranks in the top 3.3 percent of over nine million accounts. “Transy has tactfully mastered the art

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