By Wata Shaw in Suva
The University of the South Pacific’s latest international ranking is a “testament to the excellence” that pervades the university, says USP vice-chancellor and president Professor Pal Ahluwalia.
He said this in a statement confirming USP had been ranked 401-600 out of 1406 institutions, with an overall score of 70 out of 100 in The Times Higher Education (THE) impact ranking for 2022.
“It is recognition of the sheer hard work and determination of our researchers,” Professor Ahluwalia said.
“It reaffirms USP’s standing as the premier education institution in the region and this ranking is a testament to the excellence that pervades our university.”
The impact ranking is the only global performance table that assesses universities against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where indicators are carefully calibrated to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across four broad areas — research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.
USP scored over 50 (out of 100) in research for SDGs 4, 13, 14, 16 and 17, reflecting the quality and relevance of its publications to the SDGs.
Under SDG four, USP scored highly at over 80 on Lifelong Learning Measures, which highlights lifelong learning opportunities through the provision of public resources, public events, vocational training events, education outreach activities beyond campus, and the existence of policy to ensure access to lifelong learning.
Environmental measures
Under SDG seven, USP scored high, over 70 on Energy Use Density, which is the energy used per floor space of university buildings in 2019.
Under SDG 13, USP scored 100 for Environmental Education Measures that demonstrate activities around local education projects and collaborations on climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation, including disaster planning reflecting the engagement and collaboration by the university on climate change action locally, regionally and internationally.
USP scored highly at 75 under SDG 14 for Supporting Aquatic Ecosystems Through Action, which includes work on maintaining ecosystems and their biodiversity and over 85 for Local Ecosystem Maintenance.
For University Governance Measures, Working with Government, such as the provision of expert advice to government and participation in government research, and Percentage of Graduates in Law and Civil Enforcement-related courses under SDG 16, USP scored almost 80, 85 and over 75, respectively.
Finally, under SDG 17, which is considered the mandatory SDG, USP scored 100 percent for Relationships to Support the Goals, reflecting USP’s relationships with regional NGOs and international collaborations for SDGs.
The timeframe for data collection for the impact ranking 2022 spanned from January to December 2020 and in some cases, 2019, due to disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
Wata Shaw is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
