Rector Pamela Habibović recently shared this development during a University Council committee meeting. UM is following the recommendation of a national working group of experts who looked into international university rankings such as Times Higher Education (THE), QS and the Shanghai Ranking. They concluded that capturing an institution’s performance – encompassing both research and teaching – in a single overall score is nearly impossible. Rankings also conflict with the principles of the national Recognition & Rewards programme. Perhaps most crucially, the methodologies behind these rankings are often not transparent. As a result, the expert group has called for a “culture change” that “encourages responsible use and avoids opportunistic use”, as stated in a memo to the University Council.
For UM, this change does not mean a complete rejection of all rankings. Visitors to the university website, particularly those interested in English-taught or economics and business-related programmes, will still see various references to them. For example, University College Maastricht continues to prominently display its status as a “top-rated programme” in the Dutch University Guide. Some programmes also highlight that UM ranks tenth in THE Young University Rankings, which list the world’s best universities that are 50 years old or younger.
Data
UM is still debating whether to continue submitting data to rankings like THE. In 2023, Utrecht University (UU) decided to stop submitting data due to dissatisfaction with the ranking system. As a result, UU was not included in THE World Rankings 2024 – “a calculated risk”, according to the memo to the University Council. UM is considering making the data it shares with THE and QS publicly available, but this will depend on the position taken by other Dutch universities.
The UM Executive Board has embraced an alternative called More Than Our Rank. This global initiative from the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS) sends a clear message: quality cannot be expressed in a single number. UM has also decided to stop sharing email addresses with ranking organisations for university-wide surveys.
Risk
Krithik Rock, a student representative on the University Council, raised concerns about the potential impact of this change on the recruitment of international students. “That’s a risk”, admitted the rector, but she also pointed out that not all prospective students consider rankings in their decision-making process. Habibović also emphasised the importance of “clearly communicating why we are doing this, alongside all other universities [in the Netherlands]”.