Services / Reputation
Reputation
Building reputation takes time. Analysing data takes time. Damaging reputation does not.
Reputation surveys carry a third of the THE World University Rankings score, and 45 per cent at QS. But a university’s reputation matters far more than its effect on a ranking. We help you understand how reputation is measured, what actually shapes it, and how to use data to build it over the long term.
Start with a strategy, then add the data
Data can support and inform a reputation campaign, and reputation is also assessed directly in the rankings. The two are linked, but they are not the same thing.
So we start with what your university stands for and what it wants to be known for. Then we use data to understand what is really happening, and to track it over time. What we never do is build a strategy around a single measure.
How the rankings measure reputation
The two big surveys work quite differently, and what you can do about each depends on how it is built.
Times Higher Education
- An invitation-only survey sent to academics chosen at random, balanced by the size of each country’s academic community.
- Votes are weighted by national response, and three years of data are used.
- Universities can’t nominate respondents, and self-voting is permitted.
QS
- Universities can nominate up to 400 academics, alongside a separate employer survey.
- Votes are weighted by awareness and by the size of each country’s academic community, and split into domestic and international.
- Five years of data are used, weighted towards recent years, and self-voting isn’t allowed.
What we offer
Some of this pays off within a year. Most of it builds over several.
Start here
Reputation diagnostic
A review of your reputation scores in the THE and QS rankings, how each survey treats you, and where you are really cutting through, subject by subject. We also check that the data you submit is doing you justice, because good data governance is the quickest win available.
You get a reputation diagnostic and a briefing for your leadership team.
Long term
Reputation strategy
A strategy built around the four things that shape reputation over time: the academics who know your work, your partnerships, your alumni and your community. Each comes with measures you can track, so you know whether it is working.
You get a reputation strategy with priorities, owners and measures.
Medium to long term
Turning competitors into partners
And partners into supporters. Bibliometric data shows which of your connections are real, where your strengths and a partner’s complement each other, and what you can reasonably expect from each. Direct co-authoring beats an expense-account lunch.
You get an analysis of current partnerships and a shortlist of prospective partners, matched on strengths and on values.
Long term
Alumni insight
If you have done your job, alumni take your university with them for the rest of their lives. They are your long-term reputation, not just a source of income. Keeping track of them is hard, so we use sources such as LinkedIn data to explore and compare cohorts and to understand their networks.
You get cohort analysis, a view of your alumni network, and reporting you can share with your board.
Ongoing
Dashboards and data advice
All analysis is only as good as the question asked. We help you decide what you need to know, then whether a dashboard or a data scientist is the right way to find out, drawing on internal data, surveys, government data, the rankings agencies and bibliometrics.
You get a reputation dashboard design or an analysis plan, built around the questions that matter to you.
Any time
Masterclasses and briefings
Sessions for leadership, communications and data teams on how the rankings assess reputation and what you can do about it, from understanding the surveys to engaging your alumni and community. Run on campus or online.
You get a masterclass shaped around your university, and the materials to take away.
Academic outreach, with partners
For universities that want to reach the academics who already know their work, we work with specialist data science partners to identify and prioritise those relationships ahead of the survey windows. The timing matters, so it is worth talking early.
Why work with us
I spent ten years leading the data team behind the Times Higher Education rankings, so I know how reputation is measured and where those measures fall short. I also speak on the University of Navarra’s Executive Course in University Reputation Management.
How we work
Every engagement starts with a scoping call. We bill time and materials against a capped budget, so there are no surprises and you only pay for the hours used. Modules can be taken on their own or together.
At the start we agree the split of work with your research, international and communications teams, which keeps costs down.
Want to talk about reputation?
A short note on what you are trying to achieve is plenty to start with.