Three Questions for Doug Guthrie

I'm not the only new kid in town this fall at GWSB. 

Doug Guthrie has ascended to the top cop job at our little school of business. Naturally, his credentials are impressive. He's got a PhD in Sociology from Berkeley, studied Chinese literature and economics and written extensively on the subject, and he comes from one of the most innovative business school in the nation, NYU. 

In an interview with GW's Hatchet, the he outlines some of his vision for the school, in particular his hopes to see the school reputation and ranking rise over the next few years:

Guthrie comes from the No. 5 New York University's Stern School of Business where he is a professor of management. He is also a professor of sociology at the school's College of Arts and Sciences.

In order to improve the school's ranking, he said he will build alliances with high-profile organizations and to expand the school's media presence, adding to the reputation of its programs. GW was ranked No. 55 in the nation in U.S. News and World Report's April 2009 ranking of best graduate schools. GW is also ranked as a top 25 program from the U.S. News for International Business. According to the Financial Times ratings, the school is No. 30 in the nation.

"In Washington, when anything happens, the financial crisis or G20 talks - the business school has to have something to say about it," Guthrie said. "We should be clogging the media airwaves on it and that will give us airtime and that will start to move the bar in the rankings because peer rankings matter."

And then...

"He knows what it means to be at a top business school and he will really help us... move us up into the top 25," Lehman said.

That Lehman character at the end is Donald Lehman, the school's Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and member of the GWSB Dean Search Committee. This talk about entering the "Top 25", according to the US News methodology we presume, reflects the schools pretty consistently laid out values regarding reputation and rank. See the last pages of the dean position description pdf linked on the search committee page above.

Anyhow, all of this got me thinking. I'm not a Master of Business yet, but I do have a substantial stake in how GW rises or falls in ranking. My future salary depends on it. Since I didn't get to grill Doug, or Donald, on my schools new vision before the hiring, lets see what kind of answers I can get now.

1. Moving up to the Top 25 is a tall order. It would mean lapping some innovative big shots. University of Washington, Boston University, and my delightful alma mater UC Davis all rank between our #55 and the desired #25. These are good, serious, and ambitious schools themselves. Do we rise in the rankings by being more like the most elite? Or more distinct? Is "Top 25" perhaps cutting ourselves short?
   
2. Has any other school shot up the rankings as we expect to do in the next few years? What's our time-frame here? Is our game plan just to promote ourselves better and hope that peers at other schools keep us in mind next time they're asked? NYU seems to be a great role model for innovative work and a corresponding rankings lift. What have you learned, Dr. Guthrie, from your time at US News' current #5 campus?
   
3. What is the difference between being a better ranked school and being, well, a better school? How can we actually become a better business school with better careers, alum giving rates, and incoming student stats? What can we learn from alternative and design oriented programs at other top schools? How can new students like me help? What ought we add to our curriculum? What to eliminate? 

I would love to hear Dr. Guthrie or Dr. Lehman's thoughts on these. If you're a current student and you have any ideas or responses to my questions, send them my way.