Arne Kalleberg, chairman of the Department of Sociology, has a recipe for success.
Of Carolina's graduate programs rated in the NRC study, sociology achieved the highest ranking in its field in terms of scholarly quality. The program was rated sixth in the nation, placing it in the 94th percentile.
Kalleberg said the key was the ability, despite budget cuts, to keep the department's excellent faculty.
"When I took over in 1990 it was already a highly ranked department," Kalleberg said. "I've tried to maintain and increase things, but it was difficult in a period of retrenchment."
Kalleberg said it was important to recruit wisely, to maintain high standards and to try to change with the times.
"The faculty who come here are surrounded by good people," Kalleberg said. "The ability to work with first-class people often creates a better fit that you really can't measure in money or financial things."
Another strength, Kalleberg said, has derived from sociology's alliances with other units. Some of sociology's faculty serve as adjunct professors in other units, such as law, business and history, he said.
His department also has been successful in attracting outside research grants and other nonstate support, Kalleberg said.
"We've been very fortunate in that sense," he said. "We have been engaged in private fund raising to try to protect ourselves and not let the state's decisions affect us more than they have to."
Kalleberg said more state support would have helped the department's standing in the NRC rankings, given that there was so little difference between the departments ranked fourth, fifth and sixth.
"If we had the kind of support from the state that other departments above us did, just imagine how much better we could have been," he said. "While we were pleased with how we were ranked, we could be better and we intend to be better."
Which demonstrates Kalleberg's other tip.
"Another thing is to be optimistic," he said. "Don't let the budget pressures and the support issues drag you down."
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