Khaberni - Disgrace or disaster! This is how one can describe the step taken by the Jordan University and the Jordan University of Science and Technology withdrawing from the "Times" global ranking, just three days before the announcement of its results, in a move that confused the academic community and left behind a flood of questions: Is it a protest against the standards? Or an escape from the results?
The two universities tried to market the withdrawal decision as a principled stance against what they described as changes in the ranking methodology, as if they suddenly discovered that "Times" changed its mechanisms! But the obvious question that echoes in every hall is:
Why withdraw now? And why after full participation?
What's funny is that the universities say they are defending "academic fairness" while many whisper that some universities are informed in advance of their results before publishing, meaning that the withdrawal decision was made after the expected ranking was leaked, not before. Here the story becomes less ideal... and more realistic.
As for the excuse related to the “paid subscription system”, it reveals a deeper flaw in administrative thinking; because Yarmouk University, which is financially struggling, managed to jump from rank 1200 to 600 through genuine research effort, not through money or public relations. Yarmouk didn’t pay; it published, didn't complain; it worked.
Global rankings aren't ideal, true, but they also aren’t an excuse to hang our failures on every year. When research declines, publication rates drop, and genuine research plans are absent, withdrawing from the ranking becomes more like someone leaving the match fearing the result, not defending a principle.
Jordan University had previously withdrawn from the Shanghai ranking, and today withdraws from the Times... So, is the problem with the rankings? Or with the performance of our universities?
Perhaps it's time to stop "objecting to the mirror" and think about the image we show to the world.
Universities are not measured by press releases, but by the number of their researches, the boldness of their scholars, and the courage of their administrations in facing the truth.
And we have learned that the ranking of the following universities in the Times ranking has dropped to the following:
Applied Sciences and Private from 401/500
Jordanian and Yarmouk from 601/800
German and Technology from 801/1000
It should be noted that the Jordan University in partnership with the Amman Private University was scheduled to host the Arab universities ranking ceremony scheduled to be held on 26th and 27th of the next month.. raising questions about the reasons for its withdrawal from the ranking even though it is on a date to host a ceremony featuring the ranked universities!!
