STUDY SHOWS SOUTHERN MISS A LEADER
IN ADULT EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS
By David Tisdale

HATTIESBURG - According to a study conducted at The University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Miss ranks in the top 25 internationally and seventh among American universities in publication productivity in research journals of adult education.

Dr. John Rachal, professor of adult education at Southern Miss, and his graduate assistant, Will David, found that the university's adult education program was near the top in publication productivity after examining more than 1,200 international submissions from more than 800 individual authors.

The survey, which examined the top five journals as judged by the Commission of Professors of Adult Education, included publications from 1993-2002. Three of the five journals were British and Canadian.

"I'm very proud our program is in that top seven," said Dr. Rachal. "It's quite an accomplishment and that says something about the quality of our adult education program. These accomplishments are all the more noteworthy since this is a two-faculty program."

The ranking was determined based on an authorship-order point system for the total articles published.

Southern Miss also ranked fourth in publication productivity during the same 10-year period in the premiere American research journal of adult education, Adult Education Quarterly, which is currently considering a manuscript of Rachal and David's research for publication.

"It's quite an accomplishment for us to be ranked so highly," said Dr. Willie Pierce, interim dean of the Southern Miss College of Education and Psychology and Rachal's colleague in the adult education program. "It demonstrates our commitment to research and our continued study of learning among adults."

For more information about the Southern Miss Adult Education program, call (601) 266-4621.

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