After a year-long effort, the 2004 fact book is complete

Students wondering how many volumes of books can be found in the Tisch Library, or how many Tufts alums currently reside in Iceland can now rest easy.

The Office of Institutional Research recently released the 31st edition of the "Tufts Fact Book" for 2003-04 year, which is currently also available online.

Since its first publication in 1973, the fact book has been a fundamental resource for administration and faculty to access statistical information about the University.

According to Executive Director of Institutional Research Dawn Terkla, the process of compiling information for the book takes most of the one-year time span between publications.

Every year, "the institutional research coordinator sends a request to over 100 different individuals at the University to provide statistics about their specific departments, areas of study, and students," Terkla said.

After the Institutional Research Office receives the information, the data is computed and compiled by the editor, and "the 'Fact Book' is born," Terkla said.

The book's creators will have a harder time for next year's publication without Judy Smalley, who acted as editor for the last seven years. Smalley retired from Tufts last month after sixteen years at Tufts, Terkla said.

Terkla views the "Fact Book" as a "public service to the University," though she admitted it is not a typical document an undergraduate would read.

Used heavily by administrators, Terkla said that the book "is one of the major sources available for statistical information about Tufts."

"It is important for an administrator to have [the book] readily available when asked for information," Terkla said.

As both a contributor of data and a user of the "Fact Book", Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said the book is a "source of raw data" that "provides a snapshot of life at the University in a statistical way."

Reitman found the book "useful to affirm what we are thinking and to agree or disagree with what is actually going on at the University."

Analysis of statistical information from the "Tufts Fact Book" archives showed several trends regarding the student body.

Over the last thirteen years, the number of applicants for undergraduate study at Tufts has markedly increased. In the 1991-92 academic year, 6,301 students applied for spots in the Liberal Arts and Jackson Colleges, jumping to 7,391 in the 1995-96 year.

Last year, there were 12,719 undergraduate arts and sciences applicants, more than double that of in 1991-92.

As greater numbers of students apply to Tufts, the male to female ratio has remained relatively stable, with an almost 50-50 split each year. In 1993-94, 53 percent of undergraduates were female and 47 percent were male. In 1999-2000, 55 percent were female and 45 percent male.

This past year, females made up 52 percent of the student body, while males made up 48 percent.

Students' states of origin have stayed also stayed stable, with Massachusetts and New York in the top two spots and Connecticut and New Jersey tied for third in 2003-04. This is little changed from 1995-96 when Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey were in the top three spots, with Connecticut trailing only by a small amount.

The top countries for international students has seen some variation over time, with Canada, India, and Japan being the three countries most frequently represented in the student body in 1995-96.

In 2003-04, Tufts enrolled the most students from China, Canada, and India.

Only over the last three years have the "Tufts Fact Books" been available in an electronic format. Terkla said that the book is "in a transitional phase," and there are future plans to get rid of the paper version and make a searchable online database of all the information contained in the book, Terkla said.

And for those who still curious about how many volumes of books are located in the Tisch Library, the "Fact Book" counts it at 812,138, and there are 12 Tufts alums currently living in Iceland.