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Maclean’s magazine unveiled its Canadian University rankings this week and Bishop’s is ranked 11th in the “Primarily Undergraduate” schools category, up six spots from a year ago. This comes following a recent Globe and Mail report that had Bishop’s ranked as the best school in Canada whose student enrolment is under 4,000 students. 
COURTESY
“The results show that our students are very, very satisfied with their educational experience,” said David McBride, Director of University Advancement. “The fact that we moved up (in Maclean’s) shows that things are moving in the right direction here at Bishop’s. We will strive to get back to where we were before.”
Maclean’s bases its rankings on information provided from a variety of sources, including Stats Canada, student and faculty surveys at all levels of education, as well as businesses throughout the country. The Globe and Mail report surveyed some 38,000 current undergraduate students, asking them over 100 questions about all aspects of university life.
While the rankings are nice, McBride is wary of putting too much stock into the numbers. There are, he says, flaws in McLean’s scoring system, with different aspects being worth different percentages. In 2006, some schools (Bishop’s was not one of them) protested the rankings and chose not to provide all of the data the magazine asked for.
McBride believes that ranking universities with complete accuracy is next to impossible. “There is a definite flaw in the methodology,” he said. “We have great universities from coast-to-coast and different students have different needs. Everyone is looking for something different from their university experience. So to say one is better than the other is unfair.”
Regarding the Globe and Mail rankings, Student Representative Council (SRC) President, Brad Leung, is happy at how well Bishop’s showed.
“It shows that the initiative and the effort being put forth are appreciated by the students,” said Leung. “You can definitely tell from walking around the campus that students are happy with their university experience.”
The Globe and Mail placed every Canadian university in one of four groups: Large (enrolment over 22,000 students), Medium (12,000 to 22,000), Small (4,000 to 12,000), and Very Small (less than 4,000). They were then given a grade in 17 different categories.
Out of the 12 schools considered to be Very Small, Bishop’s ranked the highest in Most Satisfied Students, Quality of Education, Student-Faculty Interaction, Class Size, Campus Atmosphere, and Campus Bar/Pub categories. Overall, Bishop’s received an A-minus, A, or A-plus in 10 of the 17 categories.
“The university is already addressing the issues in the few categories that we didn’t do so well in,” added Leung. “The recent infrastructure grants we’ve received will definitely help the cause.”
For Leung, giving students a great university experience is the most important part of post-secondary education.
“The (A-plus) in the Most Satisfied Students is probably the category that’s most reflective of Bishop’s,” said Leung of the Globe and Mail rankings. “Schools can throw all this money into research, infrastructure, and things like that...but if your students aren’t happy, especially at the undergraduate level, then what’s the point?”
For the fifth year in a row, McGill University ranked first in the “Medical Doctoral” category. Simon Fraser University finished first in the “Comprehensive” category for the second year running. Mount Allison took top position in the “Primarily Undergraduate” category for the third year in a row. By Doug McCooeye 2009-11-06 |
Montreal Canadiens
