1 Again!!
Mount Allison University was once again named the top undergraduate school in Canada by Maclean’s magazine in its 18th annual University Rankings Issue, which was released on November 10 (www.macleans.ca/oncampus).
Mount Allison University President Dr. Robert Campbell declared, “This is another great news day for Mount Allison University as we celebrate once again being named the top undergraduate school in the country by Maclean’s. Our combination of small class sizes, award-winning faculty, engaging extracurricular activities, and a safe and caring campus community environment is clearly a recipe for student success. The Maclean’s rankings news is the icing on the cake, and we want to thank our entire community for their commitment and efforts to create this superb result.”
Mount Allison received top or high marks in many categories in the 2008 Maclean’s rankings, including student awards, library holdings and support, student to faculty ratio (16:1), scholarships and bursaries, and reputational survey, which surveyed nearly 12,000 experts, educators and community leaders, asking for their views on quality, innovation, and leadership at Canadian universities.
Maclean’s also published responses to surveys of students, such as the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), which studied 610 universities North American-wide. The Mount Allison Experience not only achieved top grades but was one of the few Canadian universities that consistently met or exceeded the results of the best American universities.
Mount Allison received first place rankings in Student-Faculty Interaction, Level of Academic Challenge, and Enriching Educational Experience (including top marks in complementary learning opportunities such as community service and study abroad programs).
The University also ranked highly in the NSSE Survey for Active and Collaborative Learning, Supportive Campus Environment, and Student Satisfaction Results, with 88 per cent of first-year students and 93 per cent of senior students rating their entire educational experience at Mount Allison as “good” or “excellent.”
Maritime schools again captured many of the top spots for undergraduate education in Canada. In fact, five schools from the Maritimes (Mount Allison #1, Acadia #3, St. F.X. #4, UPEI #7, and Saint Mary’s #10) were in the Maclean’s top ten undergraduate rankings.
The Maclean’s results follow a fall term of remarkable achievements for Mount Allison. The University experienced a significant increase in first-year student numbers and opened its new Wallace McCain Student Centre on September 27, which provides every student service imaginable in one beautiful location. Mount Allison also celebrated the announcement of the new Ron Joyce Centre for Business Studies on October 27. The University honoured faculty, staff, current students, alumni, and benefactors at the 20th anniversary of the Meighen Centre for students with learning disabilities, which is a flagship centre in Canada. A new astronomical observation facility, the Mount Allison Gemini Observatory, was also opened this fall, and Colville House was re-opened as an education and resource centre.
In consistently ranking Mount Allison among the best undergraduate universities in Canada since 1991, Maclean’s magazine has noted many of the institution’s strengths, including the university’s high academic standards, its dedicated and nationally-recognized faculty, its intimate residential setting, and its emphasis on undergraduate students.
Mount Allison University has always been highly regarded for its unique approach to learning and its commitment to the total development of its students. Because of its small size, location within a small community, and residential nature, Mount Allison offers a broad range of social, cultural, athletic, and academic opportunities and areas for active involvement. These influences help shape our students as future leaders, with many going on to top positions around the world and in a multitude of fields (www.mta.ca).
