By Natalie Sit
Maclean’s magazine has ranked the University of Calgary fourteenth for the second year in a row, however some see a rise in the future.
U of C Vice-President External Roman Cooney said the university is not satisfied.
“We have to improve and we’re going to challenge Maclean’s to have weighting that’s more fair to students,” said Cooney.
The presidents of Alberta’s four major universities issued a press release saying grades are artificially raised in some provinces. According to Cooney, through independent tests, Alberta’s students may perform just as well as national counterparts, although marks may not reflect that.
“Maclean’s plays into it,” said Cooney. “The bigger issue is whether Alberta’s students are on a level field.”
The U of C Faculty Association President Dr. Anton Colijn believes the university deserves better. He added there is another student issue Alberta universities should consider.
“We are one of two major universities in Alberta,” said Dr. Colijn. “We mustn’t forget about accessibility.”
The university will start limiting enrolment and class sizes next year. Cooney thinks these will subtly affect the Maclean’s rankings.
“We won’t see a big change,” warned Cooney. “Over time it will go up.”
Students’ Union Vice-President Academic Demetrios Nicolaides believes fourteenth place is “better than being 15 out of 15.”
“If you compare us to the U of A, we’re doing the opposite,” said Nicolaides. “They’re opening the floodgates and we’re closing them.”
Cooney believes the university is within striking distance of the top 10.
“Some universities are near or at top of the Globe and Mail survey,” said Cooney. “Some universities are near or at top of the Maclean’s survey. Which one is correct? It’s a subjective measure.”
The magazine’s annual university rankings rate universities in three categories: medical/doctoral, comprehensive and primarily undergraduate. U of C falls under the medical/doctoral category.