Maclean's rankings released

DIANA GRIER AYTON | If it's November, it must be the Maclean's rankings. The results of the magazine's annual beauty contest for universities are out, and while participants often grumble about the methods of measurement, this year every university in Canada took part. McGill places third in the rankings in the Medical/Doctoral category, unchanged from last year, while the University of Toronto and Queen's repeat their first- and second-place finishes. Once again, McGill's overall standing is dragged down by its relatively low scores in the categories of finances and libraries. For example, Queen's and U of T place first and second respectively for the percentage of their budgets spent on scholarships and bursaries, an area where McGill ranks ninth. And McGill has always scored poorly in the section on library holdings and acquisitions. Senate allocated an additional $3 million to the libraries' base budget several years ago, but Director Frances Groen says while the gesture was "well meaning and sympathetic" it didn't come close to meeting the need. "It was Senate trying to catch up after years of neglect. Still, this was in no sense a minor gesture, but it came late and was small relative to our costs." Recent cuts and price increases have further eroded the impact of the additional funds. Groen knows that McGill hasn't got more money to give the libraries and says the problem rests with the government. She points out a trend in the section on library budgets. "We're still at number 11, Université de Montréal is number 12 and Laval is at 13. I think this accurately reflects the bleak state of Quebec funding." In the Primarily Undergraduate category, Mount Allison, Acadia and Trent maintain their top three positions. The only change occurs among the Comprehensive universities, where Guelph replaces Waterloo in second spot. Simon Fraser is again first and University of Victoria third. Despite being bumped down to fourth, Waterloo is still first in all four categories (highest quality, most innovative, leaders of tomorrow, best overall) in the fuzzier "reputational survey," which Maclean's says reflects the opinions of "more than 3,500 high school guidance counsellors, academic administrators and CEOs of major corporations across the country."