McGill still ranked third by Maclean's

DANIEL McCABE | We're still number three. The results from Maclean's annual ranking of Canada's universities were released earlier this week and in the category of medical/doctoral universities, McGill is still ranked third, trailing the University of Toronto and Queen's University (in that order). Maclean's assistant managing editor Ann Dowsett Johnston, the woman who orchestrates the magazine's coverage of higher education, says the fact that McGill is holding firm in the third spot despite a series of painful budget cuts is remarkable. "I think it shows a strength of leadership that McGill has been able to maintain its position solidly in a very tough category given the extraordinary challenges it faces as a result of its chronic underfunding and the Quebec government's freeze on tuition fees." Dowsett Johnston believes that people in other parts of Canada would be startled to learn that Ontario and Quebec stand out as the provinces that offer the lowest levels of funding to their universities right now. She calls the governments in those two provinces "incredibly short-sighted." McGill draws high marks from Maclean's for the diversity and quality of its student body. McGill ranks second in its category for proportion of students who graduate, for number of first-year students from outside the province and for number of international students pursuing graduate studies. In terms of students winning awards, McGill is ranked first. The University also scores well in categories dealing with professors' success rate in earning research grants. McGill is in first place for grants in social sciences and humanities and in third for medical and science grants. When it comes to classes taught by tenured faculty, McGill ranks tenth. Only two years ago, McGill placed fourth in this area. Another source for concern is percentage of the budget spent on scholarships and bursaries. McGill only places eleventh. On the libraries front, McGill still lags behind several other universities in terms of holdings per student and acquisitions, but the University's performance on this front is improving. "McGill has enjoyed a significant gain in this area," says Dowsett Johnston. Vice-Principal (Academic) Bill Chan continues to regard the Maclean's exercise as flawed, but acknowledges that it has a powerful public relations impact. His chief qualm is that Maclean's measures items of real significance -- the success of professors in earning research grants, for instance -- along with what he regards as less substantive items. He challenges the way Maclean's calculates such things as percentage of the budget spent on student services and thinks the item is given too much emphasis in determining the rankings. Still, Chan is delighted to see the quality of McGill's faculty and students highlighted. "I'm very proud of how well we performed in those areas. Our students and faculty consistently did well." He says Maclean's can be helpful in pointing out areas that need improving, citing McGill's declining performance in percentage of classes taught by tenured faculty and percentage of budget spent on scholarships and bursaries. "These are matters of real concern for us. We have to resolve them, but it's very difficult given the funding situation." While McGill has managed to maintain its quality despite poor funding, Dowsett Johnston wonders if the University can hang on for much longer without receiving more support. "My son is 14 years old and McGill is one of the universities I hope he'll consider attending. It has strong programs, a great history and a fantastic location." But if things don't start improving for McGill, budget-wise, "I really don't know what will happen."